Rode back up towards St Moritz for some more fun in Switzerland. Stopped at a little gelateria for ice cream in Chiavenna before continuing east. Very nice it was too.
Grabbed some bread and cheese in St Moritz. The bread came from a little bakery and cost a small fortune. The cheese came from the Coop and was much more reasonable.
Stopped east of St Moritz, where the road forks, for a quick picnic and to spread the maps out. Considered our options, of which there were several. Decided to pop up into Austria then straight back down into Italy. All the time we're kinda heading east. I've never ridden the road north east of Susch before but it looked interesting.
Riding away from St Moritz my eagle-eyed navigator spotted the hotel where we stopped for coffee last year after seeing that chap get killed on the Julierpass. Pulled in for a coffee and it's still excellent. The waitress was lovely too. Really friendly Swiss lass and quite stunning. The hotel is called Hotel Post, in the town of Brail. I didn't get the name of the waitress.
Filled up with cheap fuel in Martina before crossing the border from Switzerland into Austria. Just as we did the heavens opened so we took shelter in the petrol station. It soon passed.
Rode up a tiny pass in Austria. Called the Norbert Pass or something. It's so small it's not even named on the map. 11 corners to the top then straight down the other side and into Italy onto the S40.
Passed Lake Reschen (Lago di Resia) - a flooded valley in Italy. The entire valley was flooded by building dams for hydro electric power back in the 40s. The church steeple is the only remnant of one of several flooded towns. It sticks high out of the water close to the roadside.
Around Malles we picked up the S38 east. The road is lined with apple orchards. There's loads of them.
Struggled to find anywhere still open to buy groceries. There were loads on the S40 south from Austria but as soon as we picked up the S38 east to Bolzano there was nothing. We eventually found a little local market shop and bar in Laces where we picked up cold beers and some salami. Treated Catherine to some apple struddle from the deli too. Poor lass hasn't had any all holiday. No white wine in the chiller so chose a bottle of red off the shelf.
The shop was about half a km away from a campsite, which the chaps in the bar said was very good. Checked in and it better be good for the price. €27! We soon realised why. The campsite is behind a posh hotel. It's run by the hotel and it shares facilities. The toilet block is the poshest one I've ever seen. Proper hotel quality facilities. We were given a keypass for access through the electric security gates and into the toilet and shower block. There's electric sliding glass doors into the toilet block. Very Star Trek. They even make that whooshing noise when they open and close.
There was a huge lightning storm over Bolzano. The sky was constantly lit by lightning. Everyone was sat out photographing and filming it. Took a walk past them all on way to loo. I've not been in that many photos since Verona. Rather worryingly we're camped near a cable car station and the steel cables run directly over our tent.
I put the tents up while Catherine cooked tea and broke the stove. A Dutch couple came over to offer me a mallet. Apparently it was hammering the tent pegs in and not for teaching Catherine a lesson for breaking the stove. I definitely needed it - the ground was rockhard.
Popped open the red. Catherine had a taster and surprisingly thought it was really nice. Even though she definitely doesn't like red wine. Apparently the only red she's ever enjoyed was a 25 year old bottle that dad kept from the shop and dusted off for her graduation. It was the last one in existence and really quite special. I had to take her word on that because I can't remember getting an invite to this special occasion.
Not that I'm bitter. Anyway I took a quick trip back to the shop for a second bottle. If we didn't drink it then we could take it with us tomorrow.
It didn't last long.
The vinyard is just down the road from here in Bolzano. We'll keep an eye out tomorrow and pop in if we pass it. Catherine is keen to sample all their other offerings. I'll be driving so once again I'll have to take her word for it.
139 miles
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