Italy and Slovenia

                                              Over the Dolomites

Thursday 2^nd June – Leave Davos and head back over the Fluela Pass as we make our way south toward Italy. The map shows another pass or two to cross on our route – fortunately for us they turn out to be good roads through the Dolomites with a minimum of challenging climbs/descents. We try to keep off the autostrasse but south of Bolzano we keep getting redirected onto the main motorway so we go with the flow. Turn of toward Lago di Garda, a big inland lake that is a water playground for Italians. Riding beside the lake we pull over at a waterfront restaurant for a drink. As luck has it they have rooms so we book in – nice view over the lake with stunning views of the mountainous rock formations that rise up from the edge of the lake. Dinner at little family restaurant – entertained by waitress Erika who sits down at our table to take our order & tells us how exhausted she is! Very Italian experience – we want desert but they have a limited menu – she tells me she has marscapone and something in Italian that we can't understand. Reappears two minutes later at kitchen door with large tub of strawberries – we say yes!

                                            Boys with funky waitress miss erika

                                                 Lago di Garda from our room

Friday 3^rd June – Breakfast in hotel restaurant overlooking Lago di Garda then leave for a run around the Gulf of Venice toward Trieste. First section on narrow road alongside the lake – end up in stop/start traffic that looks like it goes for miles. Bikes (& riders) are getting hot so eventually we decide to follow the other locals and lane split between the stopped traffic on our right and the oncoming traffic on our left. We follow a bunch of locals & make good progress, learning to pull in tight if a bus or truck comes toward us. Eventually get on the motorway and sit on 120-130kph with occasional bursts up to 140-150kph. Couple of stops for drinks/food at the usual very Italian motorway complexes that are along the motorway.

We bypass Trieste, Martin does great job of navigating into Piran our target for today. We are now in Slovenia and sit down at a harbourside restaurant for a beer. Martin looks for hotel – turns out to be holiday weekend and there is nothing in town, but we get booking in cabin a bit out of town. Cabin turns out to be fairly reasonable apartment in nice hotel complex on water. We try to use pool but it has closed for day at 7.00pm.

                                             Waterfront at our "cabin" complex - beautiful clear blue Slovenian water

Saturday 4^th June – Swim laps in hotel pool before a hearty breakfast. Set off late morning to ride north through Slovenia to Bled. Motorway riding all the way with rain for the last 10 minutes. Bled is beautiful Slovenian town set on lake with a castle towering on a high peak over the lake. Initial hotel room falls through but owner gets us to follow him on Vespa to his mate's apartments and we get lovely apartment looking out on lake, complete with vege garden & cherry tree (cherries are just in season here). We walk around part of the lake & the town.

                                             Lake & castle at Bled, Northern Slovenia

                                            Martin at afternoon debriefing, Bled.

Tommorrow we head north through Austria and back to Germany.