Moved on this morning, retracing the road back almost to Milan before turning North. Lake Maggiore and Stresa were very scenic and very laid back - most enjoyable and we wished we could have had more time there!
Our lunch stop was in the old town of Bergamo and after a short tour we had free time to wander and take some photos before having a few drinks at a tiny little bar while watching Daniel Riccardo in the Monte Carlo Grand Prix on an amazing High Definition TV that made us feel as though we were right there!
After that stop we headed north on the freeway for about an hour, past Verona before turning off at Marco and heading west to the top of Lake Garda and our home for the next 5 nights of Riva Del Garda. As we wound down the mountain to the little town of Torbone, there was a major traffic jam - Torbone is a major centre for windsurfing, sailing and many other water sports and being late on a Sunday arvo they were all on the move! The views of the steep mountain crags and the glimpses of blue/green lake water got us very excited for the days ahead!
As the coach pulled into the waterfront area near to our hotels there was a bit of a moment as Sally announced that half of us had been moved across the piazza to another hotel, with only some having lake views! The four of us were in that group and we quickly grabbed our keys and headed to our room! Mumsie and I gave a huge sigh of relief when our room had a fantastic view of the little harbour, the mountains and the lake! The room itself was very basic - typical old Italian hotel - but quite comfy and we were certainly very happy! Unfortunately Den and Suze copped a recently renovated room that was very small and had had no lake view except when they went out onto a long communal balcony!
We showered and changed and then had a quick drink on the waterfront before joining the others for a hotel dinner, which was pretty reasonable.
Later we explored the little streets of the town and found dozens of restaurants and little shops and then had a nightcap at a little bar overlooking the piazza and lake!