15/7/2010; A.M

 

Camperstop:Cannobio; Lake Maggiore; Italy

 

We have stopped for 2 nights in a very nice camper stop next to a river on the outskirts of the town of Cannobio.A very pleasant spot within an easy stroll to the main town and the lake side, which is lined with café’s, bars and gelato shops.

 

But first I should backtrack to where we left off last blog; we were in Switzerland at a Campground near Raron.

 

We had really good internet at the Campground and happily were able to talk to our family, and spent the morning uploading blog, checking email and talking by Skype to various people. Unfortunately we were to leave about 11.am and only had an idea of heading east to take the road over the mountains into Italy. Luckily for us Ewout had a chat to the lady running the office and she suggested that we should drive up to Zermatt and go and see the Matterhorn.We had no idea we were so close so decided that it would be remiss of us to miss the chance to see the iconic mountain. We took a lovely drive up through the valley to Täsch, which is as far as you can drive, and then took a local taxi to the small touristy town of Zermatt.

It was a good decision as we had a very pleasant afternoon enjoying the spectacular scenery and taking a gondola and then a cable car to the little Matterhorn to enjoy the views. Unfortunately when we arrived at the top the clouds had moved in over the Matterhorn so we didn’t have the best view of it, but as we descended we managed to see the mountain when the clouds cleared for a bit.

The scenery in Switzerland and particularly around Zermatt is picture postcard lovely and it is hard not to be moved by it.

It took a lot longer than we imagined to ride up and down again and as it was getting a bit late decided to find a campsite close by to stop for the night. We found one on the road going back down the mountain and as the weather was getting a bit stormy decided it was the best thing to do. Not longer after we set up it started to rain quite heavily and the thunderstorms started.No problem for us in the camper as we are quite happy to shut ourselves in and enjoy the patter of rain on the roof.

We have found that the addition of some more Australian features on our camper has drawn more attention and made people more aware of where we have come from. This has had a two fold effect, confusion for some who have thought we were Dutch and for others who have had an impression that we have either have shipped our camper over from Australia or driven.It’s funny what the conclusions that people have made when they find us as being Australian. I suppose there is not many Australians that have done the type of trip we are doing as we are traveling through some more unusual and less traveled (by Australians) tourist routes.

We have also been getting more reactions from other road users and people on the side of the road, waves, thumbs up’s and general smiles and friendly reactions. I feel we are a bit more obvious and this could be a good thing (maybe). So far it’s been positive.

 

The next day we packed up and traveled down the winding road back to the main highway and then wound our way up through the mountains to pass over into Italy.

It is quite obvious the change from Switzerland to Italy we have found that there seems to be a bit more shabbiness on the Italian side of the mountains. We have also found the roads to be a bit rougher and the roadside stops not as prevalent.

Our first stop in Italy was a Carrefour supermarket in a small town on the side of the highway. We had to stock up a bit with fresh fruit and vegetables, and found some wonderful local cheese that we have enjoyed immensely. It is something to wonder at the choices of cheese and meats that they have here. Such variety and the value have made it a real pleasure to try out things that we don’t seem to see at home.

Our first night in Italy was spent in a Camper stop in Cannobio, we didn’t really know what to expect and as we wound our way through the narrow village streets we wondered what we were getting ourselves into. It was a lovely surprise, nestled next to a small river with views to the surrounding hills it was a quiet, picturesque place to stay.So we decided to stay a couple of nights and give ourselves a break from the road.

After a dip in the river we had a quiet night and slept well. Listening to the rain pattering on the roof again, it’s not been cold but more warm and humid and we just feel sticky most of the time.

The next morning it was raining quite hard so we put off the walk we had planned and sat in the camper reading until about 10.30 until it cleared.

We walked into the small town and had a lovely lunch at a Pizzeria overlooking Lake Maggiore, a delightful spot to watch the lake and the passing parade of tourists.

The afternoon was then spent, alternately cooling off in the river and reading. We met with a very nice English couple who had parked next to us and enjoyed a bit of chat with them. We would have liked to go for a ride up around the river towards the mountains as they had told us there was a nice swimming hole and the scenery was beautiful but we had a problem with the tyre on Ewout’s bike and had trouble finding a bike shop to get a new tube.

 

P.M.

 

Tonight we have found ourselves parked next to a river on the other side of Lake Como. … We left Connobio after lunch and drove across from Lake Maggiore to the area around Lake Como, the roads were very narrow and in many places single lanes passing through villages. On one side of the road was the lake the other side the mountains and almost continuous villages and lakeside resorts. It seems to be a very busy area for tourism, you can see that it is popular for families and the well heeled as it is a very scenic lake but not very camper friendly unless you want to stop in one of the many campgrounds that are like mini cities.

 

We finally found a bike shop and stopped to get a new tyre for Ewout’s bike.Well to make a long story shorter we traded in our old Dutch city bikes and came away with 2 new mountain bikes which we think will serve us better on the many rough tracks and roads that we would like to explore. The young Italian salesman was very helpful and we got very good value for our money.

 

So now we are well set up.

 

Tomorrow we continue heading east, making our way over northern Italy to Slovenia.

Taking each day as it comes and trying to get the most enjoyment out of the experience; Italian roads, traffic and all.