I say ‘Part 2’ like this is a continuation of the last, but it isn’t. Think I just panicked when deciding the name. I could have named it Lake Garda, as that was the main bit really, but it was book-ended with some driving to and from there.
We went to Belgium for a couple of days. Standard. Was lovely. Sunny. Nice. Then, we drove to Italy. Yeah bit of a trek, I won’t lie to you! I think it was 12 hours. We did a couple of stops in France and Switzerland, probably, and went all the way to Lake Garda, or Lago di Garda, which is Italian for Lake Garda.
Lake Garda
We went here because it was cheap. It was a Sun holiday! Ha! No dodgy caravan in Conwy or whatever. It was a 2 bedroom lodge thing, which wasn’t too bad. The best/worst thing about it was it was off-season, so there were very few people there, but there wasn’t much open. The other bad thing was it was quite foggy for 2 of the three days! Lake Garda, which was a 38 second walk away, was just Shore Garda for 66% of the stay.
Walked to Peschiera del Garda a couple of times, along the lake. Was pleasant enough. Another of the days, we went to Verona which was just down the road. Was nice being able to drive to places, rather than rely on public transport and that. Verona reminded me of Shakespeare, obviously. Romeo and Juliet, and the lesser known Two Gentlemen of Verona. The city of love became the city of rain. Horrid.
Verona
We found Juliet’s ‘House’ which also had her balcony on it. Small problem of the fact that the balcony wasn’t added until the 17th century, a little while after he died! Or the 20th century, depending on what website you look at. There is a statue of Juliet in the courtyard, where here breasts have been fondled so much they have changed colour. Weirdos. On the way into the courtyard, the tunnel is full of graffiti and stickers and chewing gum. Super romantic.
Had a wander round Verona. Saw a mini coliseum thing, sat Stan on someone’s moped, and found some graffiti quoting Natalie Imbruglia’s Torn. Amazing.
After Lake Garda, we headed to another country with a famous Lake. Slovenia. On the way, we were going to stop off at Venice, but then decided we’d go there properly, not just spend a couple of hours there. Instead, we stopped at Treviso. I only know it for a rugby team. There wasn’t much else there.
Slovenia
The worst part about Slovenia was my blinking Sat Nav didn’t cover it as only had a Western Europe map! I had to screen shot a load of Google Map images, and hope for the best. Spoiler alert, we got there fine. We drove to Ljubljana, the capital, and had some dinner. Pizza. It’s hard going to a country for not so long, as I struggle to learn enough of the language to make me sound even remotely convincing. Proper rely on Google Translate. Or good old fashion finger-pointing and that.
I would normally get a few apps, listen to podcasts, or watch YouTube videos to learn the basics of a language before visiting. A little goes a long way. Most people across Europe, especially in the bigger cities and that, will have a really good level of English. The parts we struggle with is when we go ‘off grid’ and end up in places whose most famous landmark is Gregorj’s John Deere tractor. I do love learning the different languages though, even if it is just hello goodbye, thank you, please and sorry! It is often more than that, but those get you far enough before they start speaking English to you, out of pity, or for them to practice their English.
Pitch black, we drove into the country side to our hotel, in a town called Kamnik. The place looked deserted, and luckily found someone who called someone out of bed! Turns out, Hotels.com had buggered up our booking. All paid for and booked, but they hadn’t told the hotel! Was sorted quickly, and had a nice stay. Room included a climbing wall! We pretty much booked it for that. There was a nice/weird bloke in the hotel that kept talking to us at breakfast. Took us to see the dog and horses in the back garden. We talked about West Ham and Croatian football, obviously.
Lake Bled
After breakfast we drove to the only lake in Slovenia, and what a lake it is! Lake Bled. Char had seen it on one of those ‘Top 18 places to see before you’re 29’ or whatever. It is really beautiful. Big lake, with a little island in the middle. To have a good view of it, you have to climb one of the hills around it. We did just that, although Char wasn’t a fan of the steepness of the last bit, so decided to have a sit down. I took the kids up and was quite surprised didn’t drop on of them off the edge! Proper scrabbling up some of it. Scrabbling is a word yeah? We got down, and found a pub cafe to have some lunch, and then left. I took one of their ‘famous’ cream cakes with me. Was alright.
Salzburg
From here, we drove north to Salzburg, Austria. Really pretty city, had a nice walk around. Saw another love lock bridge, they get everywhere! Just noticed that bride is bridge without the g. There were lovely streets, but everything was well expensive. The restaurants were posh and expensive. Found a fairly reasonable one, and had pizza. Then we drove to Germany, to a place called Rothenburg ob der Tauber.
Christmas
This was on the list because it’s a mother flippin Christmas village. The whole place looks like it’s from a fairy tale. Like the Xmas market in Birmingham, but in a village. Loads of shops, a square, cobbled streets, pretty buildings and that. Had some lunch here, nice bread. Went to the biggest Xmas shop ever. My goodness they like their tat. Char was in her element.
After being Christmassed out, we drove back to Brussels, had a night there, and came home. This was a much more relaxed road trip. Spending a couple of nights in Belgium, then 3 in Italy, and one night in one place a couple of times, rather than popping to places on the way to places, was much better. The drive to Italy was a bit bonkers mind. Lake Bled was ace, really nice. Would have liked to have spent a bit more time there, in the sun. We were there for hours, but would have stayed longer!