After breakfast we again sat outside the hotel enjoying our tea/coffee and scenery. It was cloudy, and rain was predicted, and thunder storms the following day;. We discussed whether it would be more prudent to leave a day early and try to get down the mountain while it was still dry. We decided to do so even though we had to pay for the unused room night.
It was an intense drive, especially with the hundreds of bicycles to avoid. The GPS sent us toward Trento rather than Bolzano - apparently we had it set to avoid motorways. It took us up an enormous mountain, more than 6,000 feet altitude. In that one pass alone, going up one area there were 33 tornante (switchbacks) and going down there were 27 (they are numbered) not counting all the regular curves! As we climbed higher, we got into the clouds (which I initially thought was fog). Then we got into rain. And, still these bikers were pedaling up and up and then coasting down and down. As the weather got colder and rainier, Ron kept saying "That can't be fun!" We don't understand what possesses people to take up this sport, especially when they are competing with cars, trucks, motorcycles, and buses for the road.
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| A biker in the fog (one of hundreds) |
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| Tornante #23 |
In many areas there were no guard rails, and sheer drop-offs. Not only did you have to be vigilant for bikes, but also buses. HUGE buses that take up way more than their side of the road, especially when they maneuver around those switchbacks. It was a nerve-wracking journey.
We passed through several large ski villages, pretty places, that no one's ever heard of. It is amazing how much skiing (and biking) contribute to the economy. Unfortunately, we did not see any cute, cozy places open for lunch. It was a Tuesday, and Tuesday is one of the most common "ruhe tags" (closing day). Of course, it was then getting to be the time when restaurants closed for the afternoon. I was able to get on-line on the phone, and found a place in Trento that was open until 3 PM. I mentioned that Trento is a large city, and maybe Ron wouldn't want to drive there, but he said, "Program it in."
This was not a good idea. Trento was, indeed, a large city, and had many of those narrow, one-way streets - so narrow that you almost have to pull in the mirrors to avoid scraping the buildings. We found the address, but did not see any sign of the restaurant. Trying to escape the convoluted streets, we noticed a couple places with outdoor terraces that appeared to be open. Ron dropped me off at one and went to park. The place we went was the Torre Verde (Green Tower) Bar & Gelateria. After subsequent research, we should have gone to the one across the street, Torre Verde Ristorante. But, the Bar was adequate - they even had tramezzini (small sandwiches) that we had been looking for without any luck. We shared a couple of those and shared a lasagna. Had beer and wine, and the entire bill was less than 20 Euros. Everything was tasty, and it was one of the cheapest meals we'd had, so all was a success.
The restaurant was only a block from the 13th-century castle complex, Buonconsiglio.
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| Buonconsiglio |
We continued our drive to Caprino Veronese, in the hills about 18 miles northwest of Verona near Lake Garda, where Ron had reserved our overnight accomodation in the Villa Cariola. He had reserved a junior suite, but also mentioned we wanted FEW stairs. The lady at reception said they had two rooms to show us - the junior suite UP about 20 very STEEP stairs, or a deluxe double on the ground floor. Ron set off with the lady to look at the suite, but when he saw the stairway, he decided it was a "No". The ground floor room was very pleasant, and the air-conditioning was super cool, unusual in an old building. The villa was lovely, especially the grounds. A totally different kind of beauty than Bavaria and Austria, but just stunning. We were so pleased that we were in this wonderful place on the penultimate night of our journey.
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| Entrance Drive |
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| Dining terrsce, main villa to right |
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| Pool, Grounds, View |
We had a very pleasant dinner on the terrace. I chose filet with green pepper sauce, but it was a little rare (even for my taste). Ron had a tender pork loin in a tasty sauce. I may abandon my aversion to pork - it is nothing like the old roasts and pork chops of my childhood.
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