Good morning and this will probably be posted late as the Astor Hotel at Lake Garda has wi fi but charges like a wounded bull for it so we are using it sparingly.

Yesterday we said farewell to Florence. What an amazing city but like all good things it's time was up and new adventures awaited us. We managed to rise nice and early as they told me at Hertz that anything after 10am you can expect queues so off we trotted and arrived at 9.15am. 

I have to say that the service at Hertz was anything but cordial, the very very old hostess hadn't smiled since the war and I am sure she hated tourists with a passion so our reception was somewhat frosty, but that said they had the car and the "Never get lost GPS" as ordered so off we went.

I had been a wee bit nervous about driving in a city first off but oh well in for penny etc LOL. the first corner, left, wrong side of the road LOL Ron yelling and mild panic but hey, it had to happen so now it was over and done LOL. The directions we were given by her of the stone face cult was turn left, then right over the bridge, around the round about, veer leftish on the next roundabout and look for the green A1 to Bologna sign and then turn on the GPS and it will be plan sailing. Doesn't that sound way too easy LOL, it was.  Driving on the wrong side, in a manual on the wrong side with a passenger in full panic so it was only to be expected that I would miss one of the directions and it was only a little miss at the end, the leftish one, I took the more leftish one and of course everything is one way, not going in the direction I want to go in and a certain amount of angst ensured within the automobile.LOL

Anyway we eventually found our way back and spotted the green A1 and a sign heading us to Bologna. Time to turn on the GPS and life will settle down to concentration on the driving bit. Hmmmmmmmmm "Never get lost" wont come on, oh flat battery, thankyou Hertz, so plug it in and it will charge up in no time, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm plug is broken and wont charge, at this point a large breath was taken and out came the skills of years past and we unfolded the MAP of Italy. Well we want to go up to Bologna on the A1, then on the other side throw a left towards Ferrera, just down by Mirabello, then onto what ever and over the bridge and we should be there. 

My personal IT (Italian TomTom "Ron") did a great job in the circumstances and considering the stress he was under never made a mistake. So we sort of knew where we were headed so it was time to think about lunch. Aha a Pizza/trattoria just up on the right, pull up and are greeted by the chef, fag haning out of the mouth, dirty apron and the only thing straight about the place was US. Off we went, 2nd Trattoria looks much more inviting,(by the way we are doing this because Di reliably informed me that there were great things to do and see if you travel by road) actually had a carpark so in we went and the air sort of made our minds up for us, the place was dirty and a dive of a bar that may or may not serve something called food. B line out of that one 2 out of 2. Off again and finally we spot a deli with a cafe next door, red table cloths on the tables and an expresso machine. Hand written menu nailed to a pole (should have been a warning) but the selection was great. I ordered the Spagetti Cabonara and Ron the Lasagne plus 2 coffees. Straight to the deep freeze for the Findus frozen dinner packs. We give up.

(there is a mountain there somewhere)

Eventually we arrived at Lake Garda and it was very disappointing, the mist/pollution dropped visibility to 400meters so you could just see the other side of the lake and after a hard day on the road we really needed a lift and it didn't seem to be here. Tks Di for the warning about the turn into the hotel the advance warning was a life saver. LOL

The hotel is fine but unfortunately because of hurricane Irene we lost our room on level 5 and had to settle for the ground floor but at least we are here. The vast majority of people in the hotel are German, over 65 and very healthy eaters. The dinner service started at 7pm last night and by 7.10 the salad bar was stripped clean, we arrived at 7.11pm. No one at the hotel speaks English and for the first time things sort of got difficult when ordering wine, gods know why you point to a bottle and nod !!! sounds simple to me but obviously they needed more information, anyway we got there in the end. LOL

This morning is a new day and so is our appreciation of this place. With a clearish sky we can finally see what all the fuss is about, it's breath takingly beautiful. The water is crystal clear, cool not cold and the surroundings are magnificent. The old town is like walking through a history book and there are lots and lots of great restaurants only tooooo happy to take our money. Tks Di great suggestion and probably highlight of trip so far (apart from catching up with Hans and Roli).