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Published: September 20th 2014
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So after a week of travelling through Italy we find ourselves back on Lake Garda but on the opposite side to the one we left last week. So it' s goodbye to Bardolino and Garda and hello to Toscolano Maderno. A quieter part of the lake and an interesting one. We are staying on Camping Riviera just a few hundreds yards from the lake. We had the choice of a couple close together and chose this one. ACSI 16 euros a night plus 1 euro tourist tax. A large campsite it is not quite the pile em in and pile em high Italian sites but nevertheless is still rather large and sprawling. There is more space to pitch up but things on Italian campsites change by the day. What seems like a nice site today can be pretty abysmal tomorrow. It does not feel quite like the south of the lake where the feel is more like the seaside albeit a small seaside town like Rhyl or Skegness. Places like Peschiera cater for the holidaymakers and they come in by the droves. Here it is a little less like the seaside and perhaps a bit more refined. Toscolano-Maderno or as it
is better known in its shortened form Maderno is a good base for boats up and down the lake and we plan to use them to visit several small towns either side of Maderno and for travel further up. I have heard Lake Garda described as a body part and forgive me if you are prude but that body part is a penis with balls at the bottom. We were on the top of one of the balls but now up the shaft Ok anatomy lesson finished .
On our campsite is a bar and small restaurant, the bar open but the restaurant well and truly closed. And the market too. Well it is coming to the end of the season in Italy. The pool looks lovely but it only opens for a short time in the afternoon. There are many static caravans with tents attached. The motorhomers are mainly German and Italian. We have seen no Spanish, very few French and not that many Brits on site although we have met a few in the towns.
Our first night was spent walking down the pretty promenade to the town which is about 20 minutes walk away. We
needed to time the walk to make sure we made the boat tomorrow for Gardone. We had a plan to visit the Vitariale. Now if you want you can read that up before I tell you all about the day. It does make for some interesting reading if you dont know the history of Italy in detail.
But first a little about Maderno. Small town on the lake with restaurants, a Romanesque church which we visited and a Simply supermarket. Not bustling like the bottom of the lake and not full of Italians passagiating along the lake. The church dedicated to St Andrew was simple inside but messy outside with bits of Roman remains built in to the structure. It felt as if the builders went round and found bits of stone and used them regardless of their look or shape.
We didnt eat in town but have something earmarked as we fell into conversation with our neighbours a British couple Vince and his wife who were travelling in their VW camper. We shared stories of camping and gave them information on campsites in Venice their next destination. They had found a good restaurant and left
us a calling card so if we have time its off for a meal.
Tomorrow is a busy day and one we have looked forward to for a long time. For a change it is not going to another ABC of camping as we will not be seeing another church, or another chapel nor another cave but a real national treasure .
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