Iseo – Manerba del Garda (via the airport)

Today's Route


Today we were picking Will & Jo up from the optimistically named Verona Brescia airport. Optimistic because, in true Ryanair fashion, the airport is nowhere near Verona at all. God job I thought to check with Will last night which airport it was though – otherwise we would have got to Verona and then had to back track about 40km, which wouldn't have been that funny.

Anyway.

We were up and about quite late, got a couple of croissant for breakfast, and pushed off towards the airport about 12pm. On the way there we stopped off at a MASSIVE supermarket and bought some supplies – including some entertainingly names “Hell Bier” - and had a small look in the next door Decathlon sports super store . Ooooo. Like a kid in a toy shop – but restricted self to a pair of surf shorts, a new seat post for my “Top Bike” (stupidly, a quarter of the original price of the bike!), some swim flipper things and some insoles for my running shoes. Restrained I thought :)

Got to the airport at about 2pm and the flight was revisedly due at 15:18 – 35 minutes late – but that was OK as it gave me time to update the blog. For the first time this holiday I paid for my broadband access (€6 / hour) but needs must!

On the way to the airport I checked my email using my mobile phone and had a bit of a suprise. An email from my lovely friend Julie (of Arctic Sweden fame) is pregnant - thought to be an Arctic conception :) Congratulations to her and her lovely fiance Robin - hope it all goes well for you and I will definately get knitting !

Back at the airport............ Jon had made a sign to greet W&J with at the airport – stupidly I didn't take a photo for the blog (very slack, sorry) but it was a great sign – made out of the paper bag the morning croissants had come in bordered with black duck tape. What more could you ask for?

So, it's kind of odd greeting people at the airport in a foreign country – it's not like when you meet someone on home turf – but it's nice to see familiar faces in an unfamiliar place. Photo is of Will & Jo on their way to Stanstead airport - they took it, not me (that would have been pretty impossible for me to do now wouldn't it?)

This morning we had been talking about how it was going to be odd to speak to other people – for nearly 2 weeks it had just been the 2 of us and the occasional chat to someone in a language that we usually don't speak – but nice. Should be nice.

Will & Jo arrive, and give us presents – a copy of Heat magazine for me (they know the way to my heart) and a copy of today's Times for Jon, and a sticker for the van - we get in the van and head up to Lake Garda – our destination of choice for the first night.

We stayed in a place called Manerba del Garda in a nice enough campsite called La Rocca. The site was right on the side of the lake and had it's own pebbled beach and some good swimming fun. As soon as we had got pitched up we were in for a swim to cool off.

Lovely.

Dinner was pasta (when in Rome etc) and Hell Bier, and then we went to the site bar for a cocktail.

Now the bad bit. Will was just in the middle of the punchline of a particularly bad joke when Jon looked shocked and was waving his had around. He had just noticed that he was no longer wearing his wedding ring!!!! This was a bit of a downer on the evening as you might imagine, but what can you do? That's not to say that I wasn't a bit upset about it – as was Jon – but these things happen I suppose.

Looking at the photographic evidence later on was pretty inconclusive, but in the photo taken when we got out of the sea this afternoon it was gone – so the best guess is that it is now at the bottom of Lake Garda :(

At least this solves my dilemma about what to buy Jon for his forthcoming birthday I suppose.

PS. I have changed the comments options so that you can post comments without being a member of blogger - I didn't realise you could do that, but you can, so if you fancy it - please leave a comment!