Day Nine: 6th

Stage Two of the Giro d’Italia

Overnight we were hit by a storm. It was relaxing being able to lie in bed and listen to the thunder rolling over and the rain on the van roof. We simply battened down the hatches and by morning the sky was once again bright and clear though the humidity was still intense. Much to Zac’s delight we decided to make another cycling foray this time towards another section of the lake enticingly called ‘Florida’.

We rode the same route as yesterday in order to stop at the cash machine (being picked up by the local Carabinieri for cycling the wrong way up a one way street – who knew!) Whilst the road to the bank did contain one or two up hill stretches, the turn down towards the lake was blessedly down hill. Zac did a splendid job considering it was a rather main road and we reached Florida without incident.

With the bikes secured along the promenade we decided to be very European and hire some deck chairs and an umbrella. This fortunately included a lockable compartment for more precious items as our next stop were the paddleboats. All aboard we took our boat, complete with slide, out into the lake and the kids had a ball sliding in. Nathan remained in the water to assist whilst I kept the boat on course (I was also not so keen on taking a swim.) Eventually though I was bullied into taking the plunge so can now say I have touched the waters of both the Mediterranean and Lake Garda (if under duress).

Team Robb Aquatica!

Whilst Abbey and I reclined on our deck chairs the boys rode off in search of lunch (very tasty cold pizza, salami and cheese). We ate lunch on our chairs lakeside simply soaking in the views. Abbey then attempted a sand castle (though sand was in scarce supply) then she and Zac bowed to the inevitable and just threw pebbles into the lake.

The ride home felt long, was hot and was just a bit too much uphill for poor tormented Zac though, to his credit, he stuck with it. He was only slightly distracted by the yellow Lamborghini that pulled out in front of us and revved up the hill but the rest of the ride was, and I quote “so out of order!”

After a brief siesta we headed up to the pool for a few hours to cool off before it was time for showers all round prior to dinner out tonight. As a special treat we decided to dine at Pizzeria Zocco. I chose pizza with four toppings, Nathan opted for hot salami whilst Abbey went all Italian with nuggets and chips! Zac’s fresh fried calamari was simply fantastic though he did exclaim; “If this calamari came from the lake I am not swimming in there again!” With more food than we could possibly be expected to finish it was a great evening out.

To work off our meal we took a stroll around the camp ground before heading to bed and another evening of storms.