2001 An Italian Odyssey - Head For The Hills

There is always a little excitement in the body as we hit the road again. Today we followed the west coast of Lake Garda from Lazise all the way north to Torbole and then onto Trento, where in the time honoured fashion we got lost.

Eventually finding the correct route we headed for the Dolomites and having done a couple of mountain passes and got through Predazzo without losing a rear light lens or bolt for the rear mudguard we decided to stay in Corvaria in Badia for a few days.

The first hotel that we tried was too expensive but we managed to find a time share apartment in a block that did bed and breakfast for less than half the price as they did discounts for bikers! We decided to stay for four nights.

During our stay in Corvaria we did the usual trips in cable cars up the mountains, once seeing a young girl with her wheelbarrow walking up to a rescue hut with her parents, much to many people’s amusement.

On another day we took the Guzzi out and rode some of the local passes and stopped outside a café at the summit of Passo Pordoi, where several people were surprised to find not only a Guzzi but one with GB plates. Talk about taking things easy, it took us three hours to do 60 miles – but that did include a coffee stop. Not all rides have to be fast to be enjoyable.

One morning they even brought out the band for us! Well I like to think that anyway.