Italy
Pre-script - words and picture heavy post.
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| Our tent was on the far right not in this picture. We camped below this rock mountain! |
After an eventful week in Belgium, Netherlands and Germany and recovering from an unwanted twist of turns, we were kind of set for our next adventure i.e. Italy. N was also going to join us. We were going to visit the region in north Italy around Lake Garda and attend a music festival. To top off this unconventional choice of a holiday location in Italy, we were also going to camp for 5 days. Which meant setting up our own tent in the beautiful valley located at the foothills of the Italian Alps overlooking lake Garda.
Before that let me tell you about the amazing adventure we had to reach Riva Del Garda (the base town of the festival). And before going into the details, let me give a huge shoutout to N for the meticulous travel planning!
So we started from home early in the AM on Wednesday (27th July). Took the train to Cologne airport and boarded the plane to Milano (Milan). We arrived in Milan by 10 am to be welcomed by a slight drizzle. I was quite inappropriately dressed (tee and long pants and shoes and a light jacket) for the humid and hot Italian weather. But hey! I was being extra cautious because of the health issues. Then we boarded a bus to Desenzano from the Milano airport. An hour long ride later we were in the beautiful Desenzano around noon. As Paglet and I set camp at a roadside cafe and ordered lunch, N went ahead and took care of our ferry tickets. We were greeted by sunny weather, a nice touristy vibe and lots of European tourists. By this time, I was baking in my attire, but I decided to stick with the clothes, because good health can do wonders to your vacation ;).
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| Ferry view from one of the lake ports. |
After a lunch of Pizza(!) we were ready to board the ferry to Riva del Garda. The ferry was to be 3-3.5 hours long and would take us from the southern side of the lake to the north most tip of Riva! Our desi skills of tackling the crowds came in handy and we ended up with great seats on the ferry. Its upper deck was closed, so it meant we would view the surroundings from our closed cabin.
We switched ferries at one of the lake towns (I think Lago di Garda) and started our final leg to reach Riva. Now this ferry's upper deck was open so we got all excited and rushed to get the best seats. All the unease from 10+ hours of travel vanished into thin air. Poof! just like that. Let me also tell you, all the seats on the upper deck were best seats. As we soaked in the lake, the towns and views and the surprisingly cooler air, our spirits were rejuvenated. We got down at Riva around 4.30 pm. Now we only had to catch the shuttle bus to the campsite which was few kilometers away. After few unsuccessful attempts to get directions for the bus station from the locals, some kind English speaking folks finally understood us and made sure we were on the right track. With our backpacks on and spirit in right place, we walked on, wowing at the town and its sights. Since we had not had a proper meal the entire day, we settled the argument for dinner and decided to eat in the town. As I waited for dinner to be served in an open air cafe, N and paglet explored the town and bought some breakfast and other groceries for the campsite (who knew at what time we would get food at the festival!). It was not so tough to get a vegetarian meal. We arrived at the shuttle stop around 5.30 pm, now tired from the day long commute. There we ran into few other folks who were also going to the festival. They told us that the next shuttle was not until 8 pm. Unable to wait any longer, all of us called for a taxi and started for the campsite. The driver was a talkative fellow and we all got along pretty well. 20 minutes ride later, we were finally at the festival site. As soon as we got out of the taxi, it started to pour! I am not kidding. It rained so hard that we ran with all our luggage to a safe spot. That safe spot turned out to be a pizza place. We made more acquaintances there. Around 7 pm, after the rain had subsided we started the hunt for our camp site.
Now, the rains made it really tricky, as everything was damp and wet. Little annoyed by this embuggerance, we found a good enough spot below the rock mountain which was shaded by a tree. There was a caravan parked to one side, so we did not know who our neighbor was. Again thanks to N, the camp-laying exercise was a breeze. He was so meticulous and guided us along the way. (for some reason none of us clicked a picture of our beautiful tent). It had really been a hard and long day. We had traveled by all modes of transport, air, road, train, water and foot! We had successfully found a good enough spot to camp and without killing each other had raised the tent. We went to the pizza place again and called it a day after a sumptuous pizza meal. Since it was day 0 of the festival, there were no performances.
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| Festival ground. The yellow, red tent was the pizza place. |
Sleeping in a tent came easily to me than I anticipated. The last I slept in a tent was in forth grade, on a school trip. It was a tent shared among 10-15 girls. 20 years later it were 3 of us sharing a really cozy one! We had created a living room area for sitting, breakfast, other stuff and shoes. I can say for myself that I slept like a log that day. Although I was up by 7 am. Occupational hazard of being a runner y'all! So I got out of the tent and was pretty surprised to see the entire neighborhood was taken! To our left there was a ford focus with someone trying to erect a tent on its roof. Some smiles and hi-hellos later, I started with introductions. They were a couple in mid forties (I gauged, was polite enough to not ask) who had driven all the way from Belgium to attend the festival. They were pretty surprised to see an Indian girl at this hipster festival. I did explain to them that I was on vacation and had plans to travel further. I just wanted them to know my music interest was meager and it had not driven me to embark on this cross continental travel. (this couple also knew Pune, as one of their nephew had worked there).
I then headed to use the restroom and brush my teeth. I had not noted it the night before, but this place had open showers and those shared loos. There went my plans for a good bath. Also, the water pipeline on our side of the tents was broken so we had no showers. Great for me, cos a shy Indian girl even trying to use an open shower would have been so so awkward! When I broke this news to Paglet and N, they did not look surprised at all. I mean it was such a big deal for me and their reaction was a disappointment. We then headed for some morning chai, coffee and thankfully most of the vendors had opened their stalls. Some chai and croissants later we were just sitting there, lazying around. This was my first day of the vacation without any plan. We chatted, walked around, drank more chai, tidied our tent, changed into fresher clothes, and went about doing nothing. Since I am so great at doing nothing, I read my copy of the Museum of Innocence. I also tried to just lay in the sun but हो ही नहीं रहा था
Thankfully the day did pass peacefully. It was day 1 of the performances. So we got ready around 5 pm and went straight to the festival grounds. It was an Italian Reggae band who were kicking off the festival. I did not understand a word of their songs, but I immensely enjoyed the music. It sounded energetic, fresh and catchy. Also, let me also make it clear that it was the only band I really enjoyed and liked, as for the rest of the days I went to sleep by 11 pm. Yes, I am not a music festival person. But, in my defense I am a nature person, I enjoyed all the natural beauty surrounding us. I also learnt the art of 'dolce far niente' to my good and took it to new levels in the next few days of my stay in the Italian Alps.
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| View with the food! |
On day 2 we started off early and took the shuttle to Riva. We were all set to explore the quaint little lake town. Our first stop was a cafe where we had chai/coffee. After spending an hour doing nothing we started scouting for a lunch destination. So there were a line of restaurants facing the lake front and we did not have to debate much. We settled for this view ->
I don't remember the name of the dish I ate, but it was some kind of pasta. Duh! After a 2 hour lazy lunch, we headed to the beach. Of course, there was a pit stop for a Gelato, on the way. We found a nice spot beneath a palm tree. Paglet and I went ahead and tried to take a dip in the lake, but I was so so scared of getting drowned that I just dipped my legs and like a scared little puppy retreated to our spot. And indulged in what I do best when left alone. I got done with half the book that day!
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| When in doubt, open the book and start reading! |
We got back to festival grounds by 6 pm and changed into fresh clothes for the evening. I called it a night pretty early around 11 pm, while paglet and N continued attending the performances. It was weird to sleep alone in a tent. The music playing in the distance helped. Thankfully there were quite a few nocturnes so I was not spooked out. I was amazed how peaceful sleep I got in that tent, during those 4 nights!
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| My kind of corner in this vast universe :) |
On Day 3, I headed off to Riva on my own. Paglet and N decided to stay back. The only agenda I had was to enjoy my own company. I mean I love my company. But I was not sure whether in an unknown land I would be comfortable being in my skin. I enjoyed my alone lunch, a feat for me. I think I can now comfortably say that I have crossed that internal barrier of eating alone and moved to a territory where I have accepted eating alone is not some sort of disease. In fact, now whenever opportunity pops up I look forward to eating alone. On day2, I had already scouted for a less crowded spot under a tree, to spend my afternoon by. ->
I managed to sleep here listening to the waves, I also lazed on each of those benches (few not in the picture) soaking in the sun and I also finished few more chapters of the book. As I lay on the lawns my eyes fell on the bookshop housed in the adjacent building. I immediately made plans to go sit there. Sadly all the books there were in Italian. The reception lady was kind enough to find a picture book with english titles for me. I read through the entire book and Riva's history. The town and the entire area around lake Garda was destroyed during world war I, being really close to Austria. The book had before and after pictures of the town. It was surreal to sit in modern day Riva and read all that. Time travel anyone ?
Satiated with my day alone, I had now started missing Paglet and N. I made it in time for the 6 pm shuttle back to the festival. Changed into fresh clothes and attended a few performances. Again went back to sleep by 11 pm.
Picture from N's camera. Serene right ?
Everyone had started leaving by day 4, as the festival was almost over. Since we had no plans we decided to stay back. It was an uneventful day spent doing nothing. As luck would have it, it rained heavily throughout the night and well into the morning of day 5. We were all safe and sound inside the tent, but we ended up sleeping for 13+ hours. When rains finally stopped it was 1 pm. When we got out, all tents around us had vanished. I think people had left the open grounds and rains as soon as they got a chance. It took us 5 mins to make the same decision. We packed the entire tent and our belongings in a record 1 hour, caught the next shuttle back into Riva, found a good hostel and booked it for our last night in Italy. We walked around the town that evening, ate a very good lazy dinner at a local restaurant which had the most quirky ambience. Sleeping on a proper bed after 4 days in the jungle felt like such a welcome change. On day 6, we got ready by 10 am and checked out to head in respective directions.
Paglet and N headed back to Cologne. I started last leg of my travel with the solo trip to Austria. Exploring this part of Italy was unbelievably refreshing. It was not at all crowded. We met some amazing and interesting folks and I think I reconnected with myself after a long long time.
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| beautiful views! |
P.S.
Expenses:
Stay - none for first 4 days. 1 night at the hostel cost ~ 40 Euro
Food - Around 200 Euro for the 5 days
Shuttle/transport - 50-60 Euro for 5 days, includes ferry, train and bus tickets.
plane tickets - 40 Euro each to and fro (We had booked the flights 4 months in advance with Ryan air)
Festival tickets - 75 Euro (early bird price)
Total - 430 Euro for 5 days and 5 nights