Report from Malcolm Hughes
We head to breakfast early as we want to make the most of the day, now this is breakfast, fried eggs cooked fresh along with omelettes and crepes, bacon , sausages, different breads, yoghurt, fruit and cakes. We leave the hotel to head to the port and take a cruise on the lake its already very warm, we buy our tickets and have a coffee whilst we wait. The little boat is mobbed as it approaches no organised queuing here, we manage to get some of the last seats upstairs on the outside deck. The sun is really bright on the clear waters of the lake. The wind surfers are out in force, as are the pedalows. We think we will get off at the second stop Limonato but as we approach we decide as nice as it looks its full of people so we will go onto Macaselene.
As we get there, there is an old fashioned sailing ship leaving the port and the mountains in front of us tower above. Maccaslene is a lovely village that is mostly in the old part cobbled streets, mainly on hills, small but tall buildings, houses and gift shops, with lots of ice cream parlours, bars and cafes thrown in. We take in a beer because it is really hot after the lake ride, the restaurant garden is beautiful with vines growing all around it.
We head past the beautiful looking castle to the cable car to go up the mountain. Here we join a long queue which takes about an hour and a half to actually get into the building. However it is definitely worth the wait. The cars take us up Mount Bolan giving us what we think are great views of the lake behind us, little did we know. By now its scorching hot.
At the top we are just amazed at the view from the sun lounge back down the mountain and over the lake. However its lunch time so we get another beer and a burger which it turns out not only has cheese on it but a massive slice of aubergine, this is lovely and not just because were hungry. We then decide to walk along the plateau of the mountain and one of the first things we come across is a pen with Llamas in it! We walk further along to find paragliders sitting on the mountain side, they wait for the thermals and then lift off and just cruise above the mountain and towards the lake. The further we walk the better the view, we get to a point where we cant walk any further and the view is just awesome, looking exactly where we cam from hours ago in the morning.
We make a small detour on the way back to the cable car and stop at another lovely bar where we have the German delicacy of Radler which is beer with grapefruit juice which was lovely in this open garden with the sun beating down. There is a market stall selling cheese! We head back down the mountain again is a cue. This is then followed by a rush to the boat so we can get back to town.
The hotel was another with its own private underground car park.
Later that evening, Millers Oils Italian agent Umberto Ferrari arrived to see us. Rob Sargent reports:
Having previously negotiated the 350 bottles of Millers Oils VSPe additive, Millers decided it would be a great idea to have an amount to be distributed halfway along the trip. I arranged that we were to meet up with Millers Italian distribution agent at our hotel at Lake Garda, an ideal meeting place!
Having a really lovely garden restaurant with in the grounds of our fabulous hotel, I thought it would be nice to invite Umberto and his wife Giulia join us for dinner, along with those in the group that wanted to join us too. I made an appointment with the restaurant manager to come up with a special menu for our party and he worked out a price for a typical 4 course Italian meal offering us a couple of options for starters, main, and a dessert buffet. On the face of it 50 Euros a head seamed expensive, however the meal turned out to be possibly the best we had on the trip!
Everyone was seated waiting for our guests, when I had a text from Umberto to say they were delayed because of an accident. It was an hour and three drinks later when Umberto and Giulia arrived. The night was warm it was decided that it would be nice to eat outside, the setting of the garden around us was perfect.
The evening rounded off with me presenting a rally plaque to Umberto with thanks from us all for his time to come and meet up with us and for bringing the second supply of additives.
A photo shoot with a couple of the cars in the underground garage showing off our additives with Umberto, concluded what turned out to be a very enjoyable and pleasant evening.
Our thanks to Umberto and Millers Oils!
Day 8
All photos © Cortina MkII Owners Club LTD
