Garda to Munich via Austria.

Last night's passeggiata was good to watch, all ages out to impress, the music however was not so good, firstly a rock band who started with a thirty minute jam session but playing the same melody/riff repeatedly and the second act in a different venue was a single guitarist with a good voice and interesting catalogue of songs by Neil Young, America, Dylan etc his problem was he couldn't play the guitar. We left Garda at 8:30 and headed north into the Alps, parts of the trip were quite boring going through long tunnels full of exhaust fumes but as we turned off for the Stelvio Pass things improved, some of the tunnels were original with no room for two cars to pass and there were even waterfalls in a couple of them and in some of the galleries. The climb up to the top of the pass was very twisty and the way down was even better. I was going to stop for a bratty at the top but there was no parking space, it must be mad in summer. I was amazed at the number of cyclists who go up, I can see the fun in coming down and you could see the fixed grins on the cyclists faces as they hated down the mountain. There was a big difference across the border in Austria, it seemed cleaner and more ordered and the road surface was a huge improvement on the Italian potholes. I stopped at the first Austrian services for lunch, it was like a five star hotel, immaculately clean and everything in its place, staff dressed in traditional dirndl though thank god there were no lederhosen on view. I went for the huge serving of gulashsuppe, that definitely killed the hunger pangs. Nine hours after leaving Garda I found my hotel in Munich. The hotel car park is a new style to me, I drove down into the basement where a receptionist directed me through a sliding gate onto a metal plinth, when I locked the car and walked out of the gate she pressed a button and the car descended into a sub basement, like something out of James Bond. Munich looks well worth a visit, this will go on my city break list. I did go for a walk down to the centre and down by the river, the public transport system seems very good, lots of trams and busses and a large underground besides all that everyone else uses bikes on proper bike paths, I wonder if the do cycle hire like Boris's bikes.

Heading north.

Last night's stay in Osteria dei Segretii was just right, a well appointed room with an eiderdown - I haven't seen one for years. The meal, wine and beer in a relaxed atmosphere also helped and everyone else there was Italian. The prices weren't silly and the only downside was all the noise as they sorted out the restaurant at the end of the night but I was distracted by a Harlan Coben book I had started which I managed to put down at 1am. The started of today's journey was perfect, cool sunny conditions after last nights rain but then I hit the coast - 11 miles on two hours, not funny. I arrived up in Garda at fourish and found that now we are in season I will have to pay for parking, damn. The advantage of it being in season is there is more opportunity for people watching so that was a nice couple of Nastro Azzuros by the way I can recommend last nights tipple, Menabrea. I booked into the same hotel that I stayed in two years ago here in Garda because they posted my Kindle back to me after I had left it on my room, in my mind it was a sort of repayment for their kindness but I shouldn't have bothered they don't remember me at all. Very deflating to the ego. My afternoon aperitif was taken in a cafe which has live music tonight so here's hoping. Long day tomorrow, Munich via the Stelvio Pass if it is open.

The long drive home begins.

The stay at an Italian resort was quite relaxing when I could get away from the entertainments team's extremely loud Europop which they played at various venues throughout the resort without any warning, but now the drive home has begun. I had a lovely drive through the countryside from Metaponto to Termoli which was brightened up by the Layby Lils from Foggia all the way to the coast, I waved to them all, funnily enough not one of them waved back. The coast road along the Adriatic is very slow so reluctantly I jumped on the toll motorway which was OK until I came off when the automatic cashier gobbled my ticket and cash and then shut down still owing me €9.50, after lots of Italian shouting from the machine itself they gave up and raised the barrier for me. I will lay money that I now get a bill for a lost ticket but I will email my dissatisfaction and follow it up with a letter when I get home. Tonight I am staying at The Secret Osteria up in the hills west of Ancona, a lovely location and the restaurant is very popular with the locals so tonight's dinner should be good. Tomorrow's destination is Garda.