We left the hotel this morning, went down the road for about 100 yards or so and made a right hand turn on to the bike path through a vineyard then a small park
To where we discovered some public art and of course photos were required. The trail wound through the community under over passes and additional vineyards before popping out on a bikeway following the river south to lake heading to Lake Garda about 14 miles south. Large groups of cyclists were out as well. I then realized that it was Saturday and everyone was out playing today,
I was struck by how well integrated the bike path was to the community and also, unlike the US, there was not a strong demarcation between agriculture and the urban community. Bike paths wound through the city and agriculture were interwoven. It made for a very pleasant morning ride.
We arrived at Lake Garda fairly quickly and was treated to a gorgeous view as we descended into down to the lake. We were to take a ferry south to avoid several tunnels. Tunnels and cyclists generally do not mix well. We arrived almost an hour before the ferry was scheduled to depart so of course we looked for some Coffee and streusel. We were at the resort town of Torbole, a resort community where shops and cafes abounded.
The paddle wheel ferry arrived and we were off for our one hour nautical cruise to the town of Malcesine where Jan had driven the van and was waiting for us. He had arrived earlier and found a quiet restaurant for lunch.
Malcesine was a very crowded resort town with every seat of the cafes filled shops packed with shoes and the walkways packed with vacationers. It's hard to imagine what this town is like during the high season.
Jan had located a quiet restaurant about a 1 km out of town for lunch where we had a lazy lunch and conversed with a couple from Philadelphia who rents a place here and comes for the windsurfing.
It was soon time to bike the second half of the route to the hotel which followed the lake south for 24 miles and turned inland where in a small town, Jan spotted an ice cream shop where we complete the Duo Trifecta. Our second day of; Coffee, Lunch and Ice Cream. How much better could it get.
From there it was about 10 km to where the hotel was waiting for us.
Second half of the ride
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