Lake Garda and Trent

We left San Marino about midday. After a long drive on the motorways (in order to get some distance behind us) we finally arrived at Lake Garda. The plan was to have a picnic lunch somewhere alongside the lake.  Well, it was very busy and built up and unattractive.  Whenever we found somewhere near the lake that appeared to have parking it was totally full. We finally found somewhere for our picnic lunch at ten past four.

Lake side stop for a picnic lunch

Afterwards we continued to follow the lake around its western shore.  For a long time we did not like what we saw, but eventually it started to become more attractive.  We were also trying to work out where we would spend the night. Places that we drove through looked very difficult to park in, and when we checked the price of one place it was incredibly expensive.  So we kept driving.  

We went through quieter roads in the hope that we might find something, but this part of Italy is very industrial and unattractive.  We arrived in Trento (also called Trent, as in the Council of Trent), couldn't find anywhere to park and it was getting very late.  We tried trip advisor and there wasn't a lot around. We had already decided to take a break the next day to let Andy do some work, as the next thing we wanted to see was Ötzi the Iceman, and that museum would be closed the next day. Trip advisor did include a Best Western. Rather than book online we decided to drive there and check it out. It was in the middle of an industrial estate with trucks and containers everywhere. But, strangely, it was quiet, and you know that a Best Western will be clean and have reliable internet, so we decided to stay for 2 nights.

Actually, it was lucky that we made it into Trento in one piece.  Sadie (our sadistic SatNav) twice told us to "turn right now" when to the right of us was a solid wall, and once told us to turn left when there was a no entry sign at that point.

The next day actually turned out to be a holiday (the Festa della Repubblica) so the restaurant wasn't open for lunch or dinner, which was very annoying. Especially as the Hotel didn't tell us, or have any signs up - they obviously assumed we knew it was a holiday and that we knew the restaurant would be closed as a result. We ended up going to a place recommended by the hotel for lunch (which was incredibly hard to find, even with their directions and our sadistic SatNav, and going back into Trento for dinner, and I can't say I fell in love with it (Trento, that is).  The dinner was good, though.

Trent castle

Andy's dinner - blueberry gnocci.
My dinner was less dramatic