Back to blighty via Calais…

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The plan was for a day out cycling around the Tegernsee but again we were defeated by the weather. Still the weather patterns during and subsequently to our trip put our holiday into perspective.

More bad weather was forecast for the Thursday and Friday so we decided to abandon our plans to visit Koblenz and decided to head to camping Prumtal in Oberweiss, near Bitburg. We had already re-scheduled our

Trip Overview

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Friday, 3.May.2013 1 night, Black Horse CC Site, Folkestone
Saturday, 4.May.2013 1 night, Camping du Lac de la Liez, Langres
Sunday, 5.May.2013 2 nights, Camping le Soleil, Orange
Tuesday, 7.May.2013 2 nights, Camping Valdeiva, Deiva Marina
Thursday, 9.May.2013 14 nights, Camping Semifonte, Barberino D’Elsa
Thursday, 23.May.2013 1 night, Camping Capuccino, Lake Garda
Friday, 24.May.2013 7 nights, Camping Wallberg, Lake Tegernsee, Munich
Friday, 31.May.2013 1 night, Camping Prumptal
Saturday, 1.June.2013 1 night, Camping Saint Louis, Calais

The return from Munich…

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The plan was for a day out cycling around the Tegernsee but again we were defeated by the weather. Still the weather patterns during and subsequently to our trip put our holiday into perspective.

More bad weather was forecast for the Thursday and Friday so we decided to abandon our plans to visit Koblenz and decided to head to camping Prumtal in Oberweiss, near Bitburg. We had already re-scheduled our

Hike down Wallberg…

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Our friends from Munich took the train out to Tegernsee and we ascended the Wallberg mountain on the cable car – an ascent of over 1000 meters.

The mountain was still covered in snow – yes, snow just a few days before the start of June!

We hiked down the mountain via one of the “red” descent paths – very gruelling.

The Boss…

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This was the primary reason we ended our trip in Munich. To see the “Boss” at the Olympiastadium in Munich. Not avid Springsteen fans but we had heard so much about his shows that this seemed a must.

The concert was excellent taking place in the most horrific of circumstances. Driving and persistent rain was accompanied by high winds and a temperature of around 40 with wind-chill in the early 30s. Springsteen was great and performed for close to 3 hours in conditions that many said would have caused most rock shows to be cancelled.

An all German affair…

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We had delayed erecting the awning the previous day and so we set about this little exercise on Day 23, the Saturday. In fact, the Saturday of the UEFA cup final between Dortmund and Bayern Munich. A long evening was spent in the Brauhaus at Tegernsee drinking, eating and watching the football. Jubilation for the Bayern fans at the end of the game.

Across the Alps…

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Temperatures plummeted overnight and we set off the next day towards Innsbruck in gale force winds and heavy rain. With the Brenner pass ahead (although now the Brenner motorway) it did cross our minds to abandon and spend another night at Garda. Anyhow we pressed ahead and the weather gradually got worse until we hit Blizzard conditions across the Austrian border. We then made the decision to head straight to Munich and skip the overnighter at Innsbruck.

The direct route from Innsbruck would have been to exit the motorway at Jenbach and head north to Tegernsee. We weren’t sure about how accessible these roads would be in the prevailing weather conditions so we took the autobahn all the way around Tegernsee as far as Holzkirchen and then dropped down to Tegernsee.

We did drive the direct route later in the week and it would not have posed any problems for us.

Arrival at Tegernsee near Munich was late afternoon and Camping Wallberg.

After so much rain, much of the campsite was rather boggy and wet so it was difficult to find a decent pitch on the grass places.

Pescheira del Garda…

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Finally left the gem of a campsite at Semifonte and set the GPS for Lake Garda or to be more specific, Pescheira del Garda. A short and pleasant trip north through Italy reaching our destination before the Siesta and thus avoiding a 2 hour wait at the campsite entrance. Finally, we reached a “dead-end” of a road where the campsite was supposed to be.  Not a camper in sight. Firstly google maps took the rap, then GPS and finally it turned out the navigator had plotted the wrong street name.

Anyhow, we asked a passing Italian motorist for the location of Camping Capuccini. Initially he tried unsuccessfully to explain and then just beckoned us to follow him as he guided us the final 2 kilometers to the correct location. We actually found Italy a very friendly and welcoming place; apart from small roads and the chaotic driving (which appears to be genetically implanted).

Camping Capuccini was fantastic with very decent-sized pitches and a very well-organised site with beautiful views over Garda from the best pitches. We have stayed at other places near Garda and they tend to be very cramped and busy – almost like shanty towns. Not so Camping Capuccini.

The sun shone all afternoon and it was warm enough for us to celebrate out 21st wedding anniversary around the BBQ with a bottle of champagne (well, an Italian imitation at least!). Just as we finished dining, the heavens opened up with a terrific electrical storm and that was the end of probably only the third or fourth nice day.