Garda Lake 2006

traveller and go

From the morning, from our departure, the heat and the sun were ready to back us up....we leave at 9 from Racconigi and after a short shopping stop at a shopping center, we take the highway at Carmagnola (TO) to reach Lake Garda. Loaded with adrenaline and the urge to blow the earth's crust apart, we face 4 hours of travel with various stops and silly antics on the highway....it's us, the usual ones!!! we never disappoint when it comes to doing dumb things! In the early afternoon we arrive at Peschiera del Garda and, thanks to my iron memory and 120% sense of direction, we reach our campsite on the shores of the lake, immersed in greenery. Our 4-person bungalow is quite spacious with even a semi-garden in front of the entrance and separate rooms with bunk beds.

We settle in and unload.....meanwhile a school group of Dutch kids attacks us and blocks all escape routes! In the end we decide that at 3 in the afternoon you can also have lunch and we get to work, between stoves, dishes, various cleanings, making the beds, in short it's a continuous collaboration. In order not to waste time, which is money, after lunch we go for a walk along the lakeshore near our campsite and spot some very "in" spots, people on the beach, small bars, moored pedal boats, a wild nature that pushes us to always go further.

We find a small docking point for the ferry boat that travels the whole lake, but by now it's too late to reach any place by boat, so we decide to give maximum vent to our scenic creativity and take photos everywhere.....passersby look at us curiously while my friend Paola decides that I have to play the court jester and take "front page" photos......We come back at sunset and enjoy the breathtaking and very romantic sunset (a shame there were 4 women!!!!) sitting on the lakeside promenade in front of a spectacle of nature...... The campsite comes alive at 8 in the evening and people prepare barbecues and various dinners in the camper vans.

We weave among the people and reach Via Stoccarda...there lies our beloved bed! We laze around a bit, chatting, laughing, we branch out by taking a tour of the campsite which is beautiful, well-equipped, 3 pools, tennis courts, supermarket, reception, lodgings, public green spaces, many bungalows and many happy, carefree people enjoying their vacation time. The entire campsite is immersed in that "peace and love" atmosphere.....and so we start preparing dinner.....which at ten sees us sitting at the table.....we stay awake until late at night and after a regenerating shower we stay playing cards like the men in the old Wild West and in saloons...until past one in the morning.....maybe we should rest....once in bed, racket until 2.....the next morning we're dead on our feet at eight!!

Movie Studio

At past nine we barely manage to leave our bungalow...equipped for a day out to face the "rapids" of the Movie Studio amusement park, part of the Caneva World complex, which includes 1 water park, currently still closed, 1 Hollywood film-themed park, 1 "King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table" themed restaurant, with even an arena with horseback shows, and 1 70s/80s music-themed restaurant. We arrive and luckily the queue at the ticket office is relatively quick.

In fact we go in and dive into the set!!!! The first attraction we decide to visit is the Horror House....which I already knew.....I literally died of fear.....An attraction with a very long route, winding in the dark through various themed rooms with actors and reproductions of the "coolest" scenes from the most famous horror films on world TV.....from Halloween to Psycho, from The Exorcist to various scenes of pure terror with very skilled actors who play their assigned parts excellently. In the labyrinth we're with 2 other poor wretches who accompany us along the attraction, one at the head and one at the tail. I'm scared to the nth degree and between screams, music, settings, scares, we come out traumatized from the attraction. Outside, Zorro is walking his horse up and down Main Street.

We recover and after a stroll among the stunt doubles we land at Magma...our next attraction is quieter than the Horror House but equally adrenaline-pumping. We take our seats on trucks specially modified for the occasion. It's a route on these trucks, in a power plant that goes to pieces as we pass through......Flames, sprays, the vehicle stops in a sort of pool of water....it starts up again.....goes backward.....travels fast, we pass through a garage where an earthquake is simulated, explosions, in the end a bit wet we arrive.

It's time to put something under our teeth......Pizza.......So a pizza break and meanwhile the day heats up, the park gradually fills with people and children.....in the early afternoon, just to digest faster, we decide to go on some attractions in the relax zone....a water ride aboard hypothetical logs...an attraction in which you get wet....I guarantee you! A ride on the dancing octopus.....and one on the fastest roller coaster in the west, a rather old roller coaster I'd say! A monorail takes you around the park in the open air.

We enjoy the various shows going on in the afternoon, between Rambo, Blues Brothers, Zorro,........it gets to 5 in the afternoon and after the second Magma tour, a self-service ice cream stop, Terminator and two photos, at 6 we settle into the car to return to the campsite! More than an hour of traffic jam on the road leading to the campsite wears us out and tires us more than it should...... In the bungalow shower and dinner, we're exhausted...... So SLEEEEEEP!!!!!!

Gardaland Forever

As every proper year, we make the little trip to park no. 01 in Italy....we're a step away from Gardaland and on Monday morning we wake up very early for the little outing. We leave already tired from the morning and once we arrive at the Park, right at the ticket offices, there are insane queues and hours of waiting at any attraction. We go in and start from the back of the park, thus finding fewer people than expected.....We burn through by immediately going on adrenaline-pumping attractions and shake off our morning sleepiness.

Blue Tornado, the roller coaster with your feet dangling.........Colorado Boat, the logs in the water.............Sequoia, the vertical route in the sawmill............Magic House, Prezzemolo's house, fairy-tale and enchanted, and Magic Mountain, the classic roller coaster.....Peter Pan which seems like an attraction for small defenseless children......, Escape from Atlantis, a water ride on boats with screaming scenery!!!! Pit stop lunch! We want to go have lunch at the Aladino self-service....but the queue at the registers is hours long.....the "Buccaneers' Den" restaurant has people everywhere.......in the end we settle for a quick sandwich at the sandwich shop in the Arab square. Right at lunchtime the park fills up immeasurably with people, and in the afternoon we barely manage to do a little something and see the ice skating show.

Pirate Island and the candy shop......closing time arrives early and after a shopping stop we prepare ourselves for yet another queuing to merge onto the road to the campsite. In fact it takes us something like a couple of hours to get home...... We're cooked like pears.....we're exhausted and we cling to the table to lift our spirits.......A nice heavy dinner and after the usual two chats and 8 cigarettes.......sleeeeeeeep!!!!

Last Day

On our last day of vacation in that corner of paradise we decide to sleep in.....at 10 I wake up and jump to my feet, there are dishes to wash in the kitchen, we're hungry and craving breakfast........we nibble and chat cheerfully, still tired from the previous day's massacre, we start cleaning the bungalow in view of our departure.....how sad......the day is a bit cloudy but still warm, we take two photos, the classic ones before leaving the place. They even let us have lunch in the bungalow and we leave the campsite at 2 in the afternoon.... Sad and disheartened we get on the highway and this time without adrenaline, we get a bit of rain and a bit of sun, there's no traffic and by 5 in the afternoon we're home!! Tired, Happy and always up for a party!!