16/11/24
We could probably have spent a week kicking back on the island. It was one of those places where time feels like it’s paused. Despite that we knew it hadn’t. Increasingly, we have become aware that 90 days isn’t very long. Thanks to the impossibly kind people who voted to leave the EU, we only have 90 in every 180 days to spend in Schengen countries. We are already at 35. Our original plan to spend a week here or there is actually completely implausible.
After a spectacular breakfast atop the roof again we boarded the ferry at about half 9 back to Iseo. As we’d not had any coffee facilities at the hotel, we stopped at a nice little cafe before resuming our journey to Brescia.
When we were retracing our steps and rejoining the route, we almost, due to the overlapping roads on the map, ended up going into an unsuitable tunnel! Some kind folk gave us a quick toot and helped us question our direction.
We headed up a nice hill climb and being that it was Saturday there were plenty of MAMIL’s to cheer us on again. We were not only blessed by the Sun but also clearly marked cycle routes. Turns out Bicitalia isn’t so bad after all.
We arrived in Brescia around noon. It was an interesting city and fortunately the route took us straight to the piazzas and the duomo (cathedral). It was a very popular place to be on a Saturday. The tight streets packed with market goers and tourists. Attempting to go round the market we ended up pushing through a crowd of street drinkers. It was a beautiful day, who could blame them, but having to shout ‘scuzi’ in their ears only to have them ignore you was a little weird.
We weren’t able to explore the exquisitely preserved rotunda together due to the burden of the bicycles, but we parked up by a coffee shop and went in one at a time. Steps led down to the usual naves and church structures but there was also a crypt. On Jonathan’s first attempt to explore he was apprehended for wearing shorts. This wasn’t allowed and he had to slip some trousers over his bib shorts before returning inside.
We had a soya cappuccino and then headed to the nearest vegan friendly ice cream shop. It had multiple delicious flavours and we settled on crème de marroni, coconut stracciatella, dark chocolate and pistachio. The marroni was like a chestnut infused frozen sugar paste and this obviously meant it was very tasty indeed.
We’d decided to try to make it as far as lake Garda today. A well known place and one which we thought we should peruse. As we left Brescia the weather became a little more as we would have expected, foggy and slightly colder. Though at first it wasn’t clear if it was air pollution. It was probably a combination of the two.
The farmhouse we had a room in was just outside a small town to the west of the lake. And as we’d become accustomed to, up a very steep hill. It wasn’t far though and Giovanni was there to welcome us. He was a friendly man who couldn’t speak much English at all. We were able to work our way to seeing if he had a 1/2” wrench, which he didn’t. The Green Surly was still creaking, though only in the afternoons strangely enough. The 3/8” ratchet and adapter to fit the cassette tool wasn’t cutting it. In fact the ratchet was buckling under the strain of trying to get to 40Nm.
The farmhouse was heated by Giovanni’s continuously tended fires. An open fire as well as a large AGA. The house smelled strongly of smoke. He seemed to live alone and routinely went outside to chop more wood. It was clear the house was deteriorating and much of it was clad in scaffolding.
Our room was large and comfortable. We had a good view to the potential lake, though all we could see was fog. We had some tea as well as some bread and bits. Nothing exciting that’s for sure. We watched Showtrial on the iPlayer. It strangely still works when you’re roaming because your signal seems to be routed through the UK for some reason.
It was a very tranquil place. More peaceful even than Monte Isola. Something about being in someone else’s house made it more homely and calm inducing. The weather forecast said the fog should be gone by morning.
Surly They Won't Make It 