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Category: Italy

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This year we spent some days again at the Lake Garda in Torbole. We stayed in a really good sports hotel - Aktivhotel Santalucia.

On the first day we rented mountain bikes. From Riva we cycled along the old road to Pregasina. This road is really worth walking along or cycling. Many people are cycling this way but most of them go directly to Lago di Ledro. We cycle to Pregasina first. Until then the road is paved and cycling is easy. After that the road becomes a path which goes through a forest. Many times we have to get off and push the bike. From Bocca Larici (about 900m high) you have an amazing view down on the lake. From there we continue up to Passo Rocchetta. There we have reached the highest point and can now enjoy some cycling on almost the same level before the descend. Actually we wanted to continue a bit further and then go down to Lago di Ledro. But because of the weather forecast and the clouds we decide to skip the last part and go down to Biacesa. This way down is very steep and we are lucky that the rain did not yet start because otherwise it might be slippery. From Biacesa it is not far back to Riva and Torbole. All in all a really nice bike tour, we will definitely do this again.

 

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For one day we stayed at a very nice accommodation called 'La Villa del Generale' at the southern part of the Lake Garda. The owners brought us self made food and wine in the evening and in the morning we enjoyed the breakfast on the terrace with view to the lake. We were also allowed to harvest some of the food from the garden. We enjoyed the silence of this place, walking along the lake and relaxing. Here are some impressions:

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Because the weather in the Alps was mostly very bad this summer we decided to hike through one of sunniest parts of France - the Queyras.

To go there you have two options - take the TGV trough France (very expensive) or go to Torino in Italy (cheaper) and then cross the border hiking along the Col d'Abries.

When you want to go into the Queyras national parc from Italy a good starting point is the small village Ghigo di Prali. So from Torino there is a bus to Perosa Argentina and from there a continuing bus to Ghigo Prali. So what is quite confusing is that in the maps the village is marked as Ghigo. But bus timetables and signs say Prali. So don't be confused, it is the same. We get off at the last stop. If you want to stay in Ghigo there is a posto tappa.

To go from there to France we start early in the morning and walk in the direction of Rifugio Lago Verde. At first the path goes through a forest, but later on you have a good view around. Just before the Rifugio Lago Verde we keep right and climb up to the Col d'Abries which is 2658m high. From the Col d'Abries you have a great view - one side to Italy and the other side to France. For being so high it is very green and a few hundred metres down we can see many flowers and grass. Because huge clouds are coming we go quickly down. Shortly before reaching Le Roux we walk along a river which is very beautiful. The small village Le Roux is not very spectacular and so we walk directly to Abries. Actually Abries is quite a nice small town, but there is far too much car traffic! We stayed in a gite called Le Villard. The gite was not comfortable and we were happy to leave the next morning.

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Leanimg Tower

It is only a 50 minute train ride from Florence to Pisa. Having heard so much about the Leaning Tower of Pisa we decided that it is worth going there. Actually the city has not too much to offer apart from the Field of Miracles. It is the name of the place where the Pisa Cathedral, the Pisa Baptistry, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and the Camposanto Monumentale are situated. But still it is worth going there to take a look at the tower. It was very funny to sit on the gras in front of the leaning tower and observe all the people who try to get a good picture.

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In the afternoon we arrived in Florence. We stayed at hotel B&B Repubblica. The hotel is situated in the city center and therefore a good place to explore the city.

We absolutely wanted to go to the place where all the famous photos of Florence where taken. So we asked the friendly staff at the hotel and they explained to us that we have to cross the river and then go up a hill to a car park. So we crossed the bridge which has some houses and stores on it, mostly jewellery is sold there and started to walk up the hill. It is really worth going up there, because the view of the city is just great! There were many many people and also some live music. When you are there it is worth to visit the garden with lots of different roses and also the garden with irises (they only bloom a few weeks a year and we were there during the time!). In the evening we enjoyed some good pasta.

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