2. Travel time. Bella Italia.

Bella Italia. 20.06. – 30.06.2020

We drove down from the mountain in slow motion. The weather kept getting better and better. When we arrived in the valley, the sun was even shining. The area is beautiful. We will definitely come back. But now we are longing for the sun. We quickly crossed the Brenner Pass to the South. Our first stop was near Lake Garda. A small place called Brentonico. What can we say, it is warm and sunny here. We happily park the camper van in the free parking lot and explore the town. Wilma is a bit disappointed at first because there is no water here, but she is happy about the church and a nice playground in the park. We enjoy the beautiful weather, the beautiful city, and Italy. It is quiet. Many shops are closed. Corona is present. We strike up a conversation with a mother at the playground. Wilma and the girl play together. She tells us that they are afraid. Afraid that the past weeks will repeat themselves. We sense the desperation and the respect for the virus. A strange feeling. So far, we have had little to no contact with Corona. She also says that people are happy that they can move a bit more freely now and especially go outside. We think about the conversation for a long time. We have dinner in the sun and enjoy it very much.

Malga Pra`. 21.06. – 22.06.2020

Wilma really wants to go to the water. It is Sunday and we set off for Lake Garda. After all, it is only 15 km away. We can do that. Think again! Traffic jam on the country road. A lot of cars, motorcycles, campers, and co. had the exact same plan. It took us over 2 hours for the 15 km. When we arrived at Lake Garda, the view was fantastic. But there were simply too many people. We desperately tried to find a parking space so that Wilma could at least dip her foot in the water. No chance. Impossible. Frustrated, we drove away. Far away from Lake Garda. We quickly got an ice cream in Mori and continued towards Venice over a pass. A super, super beautiful route. But it took us forever to drive just a few kilometers. Somewhere on the outskirts of the Dolomites, we found a great spot. Many hiking trails started from here. We immediately explored the area. Going up a small hill, we came across a large meadow and a organic farm with many cows. The cows were lying around relaxed. The path led right past them. They are friendly and gentle. Let themselves be petted. A great joy for all of us. We spent some time here. We drank from a spring. It was another beautiful place. Tomorrow there should actually be a hike.

Back at the site, we had dinner on the picnic blanket and went to bed early.

We were awakened by the cows. They walked down the path and swarmed around us. Wilma was ecstatic. The weather was perfect. We quickly did some laundry. I soaked our laundry overnight and washed it by hand in the morning. Wilma played and Mathias made an apple tart from our leftovers. Because we were planning to go up to the church, which we could see from down here. Packed our hiking backpack and off we went. Up to the cows and past the fountain. about 200 m from there, we took our first break. We walked through the forest always along a river. Wilma took advantage of a small bathing opportunity for extensive splashing. The cooled-down child ran even better afterwards. We dare to doubt whether it was an official hiking trail, but it was beautiful and peaceful and we were all alone. Finally, we reached a proper path. We must have been quite high up because we could see the place with the cows from here. However, we still couldn't see the church in question. We continued uphill and it got steep. We walked through two small caves. Finally, a sign. Go that way. Higher and higher. We now saw the church getting closer. We joked on the way. "Wait and see, when we get to the top, it will be closed." What can I say, when we arrived at the top, the church was not a church. It was a kind of war memorial and closed on Mondays. It was Monday. Great. Anyway, we placed ourselves right in front of it and took a break. Mathias and Wilma climbed a bit on a wall and had a great view of the area.

Now it was time to go back again. My face was as red as a fire truck. But going downhill is always faster. We turned onto a small path again, but then decided that it was time to head home. We walked back through the forest. When we reached the bottom, I felt like I was bathing in the fountain. Wilma didn't walk the whole way, but she did very well. In total, we were out for 4 hours and covered about 6.6 km. When we arrived at the camper van, we showered and prepared to leave. We didn't have any food or drinks left. We needed a supermarket. On the way there, we wanted to eat something small. We found nothing. It was already 7 pm when we had sausages and bread rolls for dinner. It is still 27 degrees outside. Our goal for today was to reach Venice. Wilma slept in the seat, but I didn't. She is in a good mood though. We arrived at the campsite in Venice around 9 pm. We took a little stroll, which was cut short because the mosquitoes were fierce and feasting on us. It was also hard to sleep because it was still 25 degrees. But we tried anyway.

San Giuliano Venezia – Falling in love with Venice. 22.06. – 23.06.

The site was a bit off and not on the island part of Venice. The price was reasonable. We paid 15 euros for 24 hours. Not bad. We got bus/train tickets at the reception. The walk was supposed to be short. Good. Next time we would use the bikes to get to the stop. The walk to the tram stop was a test of patience for us. We all slept poorly again. It was hot again and the walk seemed endless. There was no shade and Wilma kept complaining. Eventually, we arrived at the stop. The tram was almost empty and took us to the small island.

Once there, it was wonderfully empty. We walked a few meters and were already at the first canal, which shimmered green/turquoise. We were happy. Now we strolled aimlessly through Venice and its alleyways with the little canals. The city, which is usually overrun by tourists, was empty. No queues, no pushing. It was lunchtime and we were hungry. We stopped at a restaurant. Right on a small canal. Wilma and I dipped our feet in the water while we waited for our food. We had pizza and pasta and a small bottle of wine. It was delicious. The wine still lingers, just the thought of it.

Strengthened, we continued our walk. We let ourselves wander. Looked left and right. Looked into this church, looked into that church. Watched the gondoliers on their advertising tours. It is a beautiful city and we are happy to get to know Venice at this time. As terrible as the corona time was/is for all of us, but especially for Italy. We reached St. Mark's Square. It was empty too. Even the pigeons were nowhere to be seen. St. Mark's Cathedral was being renovated. We visited a small exhibition above it and took a peek inside the cathedral. This was recommended to us by an Austrian couple. From there, we went to the water and looked out over the Gulf of Venice. It also shimmered turquoise. We felt like having ice cream. There were opportunities on every corner. Just not at that moment. We sat down in a café on St. Mark's Square and looked at the menu. 12 euros for an ice chocolate was too much for us. The search continued. At a small intersection, we found a nice ice cream parlor. Here, each of us treated ourselves to an ice chocolate. Probably one of the best we have ever had.

Now all that was left was a gondola ride. I could have done without it because it cost 50 euros. But Mathias really wanted to do it, after all, it is part of Venice. So we went on the ride. It was okay, but nothing more. We had already seen so many more beautiful spots on foot. There was a small paper shop at the gondola landing point. We had noticed it before. We were curious and went inside. The owner was in the process of printing paper himself. He explained to us in English/German what he was doing. It was very exciting. Beautiful things. In this shop, we bought a large photo album that we will fill with the texts and photos of our journey. Something special for something special.

Our feet were tired and we were exhausted. Around 6 pm, we left the lagoon and prepared to leave. We still needed to stock up on food and drinks. We emptied the camper van and refilled it. Around 8 pm, we set off. After all, we didn't want to do anything other than swim in this weather. So we went to the beach. Around 11 pm, we put Wilma to bed with the words "We are at the beach."

Adriatic Coast – Comacchio. Can be done, but doesn't have to. 23.06. – 24.06.2020

There was actually supposed to be an official parking space there. But there was a barrier blocking it at night. We parked in a parking lot next to another camper van. The night was okay. We constantly heard the sound of engines from a distance. That was a bit annoying. We woke up early, considering that we had only arrived in the middle of the night. Our first stop was the beach. Hardly anyone there. The beach reminded me a lot of Bulgaria. Somehow, everything was a bit Eastern Bloc. The Mediterranean flair was gone. The water was greenish/brownish. Very agitated by the wind and quite warm. Nevertheless, we went in for a bit. After all, our last swim was a few days ago.

Back at the camper van, we had breakfast. We decided to spend the day at the beach. Even though we didn't find it very beautiful. Just lying around and swimming was what we wanted and needed now. Mathias tried to clarify the situation with the parking space. Parking tickets were supposed to be available in the restaurant next to us. Yes, they were. However, we would have to pay 21 euros for the parking space. In these 21 euros, it was included: no setting up tables and chairs. Sitting outside on the premises is not allowed. No opening side windows, no grilling, no disposal facilities, but entry to the private beach area. We didn't have to think long and simply bought a parking ticket for the parking lot where we were standing. It cost us 4 euros, including the above-mentioned prohibitions.

We packed our beach things and set off. It was a relaxing day. Lying around, swimming, playing, eating. For dinner, we grilled. Mathias stood in front of the camper van. Wilma and I prepared everything inside. We ate inside. After all, it was just a regular parking lot. We wanted to spend another night here to get a good night's sleep. But it turned out differently. When we wanted to wash the grill, we realized that it was gone. We had actually been stolen from right in front of our door. Crazy. The dirty gas grill, along with the water, was gone. Bold and audacious together. Mathias was very angry and decided not to stay here for another night. "Who knows what will be missing tomorrow morning – bicycles, tires, etc."

So we quickly packed everything up. Wilma got ready for bed and slept in the seat. We drove inland. The Adriatic coast had our attention for exactly 20 hours. Our journey took us through Tuscany for a while. Past huge sunflower fields and beautiful scenery. We enjoyed the sunset during the drive.

Castiglione del Lago – Terribly beautiful. 24.06. – 27.06.2020

We arrived at Lake Castiglione around 11:30 pm. We couldn't see anything. Mathias parked and then it happened. We drove into something. We overlooked a lamppost and now we had an S-shaped bike rack. Very annoying. We fell into bed exhausted. With a cuddle session, we started the new day. We read and looked out of the side window at a turquoise blue lake. The morning couldn't have started better. Breakfast and off to the water. Our spot was right next to a kite spot. But due to corona, it was closed and we had it all to ourselves. The water was very shallow, which was great for Wilma. She could swim well with her armbands. It had been a long time since we went stand-up paddleboarding. We looked at the city from the lake, which seems to have a big castle. Beautiful!

Today, we only moved from the camper van to the water, back to the blanket, water, blanket – camper van. In the evening, we actually went to bed early and slept well.

The weather was great again, just like the previous days. We had breakfast. Wilma didn't eat much because she wanted to go into the water. So we fell back into the water after breakfast. Alternating between keeping Wilma entertained and one of us going stand-up paddleboarding. Time flew by and it was already past 12 noon. We got hungry for lunch and wanted to eat something small. We made our way to the town and to the aforementioned castle. The path led us along the water all the time. We walked through an olive grove up to the castle. Once we arrived, we couldn't find the entrance at first. Only an entrance for staff. We concluded that the castle must be a hotel. We saw some laminated signs. Since we don't speak Italian, we looked them up on our phones and translated them for ourselves. We were a bit confused and shocked because they were signs pointing to the mortuary. Large trucks were driving back and forth. It was so creepy. We continued walking and arrived at the castle. It is actually beautifully situated and well preserved. But we didn't only come to the castle but also to a corona hospital. Mobile medical stations were standing there next to large tents. People were walking around here and there. The entrance was secured by security personnel. It was so surreal. Creepy and made us pensive. We went a bit further into the castle theater, but I just wanted to get away. From the castle, we walked into the old town. We stopped at a restaurant and took some time to digest what had just happened. We had a snack and watched the people. They were in a good mood, relaxed. The castle was probably not in as much demand as it had been in the past few months. We discovered a banner for a thank-you party the next day. The people seem to be returning to normal more and more every day.

We walked through the town. We liked what we saw. We looked through some backyards and could see the lake directly from some of them. A visit to a church was a must. We slowly made our way back to the camper van. We bought a few things and spent the rest of the day at and in the water.

What we had seen lingered and moved us. We ended the evening in a relaxed manner.

Our little alarm clock woke us up. Peculiarly enough, only to have us remove the safety net. Wilma immediately went to the bathroom. Brushed her teeth and washed her hands without being asked. Why? Because she only wants one thing, to go to the water. All residents go into the water. It is wild splashing, swimming, fishing. Finally, we are allowed to get out and have breakfast.

We packed up and drove to the nearby campsite for disposal. Today we are heading to the Mediterranean, further across Italy.

Turquoise blue water right outside our door. 27.06. – 28.06.2020

We pass numerous sunflower fields. We let the first five pass by. Wilma and I really want to get out. We want to have a close look at the sunflowers. Mathias doesn't like to stop by the roadside. We are on a small country road, so no problem. Wilma and I get out quickly. Outside, we realize how hot it is. It is certainly over 30 degrees. We quickly walk into the field. Left and right. The flowers are almost twice as tall as us. Great! Back in the car, we are happy, and Dad is too because we continue. Lunch break was not requested. The child wanted us to keep going. She eventually fell asleep, and we were able to drive non-stop. We made a total of 2 breaks. Around 1 am, we arrived in Bavaria. We were exhausted. We found a beautiful spot and ended up at Lake Eichinger. We fell into bed completely tired.

The night was cooler, so we all slept very well. The first question Wilma asked in the morning was, "Are we already in Rostock?" No, but we had already covered about half of the distance. Mathias explored the area outside and checked out the lake, which we could only imagine at night.

He came back excited and we grabbed our towels and went to the water. In fact, there was a beautiful lake in front of us. Crystal clear water. Hardly a soul in sight. We joyfully jumped in. It was much colder than the sea but wonderful. There couldn't be a better start to the day. Now we were hungry for breakfast. There was a bakery not far from us. We drove there with the camper van. It was a small supermarket parking lot. Besides bread rolls, we also bought some groceries for lunch. We also met someone from Leipzig who was delighted to see a Rostock car in his new adopted home. It was almost noon when we made our way to the highway. Wilma was already tired of driving. In total, we made three long breaks. They were good for all of us. At one rest area, we even had a large playground where we could all let off some steam. Wilma fell asleep in her seat around 10 pm.

It was exactly midnight when we arrived in Rostock at the same place where we had left on November 29, 2019.

Behind us were 30 days, three countries, and over 4000 km. We felt a bit sad and nostalgic.

But inside us, there was a sense of self-confidence and a strong desire to never live our lives differently than we have in the past 7 months.

The past few months have indeed been a journey to a more self-determined life. The courage to escape the societal constraints and do more things we want to do and fewer things that others expect from us.

Out of the hamster wheel, hello adventure life!