Summer 2022 was defined by swimming. Inspired by both the heatwave and Roger Deakin's wonderful Waterlog, I found myself in rivers, seas and occasionally the freezing Cambridge lido. Deakin's book is a charming ode to the wonders of swimming and celebration of the subaqueous world as he charts his watery journey through Britain's rivers. I'd love, one day, to make a similar journey - an aquatic pilgrimage of sorts - through Europe. So, having moved once again to Austria for a year, I spent just over a week border and lake hopping through Austria, Italy, Switzerland and Germany!
The trip commenced in Schwaz, a mountain-ringed city in Tirol, where I stayed with a friend before a rudely early Flixbus to Italy (more on that saga in a minute...) What was labelled a gentle walk round the town to stretch our legs turned into a 3 hour hike through the chilly forest. Dressed in winter coats and looking out at snowy peaks in the distance, I felt catapulted from high summer into deep winter.
Flixbus has a lot to answer for. Having woken up at 03:45 for a bus which would get us to Verona in time for breakfast (oh what a lovely idea!), at 07:30 we were still waiting by a depressingly empty Parkplatz. Late enough for the sun to have risen and the group of partiers at the club next door to have drizzled away in taxis. Perhaps we should have joined them to pass the time.
Vowing never to book a bus again, we switched croissants in Italy for Strudel in Innsbruck (no complaints on that front!) before catching an annoyingly punctual train over the border. Finally, we were on our way.
Verona was busy and beautiful! There for just a couple of hours, we did a quick loop of the city, past the infamous balcony, around the arena and through a delicious restaurant - day one of my impressively long pizza streak.
From Verona we took a quick train to Lake Garda and were met with a shock of blue from lake to mountainous horizon to sky. I wanted to jump in there and then.
At Lake Garda we stayed in a campsite cabin (https://gasparina.com) just seconds from the water. Other than a near miss with an excitable gas stove, it couldn't have been a more perfect base for exploring the lake.
On our second day, and one of the few 'full' days we had in any place on the trip, we set off bright and early in the direction of Lazise, following the lake northwards. We stopped for two swims en route - the first in a rather muddy section and the second in crystal clear water. We also briefly spotted a turtle before he saw us and dived offensively quickly below water.
In Lazise I continued my pizza streak, spotted a baguette postbox (baguettebox? pane post?) and almost broke my phone by overdoing the photos.
Lake Garda was a wonderful first lake in the series and perhaps one which would be fun to swim the whole length of? Maybe. One day. But first, onto Lake Como!
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