Monday, March 21, Week 8
Tomorrow 2 °C
Noon 24°C
Evening 15 °C
We found blue skies and sunshine. It's still a little warmer, but we're already very happy with the weather.
After many years we are back in Italy, even if only passing through. The campsite in Ormea is really beautifully situated and well thought out. It is a success and has even been enlarged.
We decided to end the trip in Ticino and so today we are driving to Switzerland. The Italian motorways, or rather the toll stations, are very nerve-wracking. Every other machine doesn't accept the ticket. At least you don't have to ring the bell. After a certain amount of time, a person automatically joins you, but then you also have to know which entrance you took. OK, in the end we always manage to get the barrier to open.
The Italians aren't the best at building bridges either. Our Pfüdi groans at every threshold that comes every few meters.
We finally end up at the Riarena campsite. With ACSI it's 22.00 CHF plus 10.00 CHF tourist tax and camping tax, making it one of the cheapest in Ticino. The most expensive one charges CHF 104.40 (2 people) for a lakeside pitch in the off-season. Of course, you're on the lake, so that should cost more than somewhere further back.
At Christmas 2016 (a particularly expensive time recently) we paid less than half the price for a lakeside spot like this. Camping is booming and so are the prices!!
Tagesstrecke: Ormea - Tender
Distance: 357 km
Average consumption: 8.8 liters
Average speed 59 km/h
Travel time: 6 hours 0 minutes
Pitch costs: 32 CHF incl. V/E, incl. electricity if you have a long cable, ACSI
Tuesday, 22 - Sunday, 27 March
Something is wrong. Somehow we just don't like it here at the Riarena campsite this time. Somehow a cool wind is blowing through the plain.
At 11:00 a.m. (at the last minute, so to speak, because you have to pay by this time and the reception closes!) we spontaneously decide to drive to Camping Tamaro again. OK, there are no free spots by the lake but at least we would be close to the lake. And so before 12:00 p.m. we move into a large pitch at Camping Tamaro and make ourselves comfortable.
We enjoy the days with beautiful e-bike tours. Sometimes we just take a lazy ride to Locarno for lunch, sometimes we go a little further to Ascona for a delicious ice cream and sometimes we go a bit more sporty up to the mountains, e.g. to Monti Motti.
On Friday the last campsite in Tenero opens and we take the opportunity to walk to the reception of Camping Lido Mappo at 8.30 a.m. and before breakfast we are standing directly on Lake Maggiore - simply wonderful!
We really enjoyed these days with the sunny weather in Ticino. Saturday is our last day, a real lazy day before we go home on Sunday. As usual, there is a lot of work waiting for us.
But how nice it is to come home and be greeted with such a beautiful welcome drawing. Thank you very much, Henry, we were delighted!
A conclusion, but this time only a short one:
After 7,858 km we arrived home safe and sound. Our Pfüdi used 774 liters of diesel!
We loved northern Spain. We also really enjoyed the north of Portugal.
The Algarve and Andalusia were so crowded. That's not our world. And then the bad weather front came and we decided to head home more quickly than planned.
And now, as always, it's work, work, work. But that's not a problem. Because every end of a journey brings this work with it. But that is always the beginning of the next journey.
Where to - now the plans are in our heads. Let's hope that we can make them happen. We will report back! So, see you soon!
