STILL HERE

Hi,
I will be leaving photos till next week when I hope I get a better signal. The problem is that we are in an old fashioned campsite, no wi-fi, very small pitches packed together not really catering for the larger vans. We are surrounded by lemon trees, pomegranites and olives (hooray!) but these all serve to block our satellite signal (boo!) so no TV. We are right between Garda and Bardolino on the eastern Lake Garda and the lake is warrm enough to swim in. I am writing this in a so-called wi-fi zone overlooking the lake in the afternoon sun but the signal comes and goes. I have tried to use my roaming profile but the rascals at 3G charge around £1 per minute!
Unlike our last European jaunt there is no question about the winner of the Motorhome Country of Origin League. Germany have got the title sewn up after 3 weeks. Out of nearly 300 pitches probably 270 are German, 15 Dutch, 5 Danish, 2 Austrians, 1 Belgian, 1 Czech, 1 Swede, 1 Norwegian and 2 GB. We have not seen any French or Spanish on all our travels. But in the immortal words of Barry Davies, frankly, who cares?
We will move on to Venice next week having spent this week walking, cycling and visiting Verona. everything here is very expensive which probably accounts for the number of Germans who are the only people who can afford to come. Because of their dominance we are addressed everywhere in German by Italian and German alike. I try to reply in bad Italian which throws them a bit as Germans speak to the Italians in German and expect them to understand. Actually I try to reply in good Italian, it's just I can't speak it.
All the towns on the lake are very pretty and pretty packed but the season is drawing to a close. We've been to a couple of markets with hundreds of stalls packed with things you don't need which seems to mirror ourist markets all over Europe. How many handbags and leather goods can people want!
Ciao
J&P