We enjoy a good breakfast at 07:00 and are away by 08:00. The only bit I’m not sure about today is this first bit from the hotel to the motorway so have my trusted (?!!) sat nav set up to help me.
The bloody thing freezes! And I then turn left instead of right!
After a few minutes I decide to turn back towards the hotel as I’m sure the motorway is a lot closer than this. Pat and Colin are sat behind me and they have their own sat nav switched on which is showing me the way I went.
I am not sure and after turning around find the motorway about a minute from the hotel! Should have turned right!
Mind you if I had continued when I turned around I would have joined the motorway a junction further up. Great when you know!
A couple of hours later we are stopping for fuel and toilets near to Colmar in the lovely Alsace region of France.
From here we drive into Switzerland at Basle and stop for lunch at the Gotthard services just before the long 10 mile tunnel. These are good services with good toilets that always used to be free. Not anymore!
They have now put in a turnstile that costs CHF1 or €2! If you put €2 in you receive a couple of small Swiss Francs in change. As with other countries you also receive a voucher which can be redeemed in the restaurant or shop.
We leave our lunch stop and head for the Gotthard Tunnel, once the longest road tunnel in the world at 17km, and then the motorway to Milan.
As we near the tunnel we join a long traffic jam where the vehicles are restricted through the tunnel.
This is a pain but there can’t be many more prettier places to be held up.
We lose 50 minutes here and that coupled with my ten minute mistake earlier means we are an hour behind schedule.
Once we clear the tunnel I want to drive past Milan before stopping again.
Easier said than done!
Before I reach the Italian border I have to pull into a small pic-nic area for a wee! I just couldn’t hold on any longer!
Relieved for the time being we press on and once I have navigated past Milan we stop at a service area for 20 minutes. It is a very hot 34 degrees by now.
We leave here and it is only an hour’s drive to our resort of Desenzano.
As we approach the centre of Desenzano we join another queue of traffic and I then take the wrong road! I am a little tired now and annoyed with myself as I have to join a queue to go back the right way!
We arrive at our hotel, The Splendid Mayer, and stop outside. The hotel is very centrally situated and there are throngs of people walking and chatting, just as you would expect on a hot summer Sunday afternoon.
I walk into reception and speak to the charming young lady and one of the owners. I ask about porterage and am met with some blank stares and “it’s not booked” from the owner.
I politely inform him that it is and show him my voucher and he is very good about it and goes off to find someone from the restaurant to help.
I explain to the customers and most take their own cases as they queue at reception for their room keys.
I have to park the coach quite a way from the hotel and the owner (I really should remember his name!) asks me to follow him in his car and he will drive Hollie and myself back to the hotel.
We arrive back at the hotel and go off to our respective rooms. Hollie has a nice room with two large windows overlooking the harbour and it is nice and cool in there.
My room is a small single room with no view but is very clean and tidy. I fiddle with the air conditioning unit but can’t seem to get it very cold so leave it on and hope the room will be cool by the time I return.
Hollie and I enjoy a drink before going into the dining room for our dinner. The dining room is nice and bright and all of the tables are laid out in fours.
Tonight is a set meal with a choice tomorrow. The menu for tomorrow is on the table and we have to choose the night before. Okay, not a great way to do it but okay.
Once we are all sat down it is quickly apparent that the air conditioning is not working very well as it is very hot.
I mention this to the waitress and am shown the thermostat saying the temperature is 18. It is not and I ask if there is anything they can do tomorrow if the problem still exists to which I am told some fans will be put in the room. I get the impression this has happened before.
It is very noisy with the chatter from all around and the meal is all a bit chaotic and if the truth be told not very good.
The starter of lasagne is okay but the chicken leg and chips is not so good and reeks of being the cheapest and easiest to plate up with very little thought.
I felt a little uneasy as this is not what I quite expected.
Tea and coffee will be served in the breakfast room on the first floor after dinner.
During the meal I walk round to speak to everyone and a couple aren’t happy with their rooms. I offer to change rooms for both of them but one couple decline while the other change. I would much rather know now of any dissatisfaction than passengers to endure a week in a room they don’t like and then complain when we return.
We are all tired tonight and it is extremely hot and I think one or two peoples patience is being tested, mine included!
I have a short walk after dinner and a coffee out before giving in to my tiredness.
The town is very busy and that is no surprise given it is a Sunday in holiday time. The amount of people walking and talking certainly adds to the atmosphere.
Hollie goes into her lovely cool room while I go back to a very hot room. My air con doesn’t seem to be working and opening the windows doesn’t seem to do much good as the air outside is just as hot!
If I stand directly underneath my air con unit I can feel cool air but it doesn’t seem to reach my bed. I will spend a restless night tonight.
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