Italy for Easter

A little break was long overdue, and after a few crappy weeks of nothing going our way,we booked ourselves a bungalow in a campsite on the southern edge of Lake Garda, Italy and hit the road. It's about a 5.5 hour trip from Ingolstadt but we took out time, and got off the autobahn for some stretches to admire the scenery [Sarah Caddie - driving through the green cow fields of Austria, with the Sound of Music ringing in our ears, I though of you and the kids...]...and to save money from the ridiculously priced tollways! We took my new car (which having had it for only a week had just come out of a rather pricey service) and I was rather relieved to hear Chris say that it was driving well! Upon arrival I was a little nervous about our reservation, given that we hadn't paid a cent up front (which is quite common in Europe) and doubly given our recent spate of bad luck, but all was fine and we checked into our home, all ready to explore. It took the kids about 4.5 seconds to discover where the pool was and that there were 'heaps' of other kids swimming in it, which of course meant they they should be too. Never mind the 14 degree air temp (rapidly dropping by 4pm). So in they went. Luckily too, as it was the only chance they got over the next 4 days. The weather got decidedly worse half way through the next day and didn't really lift again for most of our stay. Not that it mattered. We had spent the next couple of days going for walks, drives to other towns, a nearby market, eating, tasting wine (just to keep out of the rain of course) playing cards...On Thursday was definitely our highlight: Venice! Chris had never been and I had been there as a backpacker, so we thought we'd better gather some tips from some fellow German campers who we knew had been there already. Their tips were basically as follows: 1. Take money; 2. Take money & 3. Take money. It turns out they were very handy tips: Venice is expensive!! And BEAUTIFUL. Stunning. Amazing.  We loved it! We got a boat pass which takes you around the Grand Canal on the ferries and out to some other islands (which I previously hadn't known existed) which was a great way to see the main sights. But as the saying goes, you haven't seen Venice until you've been lost in Venice. So we basically gave the kids one instruction: get us lost!!  They suceeded. And it was fun! "Let's go this way. No Let's go this way. Yeah. come on". During this time Chris and I had still been debating on whether or not to go on a Gondola ride. My one big regret from my previous visit was that I'd never done it. However, the official price for a 40 minute ride is 80Euro, although most will try and charge more and even refuse to take you for less than 100 (remember tips 1-3?).  After a couple of knock-backs we were beginning to feel a little deflated. Then as luck would have it, Chris managed to tag along behind a group of very pretty, young, flirtatious girls who, through capitalising on their assets, successfully bargained a gondolier down to 65. They then convinced his friend to give us the same deal. Of course the ride was going to be shorter, but at least is was a ride and beggars can't be choosers! Which beings me to a point about italy and Italians: why is it as a tourist/customer you practically have to beg for service/assistance wherever you go? I was really thrown by the lack of warmth and the petulance of the locals...and this comes from someone who has spent the past 5 months living in Germany...but I digress.
We went on the Gondola ride and it was lovely. That night while putting Selena to bed she said to me, "I really loved that boat today Mummy" I asked her which one as we'd been on a few. She answered, "The one with the pirate. I wish I could go on that ride again 'amorrow". For that comment alone, I could have paid more. It was worth every cent!
Anyway, the day passed way too quickly and at about 7pm we wearily headed back to the car with empty wallets and heads full of happy memories!
And then came Friday the 13th. Home time. We packed up, checked out and were still 'umming and ahhing' about which route to take as we headed into Peschira, our town, to take a last couple of happy snaps. And then, while doing about 25km/h, with an almighty crash that sounded like we'd run over the the front end of the car, a spring broke. We didn't realise this at first glance, because all you could see was the shredded tyre which Chris proceeded to change. Then half way through jacking up the car, the jack broke. Damn. Managed to borrow one but by the time we discovered what had happened it was  11am Friday and by 11:30 most shops start shutting up for the day, so any chances of getting a repair job done, were likely to be slim. That would mean extending our stay for another 3 nights, minimum. Remember what I mentioned earlier about the friendly Italians? Well being in a situation of distress doesn't seem to help either. In an hour that the kids and I sat on the side of the road while Chris walked to a garage, The only person who stopped and asked if we needed help was a German! Even a passing police car was almost unstoppable. Still, we ended up with a tow truck who took the car and Chris (who was convinced they would just sit on the car til at least Monday) to start repairs. Meanwhile the kids and I hung around town, with no means of communication (between our 2 mobile phones, one was flat and the other out of credit!) After an ice-cream and a play in the park it started to rain. Most shops were now all shut. And my 3 kids needed to to nothing but go to the toilet. After numerous bush wee's I did discover a public pay toilet. In hindsight I should have tried to buy a family day pass because it would have paid off. We were almost on a first name basis with the cleaner by the end. Then Selena wet her pants ("What do you mean you need to go again? You just went. 15 times. You'll have to hold"). After 4 hours Chris reappeared. Without the car, but with some hope that it might be ready by 5:30 when he would walk back again...we had an early dinner and waited...At 6:30 Chris returned with the car. 600Euro later and we were on our way home at last. Our bitterness at being overcharged quickly dissipated when we considered how unlucky we could have been if it had happened 10 k's down the road travelling at 170km/h. We made it home safely at around midnight, content and exhausted from an eventful few days away.