20-Jun-2018:: Drive from Lake Garda to Bassano Del Grappa

Another hot day on the trail today. Even though we were leaving the lofty shores of Sirmione today to head towards the hills, the temperatures were still hovering around 35 degrees in the shade – too hot really for any comfortable touring.

The journey to Bassano Del Grappa was pretty simple with the majority of road travel on the auto strada, albeit the roads were busy the early morning commute traffic.

We reached Bassano Del Grappa at around 11:00 and booked into our hotel. We struck it lucky there in that we were allocated a ‘villa’ room – a very Italian styled luxurious room with marble floors and bathroom, painted ceilings, chandeliers and so on. Apparently this complex was previously a villa which had now been turned into accommodation, and we were allocated the previous owners villa rooms.
At around 12:00 we decided to go into the town centre for a look around – big mistake, as virtually everything closed up at 12:30 for afternoon siesta until 3:30 or 4:00pm.

We still managed to visit the town’s main Piazzas, the historic bridge, and visited some of the iconic grappa stores for tastings. By about 2:30 we were too hot and bothered, so we determined to go back to our hotel room for some cooler temps and some escape from the heat.

We ventured back into town at around 6:30 (it was still 33 degrees) for a further look around and some dinner.

We had grown accustomed to being in tourist centres over the last 10 days and having everything at your fingertips, but Bassano Del Grappa is not like that at all. In fact, there are tell tale signs of economic struggles especially in the historic centre, with many shops empty and some businesses closed.

Nonetheless it certainly has a personality all of its own, with the rich history of the ‘Alpini’ and the resistance role it played in WWII. It appears also to be a gate way to the Dolomites with trekking and bike riding groups using this area as a base for entry into the nearby mountainous regions.