Algudo

After our enormous drive, we roll into Menaro looking for the campsite, passing a strange standing stone sculpture we weave up some small back streets and arrive at the poshest campsite ever. It is brand new and really spick and span. We also learn as we check in that we are not in Merano at all, but in Algudo! It turns out to be a fortunate mistake, as Algudo is really nice, and as well as having its own vineyards, it also has its own brewery. Well, first job is obviously getting hold of some local wine and the “Forst Beer”. No problems. I find a specialist wine shop and manage to get some red AND some chilled white that was grown in the field next to our campsite. I also manage to find an off licence and get hold of the beer together with some great stuffed pimiento peppers. This trip really is all about the food and drink. Also bizarly, even though we are in Italy, they all speak Austrian. All the signs are dual lingo and asking for stuff in German seems fine. In the morning we cycle down to Merano which is OK, a bit of a spa town that is kind of grand, but more for old people than us youngsters. One thing that struck us about this whole region was the apple growing. Every square inch of space if covered in apples, not in an orchard, but in rows of short trimmed tall trees. It seemed to work well and the quantity of apples was increadible.