Had one of the hottest showers ever – there was no way to control the temperature so I just had to enter slowly.  Better than trying to get into a really cold shower bit by bit, and I did get used to it.

On the road by 10:30 and it’s not that far to Trento.  Stocked up on more food then got onto the route that the ITT will follow on Tuesday.  Drove for several miles then realized that the route went up into the hills a bit and we’d gotten off it so back-tracked to Piazzo and drove along until we found a great spot just at the edge of Villa Lagarina.  It’s a small pull-out just after the beginning of the one small climb of the day. There was already one campervan there with an Italian fellow, who ended up being very helpful. The older guy that lives in the house above where we were was out in his garden and had a lot to say about us being there.  Our fellow Giro fan had a fairly long conversation with him and in the end it was all good and we were allowed to stay there.

I went for a walk up the hill to see where it went – after about 1km there’s a turnoff left/down the hill to Nogaredo (where the ITT will go), and right/up the hill to another village.  It was so pretty – any direction I looked was another just beautiful vista.

When I got back to the campervan Colin harnessed up Mo and we walked down into the village.  We stopped at a little bar and after we had ordered and sat down at a booth I asked (in Italian!) if they had tv and if the Giro was on.  He immediately led us to a larger back room and turned the tv on for us and tuned it to the Giro. We got to watch the last couple of hours or so – a very large steep climb, followed by several smaller ones.  Simon Yates was the star of the day and the Froome-bot lost over a minute – couldn’t have been better.

Walked thru the village a bit more then went back ‘home’ for dinner – very nice mashed potatoes and fried chicken breast.  Afterwards our Italian neighbour (Guido) came over and I fed him some wine and we all chatted for quite awhile in a combination of english and italian.  He, obviously, is also a cycling fan and we had a very nice time telling him where we’d been and where we’re going – we all agreed that we are all living the ‘dolce vita’.  He thought it was especially good that I have a husband at home in Canada while I’m over here with Colin!

It started spitting rain just as Guido left and was shortly pouring – I’m just as happy that I’m not in my tent but do look forward to finding out how/when I can get the poles/frame replaced.

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