By
Doug
I accepted an invitation from Grand Master sailor Roberto (ITA 206202) and his wife Christine to
visit northern Italy to train for the Kingston worlds. They live on
Lake Garda which was on my bucket list and it has exceeded all of my
expectations.
Lake Garda is so long that the conditions are
different depending on where you sail. And the strong northerlies from the Italian
Alps can change to a southerly as the day gets warmer. The mountains rise 2,000
meters (more than a mile) and it reminds me of the Columbia River Gorge, but on a
larger scale. The racing on Saturday was followed on Sunday by coaching by one of Italy's best Laser sailors (thank you Marco).
How
good are the conditions? Robert Scheidt is here training for the
upcoming Rio Olympics.
How
good is the food? Let's just say that this is not where you would come to lose
weight.
How
good are the local sailors? Very good, and their local knowledge is amazing as
they know just what parts of the cliffs to sail beside.
On
Thursday we travel to Lake Como for the next circuit event in the Euromasters, and there are about 80 full-rig entries from all over Europe. Should be a blast.
 |
| Don't come to Italy to lose weight! |
Riva is at the northern end and hosts many major regattas like this right now. I've lived in Canada, Australia, and the US, and their combined ages is less than the age of this town.
Training partners.
 |
| Cool northern breeze from the Alps. |
Looks awesome Doug. Just having a close look at the food which is mostly crustacea. Maybe the batter is slightly fattening but it looks to be a very light one, so not too bad. The red wine won't do to much harm either and is a Masters staple isn't it? Add a few above-ground veges and a couple of avocados a day and you have your energy supplies all sorted :) Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteThis was a treat from my hosts on my first day here. My only regret was that Christine ordered this and not me!
DeleteDoug is becoming an old car engine! Not at all because of his age but because he has been introduced to the taste of our extra vergin olive oil and he is consuming a lot: at the end of the dinner he put some oil in the dish and then religiously collect it with a piece of bread or with 'focaccia', exactly like we do!
ReplyDeleteWow, this looks fantastic - what a wonderful experience ! (I must admit to a huge dose of jealousy.) And I fully understand the sopping up of delicious olive oil - I love to do that too. And once you have tasted really good olive oil, the rest tastes like engine oil.
ReplyDeleteKeep me posted (and jealous) about your further adventures. I hope to hear more when I see you in Kingston.