In the middle of the night we awoke to the sound of torrential rain on our tent. It continued all night and according to the forecast it was supposed to stop raining at noon. We felt hopeful that we would be able to ride later in the morning. However, as we were approaching noon, it rained even harder and continued through the day and evening. So we made the decision to stay put, and as we had a lightening fast internet connection at the campground, we decided that we could spend the day working on our Crazy Guy journal. Our tent pitch was quickly becoming a mud pit, so we used the one covered picnic table near the recepton as our base and spent the day there. Up to this point the poor internet that we have encountered at campgrounds and guesthouses has made it very challenging to load photos and if we do that, there is never enough time to write the journal itself or put captions on the pictures. Camping Moosbauer is unique in all of Europe as it is the first "Learning Campground" of its kind. Everywhere you go there are things to read and look at about the Sub Tyrol region. At home we have a pile of books and magazines in the bathroom, here we can choose a different toilet stall each time and learn something new. It is a great idea and it entertained us on a cold, rainy day at camp. We are having difficulty finding campgrounds here that are not 4 star. The amenities are beautiful but often more than we need. As well, it is frustrating for a tenter to be given a muddy, gravel pitch which is shared by all other tenters. For 30 plus euros, we would be happier with less luxury in amenities, and a more comfortable pitch for our tent. But, as tis seems to be what Italy offers in this region, we will not complain further, as this is the way it is. Other than this, we truly are loving Italy. Travelling here is exposing us to beautiful sub-Tyrolean scenery in the Dolomites, great food, a new culture and best of all the Italians themselves. We are greeted with passionate enthusiastic curiosity and a sincere welcome to their country. We are certain that they have never seen a bike like ours and this creates conversation wherever we go....of course, we speak no Italian, but that doesn't matter as Italians continue to speak, even faster it seems to us. As the day wore on, some hikers joined our tenting area. They were sodden from the rain and shared tents that could hardly hold one person. We were fascinated that they kept their clothes and their packs outside on the ground in the pouring rain. In comparison, we felt like we were staying in a hotel.
Our headquarters at Camping Markushof, the only dry spot where we could spend the day.
