Zurich, Switzerland to Lake Garda, Northern Italy was a much longer drive than the previous days, with so many people driving there from Germany and Austria, but the roads were amazing. For the last 2 to 3 hours of the journey we passed through the Dolomites mountain range and finally down the long sweeping valley leading to Lake Garda itself.

We were staying at Hotel Forte Charme Torbole sul Garda, a modern hotel built on a hillside with balcony rooms overlooking the lake and the surorunding hills over Riva del Garda and Torbole. 🚘

We had been delayed but arrived in time for dinner which was a buffet of local cuisine from the region. Sitting on the terrace with a glass of Bardolino red wine and a panoramic view was a great way to end the day.

My husband chose this route because he used to work here on a summer camp when he was a teenager and the last time we visited Italy together, we only went to Rome and Vatican City. He didn’t join me on my Italy trip last year.

We really love this place but it’s still a high season so there’s a lot of tourists. The next morning Jonathan went to investigate the pool and fly the drone before we had breakfast on the same terrace, this time with the morning view of the lake and all the sailing, windsurfing and other watersports taking place. 🥰

After a heavy rainstorm which lasted for several hours, I decided to rest in the room and balcony because my leg was just too painful. That left Jonathan to go and explore the local town of Torbole down at the bottom of the hill, right next to the lake.

It was only a small place so it didn't take him that long, so he decided he had time to fly the drone again from the balcony. All seemed fine until a warning appeared - "Magnetic Interference! Compass Error!" This meant the drone no longer knew where it was or where it was going, so it flew itself straight into the side of building and crashed in several pieces onto two different balconies below! 😆😆

Luckily, there was nobody there to get hit by the falling sky junk, but the battery was split open, several pieces of propeller were missing and the camera gimbal was out of place. Amazingly, it might have survived with a spare battery and propellers and some tweaking of the camera... but Jonathan still needs to test fly it again in an open space. 🤪

Jonathan spent the rest of the sunlight up and the pool and then we both went downstairs for our final Italian dinner before we had to leave the next day for Slovenia.

Hotel Garda Forte Charme must have one of the best views we have seen anywhere in Italy and we would love to go back again!