We took the train from Milan to Rovereto and got a lift from Arco Mountain Guide to a place they knew where the boys could do some climbing. This was not my finest planning hour, I underestimated the impact of that amount of travel in one day for a few hours of climbing and also Lake Garda is SO BEAUTIFUL that I want to go back and spend the whole two weeks there, not just a few hours. It's mind blowingly beautiful! I love the mountains anyway but it's really Wow! And it was cloudy when we went! I have the idea that I will take the boys back when they are fit teenagers and send them climbing up the mountains again while I take a nice sail boat out on the lake with my new skipper skills (a new post later this year should show a trip across the Atlantic on the ARC+ in October - but I digress).
So Arco mountain guide found us at the train station and took us to the location.
You can tell the kids are excited about it!
They carried they own gear!
The guide helped the boys to get their harnesses on, carabiners clipped in and helmets on and like a monkey he practically ran to the top, clipped in the rope and ran back down... we were all mouths agape! Caden was first... The first climb was with some trepidation, the guide went up with him and explained how to climb and abseil.
Caden made it to the top and abseiled back down with help.
Then it was Miles' turn. Miles was more nervous of climbing than Caden and didn't make it all the way to the top but the guide stayed with him and he climbed well.
By now, Caden had the bug... his second climb and abseil were solo....
Bearing in mind that Miles was 6 years old at this point, he did really well! It wasn't easy for Miles to see Caden whizzing up and down the rocks on his turn when he wasn't able to and equally Caden found it difficult to wait for Miles who needed more time, when he knew how to do it and wanted to go up again and again.
While this was going on, I was just in awe at the scenery... This photo gives absolutely no justification to the scale of these mountains.. they are enormous! And utterly magnificent! I just gawped at them all afternoon... Mind-blowing!
Caden really got confident from this afternoon.
More beauty! I can't wait to go back there.
The guide let Caden try a new rock, Caden ran up and down that one too! Then it was time to go home after a couple of hours.
We drove up past Lake Garda and this was about the best photo I could get.
Waiting at the train station to go back to Milan. Onwards to Nice tomorrow to see our friends via Ventimiglia, Monaco and another part of the Mediterranean coastal train
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