Day 30: Lago di Garda

Today has been the best day of our trip, perhaps even my life (I think I am high on the lake).   A big statement, but the kids smiled all day and didn't complain once, so I will stand by it.   It started with 2 hours of canoeing on two kayaks around a little island in the middle of the lake.  We swam off the sides and just floated and soaked up the serenity of this heavenly place.  Boats passed, we waved and yelled out ciao bellas.  The kids laughed and tried to string some funny Italian songs together.  It was gorgeous, and a moment to savour being a parent. Next up, bike riding.  We hired four bikes for the day and made our way to Malcesine, 7km up the road.  Zachie was on a bike attached to Rick and had many “bello bambini” comments along the way.  He was most insulted to be called a baby, but he did look particularly cute and little with his hat and sunglasses dressed the same as daddy (by chance).  The ride was breathtaking. There is a track that runs for kilometres along the waters edge that is littered with gleaming white pebbles and little spots for holidaymakers to sit and enjoy life. The water was so clean and blue and clear and beautiful.  I kept pinching myself that were here doing this on such a perfecto day, and I thought of our time at Cinque Terra and wondered why tourists would bother. We stopped at a lovely cafe and had pannini's and spritz's, an orange cocktail that I am growing very fond of and consuming daily.  Oh to be on holidays.  We finally reached Malcesine and it was busy busy with lunchers and shoppers everywhere.  We tried to navigate the bikes through the small streets but had to walk in the end. Time for a gelato and to cool down. I decided to treat myself and got a tiramisu and pistacchio icecream. We moved the kids into the shade to sit down and of course, my ice cream fell off the cone before my first lick. And then Maxies fell out of his hand on to the ground and there were tears galore.  It was like an episode of Mr Bean.  Another round of ice-creams and we were energised and ready for some more riding back to Camping Denise.  My wrist was aching.  I think I may have slept on it funny or it could have been from lifting our bags into the room, but it was really hard to ride, so we stopped at a funky spot under some umbrella's along the way home for another orange cocktail which quickly turned into the third just to numb the pain.  The kids went for a swim on the gorgeous beach and quickly made friends with an English boy called George who was on holidays with his mum and grandparents.  The grandparents had been traveling through Europe for the past 2 months.  How divine, they were in no hurry and had no plans and decided the day before where the next destination would be.  Oh to be retired and cashed up. This kids collected shells and played over the rocks trying to find crabs (lake equivalent), while Rick and I enjoyed another cocktail. Home to Camping Denis for a swim.  We decided to eat in the cafe to make things easy after such a big day.  We were all pretty exhausted. Hopefully we'll get to dine somewhere else tomorrow night.  Gorgeous Claudia came with another home brew, this time a type of walnut liquor/grappa.  Vincenzo followed shortly with his prune grappa and we were rocking. It was a beautiful day and my favourite in Italy.

 

Day 29: Lago di Garda

What a glorious place. Lago Di Garda is more beautiful than I expected and I can’t wait to see more tomorrow.  We departed Verona at lunch time after a tour of the Arena di Verona (mini colosseum).  They were setting up for the Opera “Don Giovanni”.  The staging was unbelievable and there were cranes lifting massive props into place.  I can’t believe we missed it by a day.  It would have to be one of the most spectacular things to do in Italy.  The colosseum was built in the first century and it’s so well preserved. I think I enjoyed it more than the colosseum in Roma.  I was glad to leave our accommodation.  The snooty lady’s parting words were “any damage signora” as I handed her the key.  Not I hope you enjoyed your stay or even thankyou.  It may have been the most beautiful apartment, but it was the least welcoming and most uncomfortable I have felt in Italy.  As we were leaving, we stumbled across a huge supermarket, a 2 minute walk from her apartment on the way to the carpark.  I was pretty cranky that she hadn’t bothered to tell us as we had wandered the streets on the first night trying to find a corner store for some cereal and milk.  The kids went without breakfast for 2 days because we couldn’t find anything, and here was the best supermarket I have seen in Italy.  The cheese was unbelievable.  I could have made a proper meal for the kids instead of the buckets of chips last night.  I cursed her and her fancy apartment.  Rick suggested hiding some prawns in a hard to find place, but of course, we didn’t find the prawns until we found the supermarket after we had already checked out of her apartment.  Lucky for her.  I was happy to leave Verona.  Our navigation took us on the “scenic” route to Lago Di Garda over the mountain instead of along the waterfront.  It was a goat track and quite hair raising.  The Garbino’s would have hated it.  Consequently, the view on the way down was spectacular and the lake is just breathtaking.  Our accommodation is a little substandard to Verona.  We have gone from city sheik to cabins in a rustic camping ground, and we couldn’t be happier.  It’s like we are in the caravan all over again and the kids are so excited.  The park is owned by a relation (Dick Modena’s first cousin) of my friend Angela Modena who stayed here with her kids last year and she organised our stay.  Her relation’s partner (Claudia) run’s the park, and she is delightful and has made us feel very special and welcome.  What a change from Verona.  We walked a few kilometres north of our accommodation along the waterfront in the afternoon and soaked up the beauty of this place. We stopped for a drink at one of the many cafes along the beach that hires bikes and canoes and met Claudio and his gorgeous family.  He was a wealth of information and we will be back in the morning to hire some canoes.  We had a swim off the jetty outside our camping ground and then headed to the café for dinner.  It was rustic, simple and delicious.  The kids inhailed their dinner and we enjoyed our pizza and salad.  Gorgeous Claudia and her colleague Vincenzo came at the end of the meal with some homemade Limoncello.  It was delicious and almost as good as mine (yeh right).  We swapped recipes and she made us feel so welcome and at home.  It was beautiful and peaceful and its the happiest I have felt since the Garbins departed.

 

 

Day 28: Verona

Verona is gorgeous and we spent most of the day walking and sightseeing.  The buildings are beautiful and many have extra detail adorning the walls and doors.  We took a train ride around the streets to get our bearings and it was a great way to see the highlights.  The river is beautiful and their are a few pretty gardens close by. We saw Juliette's balcony which was boring and swarming with too many tourists.  The corridor full of graffiti and chewing gum with post it notes stuck to it was tacky. Lunch was a let down sadly, mostly because we felt ripped off.  It was a pretty nice place but just fell short of expectation and cost us way too much.  Rick had escargot, scallops and pasta with sardines. Maxies gnoochi gorganzola with walnuts with fabulous though. Dinner was more palatable - 5 buckets of chips washed down with a few beers and wine in a Belgian cafe.  We just couldn't do another plate of pasta or pizza.  A storm blew in and everyone went running for cover and that was the end of dinner.  We strolled back through town for another look at the mini Colosseum, and as luck would have it, we stopped outside a restaurant in a side street just as the waiter broke into an operatic performance.  It was fabulous and the kids were cheering and dancing in the street.  Rick has gone to other hotel and I am feeling flat and not up to elaborating too much more.