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.