Salve Italia!

The sun was still shining when we packed the car for the start of a relatively short drive from Switzerland, over the Alps into Italy. The Italian border was only about 40 miles away but the route involved a fairly steep climb with a few hairpin bends, followed by an equally steep descent as we headed down to the border. Concentration was required. This was not a drive to rush, the mountain scenery was too good to let pass in a flash of acceleration - even though some drivers headed to the border seemed to favour speed over admiring the the vistas that unfolded as we headed south.

Views from the Bernina Pass

Despite the t shirt...and the blue sky..it was cold!

The border was passed without incident and we also passed through Tirano without stopping and then took a winding road, that seemed to climb higher and higher. We were now skirting the Italian alps. Small villages came and went, the architecture now noticeably different. Almost every village had a church with a belltower. 

By mid morning we stopped for a coffee in the rather charming town of Edolo in the province of Lombardy and after drinking some excellent coffee we decided to take a quick stroll around. The town was divided by a river, with the oldest part on the eastern side. bridges adorned with flowers crossed from one side of the town to the other and we walked uphill on cobbled streets to the large church that overlooked most of the town.

Edolo

The most notable feature of our arrival in Italy was the change in temperature. Our time in Switzerland had been warm but rarely rose above 22°c. Arriving in Edolo we noticed it felt a lot warmer about 24°c.

After our short interlude in this pleasant little town we carried on our journey, stopping on the outskirts of Brescia to recharge both ourselves (with food) and the car with electricity. The temperature had now risen to 28° and we were glad of air conditioning. 

By late afternoon we had arrived in the small village called Cisano about 10 minutes drive from Salo on the western side of Lake Garda. This was to be our home for the next 3 days. Our apartment was part of Palazzo Cominelli, built in the 17th century by the wealthy Cominelli family. Part of the palazzo houses an arts foundation. Around the corner was a grove of olives and an old church. It was a very tranquil semi rural setting. We had a 2nd floor apartment decorated with an eclectic mix of antique furniture and furnishings. It had been modernised with air conditioning, fast WiFi and a well equipped and modern kitchen..and was only a few minutes walk down to the lake shore...down a steep hill. After settling into our new temporary home and preparing a meal, we walked down to the lake shore in the very warm evening sunshine after a bit of a scramble down a steep path to get there. We chose to take the longer uphill climb on the road for our return.

Cisano

Palazzo Cominelli

First views from Lake Garda shoreline

On our first full day we decided to drive about 20 miles south to explore the historic village of Sirmione. This village is located on a long narrow strip of land that sticks out into Lake Garda like a finger. It was very busy, so a decision to set off early was vindicated as we bagged a shady spot in the car park on the edge of the old village.

The entrance to Sirmione's old centre is via a bridge, on the narrowest part of the finger of land, overlooked by the preserved but substantial remains of a 14th century castle built by another wealthy and powerful family from nearby Verona who controlled the area all the way from Verona to Venice in the 12th - 14th centuries. The castle has crenellated battlements and towers and from the approach looks like the type of castle you'd expect to see if you asked a young child to draw one.

Castello Scaligero di Sirmione

It is now run as a museum. As the queue to get inside wasn't too long we decided to have a look inside. The most interesting thing about the castle (apart from the purple crocodile floating in the moat) is the opportunity you have to walk around the battlements and climb the tower. These elevated positions give outstanding views of Sirmione's old centre and Lake Garda. 

Views of Sirmione

Beyond the castle is the small network of cobbled streets lined with gift shops, food retailers and numerous gelataria. The workout from climbing up to the top of the castle tower meant we didn't feel at all guilty treating ourselves to some very good (but expensive) gelato. 

We walked along the lakeside promenade and then gently uphill on a road that ended at the furthest point of Sirmione. Here there are the remains of a roman villa which you can also pay to enter. We decided to return to the village and found a restaurant and quickly demolished the first pizzas of the trip. A further stroll brought us back to where we had started and we escaped the crowds and headed back to the calm of our apartment. 

The following morning which was also warm, with hazy sunshine, saw us setting off early to catch a ferry at Salo, a rather grand lakeside town with another lakeside promenade and a lovely backdrop of green hills.

Salo

Lake Garda is well served by ferries that shuttle people around and across the lake. Our ferry took us from the western shore to the eastern shore where we disembarked to explore the town of Garda. The ferry ride took an hour and a quarter and gave us plenty of time to take in extensive views of Lake Garda although it remained quite hazy for all of the crossing.

Disembarking at Garda we found ourselves thrust straight into a craft and local produce market that had set up on the waterfront nearest to the ferry terminal, clearly aimed at parting tourists from their cash. We resisted the temptations on offer and walking in a southwards direction along yet another promenade headed in the direction of the next village, Bardolino. Part way along we spotted a cormorant drying itself on a handy rock, only a couple of meters away and not at all perturbed by the proximity of people.

It was gorgeously sunny and thronged with people. We had arrived in Garda on a holiday weekend - the following day was a public holiday, Republic Day, so as well as tourists like ourselves many locals had come to enjoy the scenery and sunshine. Republic Day celebrates to creation of the new republic in 1946 following the fall of Mussoilini. Many public buildings were decked out in the colours of the Italian flag.

Garda Town Hall

Eventually we sought refuge from the sun and turned back heading for the shade of the narrow streets, lined with pastel coloured buildings, in the compact villge centre. A simple bar provided lunch as it sold reasonably priced paninis with generous fillings. Sitting in the shade, watching people pass by, we listened to the lively and loud conversation of a group of Italians at an adjoining table. I understood about one word in ten such was the speed at which the exchanges flowed.

We finally caught the ferry back to Salo and then drove back to the tranquiility of our apartment and prepared to pack our belongings for the next stage of our journey. After a few days by a lake we were now headed for a few days of city life, starting with Verona.