Hi everyone!
This is my first post on HIVE😊.
I came to Italy four years ago as a student and I am still living there. However, due to University stuff firstly, and then the Pandemic situation I did not have the opportunity to discover the country as it deserves. Now, as the traveling bans and limits are almost removed, I would like to take advantage of it and explore the country more. So, here on this blog, I'm gonna share with you some of my experiences in Italy.
My fiancè and I made a short trip (a weekend) to one of the most amazing lakes in Italy in February for his birthday. The lake is named Garda Lake (Lago di Garda in Italian) and it is located in the North of Italy. you can reach the lake from different cities but the lake shines its best in the Sirmione, locates at the south of the lake. I had heard a lot about how beautiful is the place and I must confess that it is all true. I put an image of the lake on map which shows its location.
We started our trip on Friday afternoon from Bologna in our car, it took one hour and fifty minutes to arrive there. As soon as we entered the town, we find ourselves on a stripe of land that is surrounded by the blue lake from the right and left. There were tens of hotels with two side views of the lake on this narrow road and we spent two nights in one of them.
So, as soon as we did the check-in, we were thinking it would be a good idea to walk a long the lake. This is the view I caught on the first evening which I love badly. It was cloudy, but still quite beautiful.
Then, we followed the stripe part, to get to the historical center in which the famous Scaligero castle (Castello Scaligero di Sirmione) is located at the very entrance of the center. For sure we did not visit the castle that evening as it was dark and we wanted to see the amazing daylight view of the lake from the castle. The funny thing that caught my eyes that evening was the huge ice creams (gelato) in everyone's hand. just a few steps toward the center there were several ice cream shops (gelateria). I was tempted to try them so we went for two gelatos, of course not the very huge one 😅. Unfortunately, I was so excited about the ice cream that I forgot to take a photo of it but this is me, happy like a kid with my almost finished ice cream.
After that, as we were tired we came back to our hotel and after a short rest we went to a restaurant to have a pizza. The typical food of the zone is lake fish but we wanted to try it for my fincè's birthday.
The first morning after having breakfast with this view we went towards the center for sightseeing.
To me every single steps and place were astonishing. The arrangement of shops, bars, and restaurants, the smell of the foods, the lavender decorations, entwined trees and the playful ducks everywhere trying to eat a piece of your food while fighting amoungs them for more food.
You should see and smell this shop from the very close.
Imagin these trees just during the spring while you are enjoying your drink at this bar.
Look at this colorful shop! I bought a piece and I must say that the prices are absolutely reasonable.
Following our visit, we arrived to Grotte di Catullo. My words are not able to describe the beauty of this place. You are several meters above the lake in a Roman Villa. It is mostly ruined but still breathtaking. You must pay for the entrance but it's worth it to see the bird's-eye view of the zone and you'll never regret it. The visit to Sirmione would not be as you expected without going to this place. I am sure that this ruined villa forces you to think about the ancient engineering and the modern one, compare them and still think that how hundred years ago humankind was selective and smart about everything.
At 13:30 we had to leave this amazing place to go for lunch as it is forbidden to eat there. So, like many others, we grabbed a sandwich to eat at the shore while enjoying kind of cold breeze on our faces and the shiny sun listening to the singing lake birds and the waves.
Now, I am coming back to the castle. Since it was 10 minutes walk from our hotel we just agreed on visiting the farer places and then the castle. Finally, after the lunch it was the castle's turn. So, we headed to the castle and stayed in the entering queue. The castle is surrounded by the lake from three sides and you must take a lot of steps up to see the awesome views of the lake, mountains and the town. I would say this one is also worth it the effort to go up the stairs.
Then, it is time for one of those huge ice creams. I really loved this one😋 and again no photo😅. We ended our day by visiting the typical shops to buy something that reminds us of the town. We bought lemon cookies and Limoncello (lemon liquor) which seemed to be quite famous there. At the end of our sightseeing, I just wanted to take a nap like these two😅😂.
Having my fiancè's birthday dinner ahead, we returned to our hotel to book a place and prepare ourselves. I am going to confess that we made a huge mistake waiting this long for booking a table as all restaurants were full. Therefore, we had to go back to the same restaurant from the last night but we ate the lake fish😅. Surprisingly not only their pizza was excellent but also the fish. It was a very tasty dinner and we ended our trip to Sirmione with a listen learned, not to wait for the last moment booking in the weekend😅😅😅.
Wish all of you have thechance to visit the place and I hope you liked this story.