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| The main square in Verona |
Ah, fair Verona. What a gorgeous city! We went on a 5-day trip with the kids - 2 nights camping in the centre of Verona, and then two nights in a hotel on Lake Garda. Some old friends of Toby's were over from Australia holidaying in a villa in Verona, so we decided to join them for a few days, and then tacked on a couple of nights at Lake Garda near-by.
Verona is fabulous, my favourite of all the Italian cities I've visited. Florence, Rome and Venice may get all the tourist attention, but I think Verona has all the beauty, without the crazy tourist crowds (although it was busy, don't get me wrong, it's hard to escape the crowds in a European city in July...).
Lake Garda was also beautiful, but the north bit, not the south. We'd rather randomly chosen to stay about half-way up the lake at Toscolano/Moderno, and the beaches there were disappointing (rocky, crowded and not very pretty), but we joined our friends for a day of water sports at the top end of the lake, at Torbole, and the drive was spectacular, and the backdrop to the lake just amazing.
Our final day we took a ferry from Moderno to Torri del Benaco and drove home via Sealife, an aquarium placed in the rather scarily-named theme park 'Gardaland'. It wasn't fabulous, but the girls loved it all the same.
Now we're deep into our final weeks of packing up, cleaning up and getting ready to leave Chamonix. We're going to London for 6 days of the Olympics before heading home to Canada on August 6th. (We managed to get tickets to one event only - swimming. No one we know managed to get very much at all... never mind. I've booked some free tickets to the big parties in Hyde Park with the giant screen, so we'll no doubt catch some Olympic fever there.)
Here's some tasters of our Italian jaunt:
Enjoying our morning cappuccinos and a browse in the stalls in the main square with a great fountain
Our campground was a funny, shaded little warren of campsites set into the hillside to the left of the castle you can see behind them.
Amazing colours
Lots of street art
What's an Italian holiday without gelato? Extra points if you get it on your nose.
We bought the girls some masks to hang on their wall at home
Aaaand, what's a trip to Verona without a visit to Juliet's balcony? Except that it's a total fake - built in the 1920s to please the tourists. Doesn't stop the tourists from coming in droves, of course. And it looks pleasingly authentic. I was hoping for a proposal on it while we were there, but no one obliged.
Girls in their masks
A tradition started where people write their names on locks and 'padlock' their love to the gate. It's now forbidden to add any more locks, but that didn't stop Toby from climbing up to 'lock' our love as high as possible. A very unhappy guard started tooting her whistle very loudly and ordering him down. At which point I quickly put down my camera and slunk away, so no one would know I was with the culprit. Now that's true love for you...
Eating out was always a treat. Waiting for their raviolis. AND, our girls are now old enough to sit at a separate 'kids' table. Now that's a treat.
Then it was on to Lake Garda. This was the hotel pool. It was a family-run hotel, spotlessly clean, and would have been perfect if there hadn't been a nightclub blasting music around the corner until early in the morning... oh well, I guess you can't have everything.
Two swans on the lake
The north part of the lake where we had a great time sailing and kayaking. What a view.
Anna in a kayak with James
Toby very nicely spent hours taking the kids (and other adults) out in the sailboat we rented. The wind was really incredibly strong at times - no wonder it's a wind-surfing mecca.
Ferry across the lake
Toby and Indie on the ferry
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