Spring marathon around Lake Garda!
So - the second day of our trip along the largest blue lake Garda not only in Italy, but throughout Europe. It is raining heavily in the morning, and I really wanted to see the town of Riva del Garda, which was once inhabited by the ancient Romans...We wanted to take a walk along the embankment, visit the church of del Inviolata, but we didn’t want to get wet in the rain, even under an umbrella. We drove around the city a couple of times and headed for Limone sul Garda.
The road goes along the lake with picturesque landscapes that cannot be described in any words, even despite the numerous tunnels. We chose this town, located among olive and lemon groves, not because there are any special sights there, we just decided to see this place with a very pretty promenade. The rain had stopped by then, luckily for us. Paid parking lots are very conveniently located on the embankment itself, there is no need to waste time looking for parking.
There are also numerous cafes, souvenir shops with not high prices. From my own experience, I already know that if I see something that I would like to buy, then I buy it right away, because then either I won’t have time for it, or it will be more expensive, or I won’t meet anywhere else ....Walks are also offered here along the lake. Although the ride of any kind of motor boats on the lake is prohibited, therefore only sightseeing steamers and ferries for cars run. We say goodbye to the town and head to Tremosine.
Tremosine stands on a green plateau, steeply plunging into the lake, at an altitude of up to 600 meters. Our goal is the Paradiso Hotel, which is located at an altitude of 450 meters with a beautiful observation deck overlooking the lake. Climbing uphill among the rocks and gorges is very impressive. At the very entrance to this breathtaking road there is a sign: a pipe with waves departing from it, which means - honk before every turn!
After all, the road is very narrow, almost all the way to only one car. We were lucky, half the way we drove without oncoming people, and then we had to part ways: either we backed up to some small extension or they, depending on who was closer.
One section was very memorable: rocks from 4 sides, the road turns 90 degrees to the left, then again, and only one thought in my head, if only there were no oncoming people here. And the very peak: it passes between 2 rocks, which almost merge at a height of 6-7 meters, and the passage in width and height is cut just enough so that a passenger car can pass, well, maybe even a jeep ...Well, that's it, we came to hotel, we drive through the gate, there are many free free parking spaces. We pass through the hotel, through the restaurant, no one stops and asks: where, why? Already accustomed to the crowds of tourists.
The site is almost empty, 4 people, we do not interfere with them to take pictures while exploring the surroundings. When they leave, the whole area is at our disposal until another group of curious people appears. The views of the lake, the opposite shore are simply amazing, and if only the weather were sunny...
Now we are going to a restaurant, we must taste the vaunted tiramisu cake here. I didn’t really like it, for my taste there was so much cocoa on top, or whatever it’s called. What is remarkable is that in different countries, in different restaurants or cafes, everywhere it is prepared in different ways. Of course, the general recipe is preserved, but the taste is different. Having refreshed ourselves a little, we set off back along the road already familiar to us. At some point, it dawned on me, I turn on the camera and film the rest of this journey on video. When I showed this video to my friends, they asked me to repeat it again and again.
We continue south towards Sirmione. Still the road goes along the lake, is it still the same beauty or better? Approximately from Salo to Padenghe sul Garda we move away from the coast, there are no roads along the lake, but in general there are no traffic lights on all roads, only roundabouts. Somewhere in this interval we stop at a pizzeria, well, how can we be in Italy and be left without pizza? ! Ordered 2 - meat and fish. Both were delicious, but the fish one was just delicious! The smell of fresh fish emanated from it, as if it had just been caught. The owner has a real stove, which he heats with firewood and pizza is cooked in the same oven. I watched the whole process.
And now Sirmione with healing springs is located on the island, or rather on the peninsula, since it was connected to the island by bridges. Approximately 4 km long it crashes into the lake, a particularly beautiful view is obtained from the tower, and the width is only 300-600 meters.
We drive as close as possible to the old city, there are many paid parking lots, and yet parking is a big problem. We were looking for a place for a long time, in the end we stopped at the bus stop, which was one-third filled with a tour. buses, one third was free, and the rest were parked by tourists like us. Well, what to do, there are no empty seats, I had to break the rules a little, but thank God, no one drew a fine.
We leave for the old town, to the Scaliger castle (Rocca di Sirmione). Entrance costs 4.00 euros. We climb the tower, there are only 146 steps to the very top, but not at all stressful, because the staircase is not spiral, not narrow, the steps are not high. It is from here that an indescribable view of the entire peninsula, defensive walls, sentinel corridors, ditches opens up ...and it starts to rain again, as we missed it, almost all day.
But here we have already examined everything and were going to go look at the grottoes of Catullus - the remains of an ancient villa, which was owned by the famous Roman poet Gaius Valery Catullus. While it was raining, we decided to go shopping around the old town: again, souvenirs, olive oil in gift wrappings, postcards, all kinds of magnets for acquaintances and friends, etc. The rain does not end and does not gather, we buy another umbrella and go to the car. So this time it is not fate to see us the remains of the ancient palace.
The next town where we booked a hotel is Peschiera del Garda, but we are passing it for now, because we have a couple more hours and head to Lazise. On this section of the path are the well-known amusement park Gardaland. We drive past, all that is visible from the road and from behind the fence is dense vegetation, bright colored houses, unusual huts with intricate stairs, slides, swings ...Next to it is another Movieland amusement park.
Various attractions, water slides are also visible from the road ...but at that time they did not work yet. Very large parks, it would take at least one day to visit them each.
Lazise is a very nice town, we drove around and along the embankment several times, you can’t find a parking lot, everything is busy. Then I saw a Schlecker store, a chain of stores throughout Europe that have free parking for their customers. There we successfully parked, went down 100 meters, and we are already on the embankment. An interesting town, in which to this day the fortress walls with battlements of the Scaliger era encircle part of the city. The asphalt on the embankment is very peculiarly lined with white stripes, like waves, but in fact the road is absolutely flat. The day has come to an end and we, almost in complete darkness, return to Peschiera del Garda, where we have booked a hotel.
