So this post is going back to the beginning of the year. On the 28th February to the 4th March I went to Italy, my first holiday aboard on a plane. This was the first main adventure of the year and it was an amazing experience, I loved every minute of it.
Me and my boyfriend flew from London Stansted airport on Ryanair, I was really excited about going on a plane, I had wanted to travel on one for such a long time, It had finally come. We landed at Bergamo airport then caught a coach to Milan.
We walked around Milan for a bit doing a bit of sightseeing we didn't go too far, just around by the station. Then we took the train to Desenzano del Garda, and then walked to Sirmione, where our hotel was. This took around a good hour or so, but it was a enjoyable walk along the lakeside.
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| on the way to Italy travelling over the mountains. |
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| Milan train station |
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| Tram in Milan |
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| In Desenzano del Garda. |
Our hotel was lovely, it was called Albergo Maruo. The hotel looked like a big house, we got breakfast each morning, which was a lovely continental breakfast. We tried to speak some Italian but we weren't very good, and the man started talking in English to us. The room was also really nice.
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| Albergo Maruo, our hotel |
Later that evening we went and visited the Castello scaligero which was a bit of a walk from where we were staying but we got to see up the other end of Sirmione. We had dinner up there in one of the restaurants (pizza).
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| Round abouts in Sirmione are nicely lit up at night. |
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| Castello scaligero |
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| Castello scaligero |
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| Pizza for dinner |
The next day we went on the bus to visit Garda.
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| At Garda. |
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| Narrow street in Garda |
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| Sparrows in Garda, Italy |
Garda is a very pretty town, with lots of little narrow streets, which we had a walk around, then decided to go up a big hill. The old rock of Garda was a fairly pleasant short climb, apart from the rain and getting wet. There are some dug out caves on the way up to the top, but don't look in them, because a sign says not to, I only had a quick look.
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| The cave climbing up to the top of the hill in Garda. |
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| View from the top of the hill. |
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| View from top of hill, at Garda. |
Later in the day we got back on the bus to Verona.
The Verona Arena (Arena di Verona) is a Roman amphitheatre in Piazza Bra. It was interesting walking around this large historical site. I for one enjoyed pondering what it would have been like all those years ago to be in the middle of the Roman crowd.
In the city I found a Disney store and bought a Stitch mug which I was happy about.
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| Verona Arena. |
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| The walls |
Another day and another part of the lake to explore - Malcesine, at the base of Monte Baldo. We got the cable car to the top of the mountain, and after travelling through the cloud base, found the top covered in snow. We played around in the snow a bit, it was really cold and windy up the top, so wrap up warm if you go up there. The view you could see was stunning (once the cloud cleared).
There is a lovely little cafe up there with a view all the way down the bottom. You can also do skiing up the top, which we saw only a few people doing. Back down in the village of Malcesine, there was some kind of carnival on, I believe it was the Gran Carnevale 2014 which was on the 2nd March there was some parade wagon with people dressed up as native Americans. There was confetti all over the floor. There must have been celebrations all around the lake and maybe Italy cause there was confetti in other towns too, which brings me to the next place.
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| More views, was cloudy. |
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| View of where the cable cars come up. |
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| Cold |
Venice. Had to get the train there from Peschiera del Garda which cost around 45 euros return and took around one hour and a half to get there, on a high speed train. The place was completely patched with tourists, it was strange cause all the other places seemed quite for this time of year but Venice was packed. Some kind of festival was happening in St Mark Square I believe it was the Carnival of Venice which is once a year festival, ending on Shrove Tuesday (Pancake day) the Christian celebration of Lent. Lots of people were dressed up in elaborate costumes, and masks.
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| Italian train at station. |
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| In Venice |
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| We bought some masks to join in. |
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| St Mark Square |
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| Lots of different costumes. |
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| Venice bridge. |
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| View from the bridge |
So there we go that was the main places visited while staying at Lake Garda, I know Venice isn't part of that area, but It's a must see place to visit. I'd definitely go back there to see more of the areas. I hope you found this helpful and enjoyable.
Thanks Aimee
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