28. Lake Garda, Verona and Venice

April 25th is a national holiday here in Italy, it's to commemorate the day when the Allied troops finally liberated Italy in the Second World War. This year it falls on a Thursday, which is perfect as we are introduced to a very special new Italian word 'ponte' which basically means 'bridge', or a very nice 4-day weekend! So we're venturing outside of Tuscany and have booked 2 nights in the most romantic city in the world, Venice. I've been there once, with a friend in 1990, but this is going to be Annette's first time, so it's quite exciting.

The plan is to drive up and stay in Verona, a city we've both never been to before, on the Thursday night, then head to Venice, staying on the Friday and Saturday night and finally returning home Sunday evening.

LakeGarda

Thursday 25th

 The trusty Nissan Sunny is packed up and we set off at a very civilized 10.00 am, taking the A-1 Motorway north towards Bologna. The road is completely clear as everyone else seems to be heading south? We drive through the very flat, but wealthy region of Emilia Romagna and on to the Veneto. The area around Verona is fairly flat too, but we can see the faint outline of mountains, so we keep on driving north, through the more hilly areas of Soave, Valpolicella and Bardolino. (Just can't seem to get away from wine in Italy!) until we reach Lake Garda...

The Italian Lakes, for some reason are one of the most popular destinations in Italy with English tourists and again neither Annette nor I have ever been there, so we decide to check out Garda... The Motorway takes you along the Eastern side of the lake and we come off right at the top at Riva. Annette recognizes the name as her parents stayed there once. We stop for lunch and enjoy the spectacular views of the Alps to the north and the whole of the lake spreading south. Maybe it would be a good idea to find a place to sleep here and go back to Verona tomorrow?

The town of Riva seems fairly uninspiring, so we take the small road back down the Eastern side of the lake and not before long come to a small town called Malcesine... There is an interesting looking castle and some quaint looking streets, which we stop and explore. This is definitely the place for us! So we stop at the tourist information office and book a room at a small hotel a few kilometres down the road at Cassone. Apparently it's an old Venetian palazzo and is situated on the smallest river in Europe...

The hotel is easy to find and very pleasant and after checking in we relax on the terrace with an ice cool Prosecco, soaking up the April sun and then head off back to Malcesine and have a wander through the pretty cobbled streets.

We find a charming little restaurant and enjoy a relaxing candlelit dinner in their garden with some wonderful fish and local Valpolicella wine. Afterwards we hit a swanky bar for a night cap, before heading back to our hotel.

Verona

After an indulgent buffet breakfast we're on our way to Verona, home of Romeo and Juliet. We have the best part of a day to try and do it some kind of justice. First stop is the rather intriguingly named 'Piazza Bra' (unfortunately no bras to be seen!)dominated by the Roman Amphitheatre, which was built in the 3rd century A.D. and second in size only to the Colosseum in Rome. Its seating has been restored and we take a look inside. In the summer they hold Operas here, which would be a dream to come and see.

Next we go for a walk alongside the river to check out the Castelvecchio and Ponte Scagliero and succumb to the lure of ice-cream. Verona has many arched gateways of which the 1st century Roman  'Porta Borsari' is superb.

We now make our way to the heart of the city, site of the original Roman Forum, now Piazza Erbe. There are many elegant buildings, a well in the middle, fruit and vegetable markets and some colourful umbrellas. Next to Piazza Erbe is Piazza Signoria, a very peaceful and harmonious square with a statue of 'that' man, Dante, just to make us feel at home. We search out Juliet's house and to our horror it has been completely covered in graffiti! It seems that it is the tradition for lovers to sign their names on the walls.. The balcony is cool an their is a pretty bronze statue of Juliet in the tiny square.
We enjoy our whistle stop tour of Verona and vow to com back and dig a little deeper. For now we have to head on to Venice, as the watery canals and lagoons await and so does our hotel receptionist!

Venice

We take the Motorway through Vicenza, almost a sin to go past the Villa Rotunda without taking a look, but check-in time is aproaching. We park the car in Mestre and take the train over the lagoon and onto the island of Venice. The station comes out right on the Grand Canal and nothing can quite prepare you for the view. I remember it from 12 years ago and now Annette witneses it for the first time.
Our hotel is a 5-minute walk from the station, very basic, but clean. It's a balmy evening, so after unpacking, we are back out to explore the narrow passageways, discover tiny bridges, waterways and paths of forgotten dreams, mysterious, mesmerising and hey! I'm lost, how do we get back?

We find a small restaurant and settle for a simple pizza after yesterday's fish extravaganza and afterwards we amble back to our hotel. It's 12.00 curfew and we make it back just in time!

Saturday and we have a full day in Venice. Plenty of time to go where the mood takes us. A trip down the Grand Canal by water bus is wonderful. Past ancient buildings, Palaces and churches, straining our necks to peer down impossible side canals. We disembark at the Rialto Bridge.

There are multitudes of tourists fighting their way to get across, and endless shops enticing you in to buy their wares, they all seeming to be selling, what else but Carnival masks and coloured glass from nearby Murano.

We follow the signs to San Marco, the main square and in no time we're there looking up and marvelling at the huge bell tower and Byzantine Cathedral. The square is huge and around the side there are cafès with 3 and 4 piece orchestras playing, a bizarre sight and also probably charging exorbitant prices for drinks. Also there are the fattest pigeons I've ever seen!

 Just around the corner is the Doge's Palace, a wonderful gold coloured building with Moorish arches and Sansovino's Renaissance library. These open out onto the Grand Canal, with sweeping views toward Palladio's masterpiece, San Giorgio Maggiore. Everybody appears to be heading somewhere, so we follow them and discover the Bridge of Sighs. Oh! so that's where it is. By now we decide to actually look at our guidebook.

I spot an interesting staircase that I want to check out. The two major art galleries are the Doge's Palace and the Accademia. We decide on the former, but not before we have some lunch. 

After lunch we find the staircase, which is pretty impressive and then head back to the Doge's Palace. It is a jaw-dropping experience. Totally over the top, just like Venice itself.

From the monumental Sansovino courtyard and giant's staircase right to the loggias with their unique views over the canal. Room after room of huge floor to ceiling canvasses, painted by such illustrious painters as Tintoretto, Veronese and Titian. Celebrating the glory of the ruling Doge families and all their naval victories as well as many classical allegories. The canvasses are sumptuous, dark and very rich in colour.

A surprise which we hadn't bargained on was a walk inside the bridge of sighs, which leads to the old prison. This is the route that prisoners would have taken from the courthouse.  After this we are exhausted and make our way back to the hotel, skilfully avoiding the countless Gondoliers that are trying to lure us on to their slender boats, but we resist! Far too expensive for poor English teachers! We are glad just to be here. After a rest and freshen up we are back out, wandering the narrow lanes, browsing at the shops and on the hunt for a nice restaurant for dinner. Some of the more interesting ones are fully booked or have large queues waiting to get in and by now it's getting late, so we are forced to settle on somewhere that looks rather empty and has a rather uninspiring menu... Not quite what we had hoped for. 

Sunday morning and check out time is at 10.00, but we are able to leave our cases until 2.00, so time for a last wander in Venice. We find a perfect small, secluded Piazza and enjoy a cappuccino while soaking up the atmosphere and watching the world and his wife go by... We check out a temporary Leonardo da Vinci exhibition, with some working models of his inventions, fascinating! And bringing our 'Venice experience' to an end. A bit different to my fist visit here 12 years ago on a rainy evening for only 2 hours! We pick up our cases, head for the station and in no time are back in Mestre to pick up our car. Rather than drive back down the Motorway, w decide to drive along the Adriatic coast. On our journey back, we stop for a late lunch on the beach at Lido da Rosalina and stop to see one of my favourite Palladian Villas, Villa Malcontenta. We drive through Ravenna, failing to find the historic centre and drive over th Apennine mountains at the Muraglione pass for some superb views, bringing to a close 4 days packed with some great new experiences.  

(Original journal entry 28/4/02)