Category: Lago di Garda

Lago di Garda

Saturday, July 1: We stopped at Lago di Garda on our way from Verona to Bergamo on Saturday. At 370 sq km, Lago di Garda is the largest of the Italian lakes, straddling the border between Lombardy and the Veneto, with mountains to the north and softer hills to the south. Villages line the shores, with harbors, vineyards, olive groves and citrus trees along their edges.

The man who ran the restaurant in Verona where we had stopped to get out of the rain had recommended we stop at the cute town of Lazise and then drive further north along the lake’s shore. We wandered around the cute town on the lake for about an hour, admiring the activity on the lake and the boats tied up in the marina.

The man had also recommended to us that we park the car at Bardolino and then walk 3km north to Garda. It was a long, hot and rather boring slog. But the town of Bardolino was very cute.

When we finally got to the town of Garda we were so hot that we didn’t feel like exploring the town, so we found a bus to take us back to Bardolino.

On the way to Bergamo, we drove down a thin spaghetti-like peninsula to Sirmione, which sticks out from the southern shore of Lake Garda. Being  Saturday afternoon, the town was so crowded there was no parking to be found, so we made our way to Bergamo where we checked into our Airbnb around 4:30.

We would be in Bergamo for 3 nights. The apartment was abundantly supplied with everything a person could ever need except air conditioning.

We went to Ristorante Pizzeria Vesuvio, about a 7 minute walk from our house. As it was Saturday night, it was very busy and lively. Mike and I shared an asparagus pizza 🍕 and some bruschetta.

Steps: 19,106; Miles: 8.1. Weather: Hi 74°, Low 64°.

Lago d’Iseo

Sunday, July 2: Because it was supposed to be hot today (86°F) and because it was a Sunday, we decided rather than go to Bergamo’s ancient hilltop Città Alta (Upper Town), we would go to Lago d’Iseo, the fourth largest lake in Lombardy, fed by the Oglio River. After a 45-minute drive, we took a ferry from the town of Sulzano to the island of Monte Isola which towers from the south end of Lago d’Iseo. It is Europe’s largest lake island, at 4.28 sq km. Today it is dotted with fishing villages.

In the small fishing village of Peschiera Maraglio, we rented bicycles and before taking off, we sat at a cute cafe and had coffee and croissants. An elderly woman (more elderly than me) came up and started talking to us in rapid-fire Italian. Somehow I gleaned that she had apartments to rent in the building next-door and that her husband had died. That was all I could understand, yet it was quite a long (one-way) conversation, with me nodding as if I understood.

After our coffee break, we rode the perimeter of the island, about 8.7km (5.4 miles). We encountered a tough ascent (106m), where I had to get off the bike and walk uphill. Near the top of the hill, where Mike waited ahead of me, we met a family from El Salvador. Mike was busy chatting away to them in Spanish, and I chimed in periodically. Later, I asked Mike what he thought the El Salvadoran guy was saying. I thought the family was in Italy because their daughter was attending a music school. Mike had understood something altogether different. I really don’t know which one of us was right. Ah, the challenges of speaking languages other than English!

From one of the higher points we could see the tiny Isola di Loreto, a tiny privately-owned island with a neo-Gothic castle surrounded by a garden full of conifers. As we neared the end of the ride, we saw another privately owned island with a private home, San Paolo Island. On a high point behind us we could see the Rocca Martinengro, a fortress built during the 14th century (around a 12th century tower) by a family from Isola.

We came full circle around the island and dropped our bikes in Peschiera Maraglio, where we stopped in various shops to have a look. Then we took the ferry back to Sulzano, where we got our car and took a drive up the east side of the lake.

I had a craving for calamari since I’d seen it sold at restaurants in Lazise on Saturday. It was hard to find a restaurant where there was space to park. We finally stopped to have lunch at the lovely Ristorante allá Galleria in Marone, but sadly there was no calamari on the menu. The restaurant sat prettily on Lago d’Iseo. It was quite a hot day, so luckily we were refreshed by some cool sodas, me a San Pellligrino Aranciata and Mike a lemon soda. I had risotto with smoked char and smoked trout; Mike had eggplant parmigiana. It was a nice way to enjoy the lakeside views before we returned to Bergamo.

Back at our Airbnb in Bergamo, we cooked in: pasta with leeks and tomatoes. We relaxed in our cozy apartment and would be ready to explore the city on Monday.

Steps: 6,539; Miles 2.77. Weather: Hi 86°, Lo 67°.