Wednesday May 31, 2023
Today we are heading to another of the northern Italian lakes, Lake Garda. We have to catch an early ferry from the island in order to catch a train at Sulzano. We just have a quick pastry breakfast and head out. We catch the 0745 ferry and 10 minus later we depart in the lakefront town of Suzano across from Monte isola. It is just a short walk from the ferry to the train station and we have about 20 minutes to wait. At the station, we look around for a ticket machine, but do not find one. We think we can buy a ticket on the train but since we have a little time, we decide to go online and buy it. The process goes pretty smooth and our PDF tickets are now on Carols phone.
The train is on time but this is not the end of our travel excursion. It is a boat, train, and bus day. The train has a connection in Brescia and then will drop us off in the town of Desenzano del Garda where we will have to take a bus to Sirmione which is our destination for three nights. In Desenzano, we walk from the train station to a Roman Villa ruin that we will visit. We decided to visit it as there is a combo ticket with two other sites we plan on visiting in Sirmione and with that ticket this is basically free. We make it to the villa and the two nice ticket ladies allow us to leave our big packs behind their desk while we tour around. Unfortunately, the villa and its mosaics are not as nice as we thought it might be. There are mostly fragments of floor mosaics with one or two decent size ones. The ruins themselves are just some low walls and the underground canal that carried thermal water under the flooring for heat. We finish faster than we had planned and walk to a nearby bus stop where we can catch an hour earlier bus than we had planned.
We had bought our bus tickets at the train station tobacco store when we arrived so there is no stress there. The bus arrives a little late but we do not care and get on for our 20 to 30 minute ride to Sirmione. the stops are indicated on an LED display so it makes it easy to know when to hit the stop button and get off. From the stop, it is a short walk to our apartment. We arrive and the owner is waiting for us as we texted him on the bus with our projected arrival time. Our room is ready and he shows us the basics and then says he lives next door if we need anything and leaves. Very concise and businesslike, we realize that he is of German heritage and there is a definite difference in how he checked us in verse the Italians we have been dealing with prior to this. Not necessarily unfriendly, just not as open.
We get settled and notice that there is no air conditioning in the bedroom it is in the hall between the bedroom and living area. It is a top floor attic type apartment so we hope it cools down enough as the weather is starting to warm up. We turn it on before we leave and hope for the best when we return. We are going to walk in the opposite direction of the old peninsula town to a winery that we had made a reservation for a tour and wine tasting. It is a 1.3 mile walk and we allow time to find our way. We buy a quick sandwich and beer from the market for a light lunch and then continue our walk. It is definitely getting on the warm side today but luckily, we find enough interspersed shade on the sidewalks to keep from sweating too much. We find the winery without any problems and checking for our tour.
Cai dei frati was started in 1939 and is run by the same family today. Our tour is in German as the English tour was tomorrow but we have plans. We hardly understand a word the guide says but get the gist of the bottling, production, and cellar where the wine is stored. Afterwards, we get to taste several different wines and she tells us separately in English a little about each one. They are mostly white, mostly sparkling, with one rose’ and one red. The whites are made with a local grape variety called Turbiana, the red is a mix of Marzemino, Sangiovese, and Cabernet. We are not really into the sparkling wine thing so find them to be alright but not for us. The Germans seem to like it. Carol likes a non sparkling wine called Lugana and the red is alright but nothing extraordinary. The bad thing about the tasting is that it takes forever between tastes as the guide leaves, apparently travels for blocks, opens another bottle and returns with it. It really is a much longer process than it should be. Eventually, over two hours later, we finish the tour and tasting and walk back to our room stopping at the grocery store on the way back.
Later, we go to a nearby pizzeria restaurant for dinner. We do not get pizza even though it looks good. We order some calamari as an appetizer. Our pasta dishes are a scampi pasta, and a pasta with seafood. The calamari is very good and is the first we have had on this trip. The scampi dish surprises us as it is a bit of a work of art. It comes on a flat (maybe slate) plate and the pasta is rolled up in three portions with the scampi sitting proudly on top. Everything we have is very good and flavorful. After dinner, we go for our passiegetta along the lakefront. It is a nice walk and a little breeze helps keep us comfortable. After our walk, we stop and grab a gelato before heading back for the night. The air conditioning has cooled down the apartment to an acceptable level, not super cool but good enough, or at least we hope. We do not think it would be too good in the middle of summer heat and learn to check places that advertise air conditioning to make sure it is in the bedroom. Live and Learn.
Expenses Ferry from Monte Isola to Sulzano 4.80E Train from Sulzano to Desenzano del Garda 11.60E Roman Villa and Combo Ticket for Sirmione 28E Bus from Desenzano del Garda to Sirmione 3.80E Sandwich and Beer from Coop Market 4.19E Grocery Items and Wine from Coop,Market 16.02E Dinner at Export Pizza 55.30E Gelato from Gelateria Scaligeri 7E Appartmente Jamaica 98.68E Walked 9.3 Miles
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