Hotel Augusta Malcesine

... you soon!

Oh, Oh, OH! Rudi and Gabi, as you know Mauro and I have been exchanging emails. I am sure you will not find it at all surprising that tonight I sat in a pub for a mere 20 minutes and in that time saw Camaronesi have a hand in scoring two goals. He truly is magnificent. But I think I am the Jessica to his Romo. ****, neither of you watch American football. Let's just say I am the Posh to his Beckham. Capito? Capito.

I am all settled in my new home. And I love being able to put out my things, 'stock' a fridge and cook my own meals. I even enjoyed washing the dishes last night. Obviously still the honeymoon period. I think it's been good too, because I've been feeling a little sick. I'm out-mentaling the sickness so far, but it was good to have a quiet afternoon yesterday and a slow morning. Plus I think it's just a head cold so I'm ...

So much so, that it is about to take the title of 'longest stay' while in Italy. I will spend 5 total nights here. Woohoo! I'm about to leave my fabulous hotel that I love to go to an apartment in the city, where I can live like a local with my own kitchen and everything. I am psyched! The only drawback is that it doesn't have internet. So I will do my best to bring my laptop with me and post updates while I'm in town picking up produce. EEEE! :)

Verona may just give you a run for your money.

I'm in a glorious hotel, drinking German beer -- courtesy Olga at the front desk. And I am right in the very heart of Valpolicella country.

I've decided that in Paris and Rome I was touristing (though I recognize I didn't see nearly enough in either) but Verona is going to be relaxing time. Which I also recognize is ridiculous since I go on a cruise in less than a week. But whatever, it's my trip, I get to decide what I'm doing. :)

... My glass had lip marks on it, and we told him that we had already sipped the water, and he just laughed and quickly took our order. Hmmm.. made us think twice about sipping our water when it arrived.

Next time I'll stay in Verona, and visit Venice.

"Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it be morrow." ~ Romeo and Juliet

(Whitney)
We found a lovely place to stay in Verona. It was our own apartment with a kitchen and tv and living room area! We found it on a last-minute booking site and it was the same price as a hostel which was awesome! We really just chilled our for a few days in Verona. We had plans to go see Mantua but we were feeling too lazy so we just looked around Verona- a lovely town with a great main square and a first ...

... for sunset and just relaxed. We are both still not 100%. Chris is coughing a lot and I’m still sneezing but we are on the up and up and can’t wait till we feel better to fully enjoy this experience again! Tomorrow we are going to make our way into town to visit Juliet’s house and then we are off to Innsbruck, Austria. We are moving through the towns a little quick but we have a schedule to keep at Oktoberfest. After that I think ...

Today the morning started our cloudy and rainy and we headed north to Lago Di Garda (Lake Garda). It is that largest lake and considered one of the most beautiful. Artistically the region was greatly influenced by the Venetian Republic which ruled the region from 15C to 18C. We were headed to a peninsula that is at the southern part of the lake a town called Sirmione. They have a 13th C castle call Scaligers’ Castle that we paid 4 euros to be able to walk ...

... a bit disappointed to find out it was booked so far in advance. The church next door had some amazing paintings, though, and looking around the Milan area was nice. Our parking spot started to worry us, though, and both of us were pretty much over walking around in the rain, so we decided to give some of the sites a miss and head back to Fred. It was right at peak hour traffic so we avoided driving into the main city and left for Verona instead.

It was a ...

... Check. And the city/street layout are more confusing than anything Venice could provide. Frankly, there wasn't anything we couldn't find better in other, smaller Italian towns. It really was a frustrating waste of time that I don't even feel the need to go overly into.

The two exceptions for the trip: the hotel (Hotel Trieste) was excellent for the price (that should have been a warning) and by ...