Hotel Villa del Sogno Gardone Riviera

... the lake. The food produced in this area of Italy is another of the many highlights, the number of cheeses, ham and wines to sample seems infinte. The area has all kinds of diverse scenery and vistas to enjoy. I have been visiting this area for over 5 years and have come to the conclusion that the aesthetic and cultural assets are hard to beat.

... haut, on avait une tres belle vue sur toute la ville! Ensuite ca ete la visite de quelque eglises, puis le theatre romain de l'autre cote de la riviere. finalement, on a vue un tres beau pont attacher a un chateau en bordure de la riviere.

nous avons eu le temps de prendre quelques coupes de vin local, accompagne d'excellent bruchetta avant de prendre le train pour milan.

... extra time. Which was nice, considering I used a huge chunk of money a couple weekends later! But that's jumping ahead. I had moments of intense homesickness, where I didn't want to GO home, I wanted to BE home. I'm not looking forward to the flight, I wish I could just snap my heels together and be home in the blink of an eye. One night, after the boys started to feel better, we went to a pizzareia (spelling?) in Brescia. Oh. My. God. I'm sorry Ben, but I ...

... I think the oldest building I've ever been in - it was built in 30 AD (that's a 2 digit year, not a typo)

Castelvechio was also pretty cool and had some great art inside.

Stopped at Osteria Verona in the main square for some predinner drinks and had some awesome house wine before going to La Taverna Di Via Stella for dinner. Really nice place with friendly staff and great food. Had ...

... of undying love to each other. Makes for quite a sight really. There were nice markets there and a sort of mini colosseum which is still used today for concerts.

There was also a statue of Juliet which is meant to bring you good luck if you rub her right breast. Her right breast is very polished!

Jumped back on the coach to the next stop!

... were very tasty though. But luckily their moustaches were all burnt off!

Venezia was the same, just alot windier, colder and more wet.


We went on to Verona, and wow! Verona is the most beautiful town I had seen in Italy (at this point). I cannot describe what it was about the place, it was just, so different to anywhere else. It had ...

An early morning as we were heading to Venice for the day which was a bit over an hour by train from Verona. Both Greg and I had been before and it hadn't been our favourite place, but we wanted the girls to at least see it. We had warned them that we wouldn’t be going on a gondola as it is over 75 Euros ($150 AUD) for a ride. Katelyn said that we had already been on a gondola ride in Las Vegas so we didn’t have to ...

A day to explore Verona so we started at the Arena where we bought a Verona Card which covers Verona's major attractions and proved to be good value as kids only then had to pay 1 Euro to get into whatever we decided to do. We usually avoid these as with the kids we usually don’t rush from one place to the other. The Arena was pretty impressive- it is a Roman Amphitheatre which is used today for traditional operas such as Aida and also other concerts ...

Arriving in Peschiera del Garda station the heat is remarkable, We sit on a bench under a tree waiting for the taxi to arrive. Nothing turns up for 45mins! we speak to the local newsagents and it turns out we have to call for one, turns up 15mins later and we arrive at the family camping resort San Benedetto. The only place to pitch a tent is next to the campsite playing field on ...

... a peg.

Leaving the now badly scratched car outside Gerry’s, Hoges and I took the ferry across Lake Iseo to Monte Isola, Europe’s largest lake island. Like Iseo, it was very quiet, and was an agreeable enough place to wander by the water and into the hills and sit around in the afternoon sun eating gelato. Lake Iseo certainly hasn’t caught on as a haven for Hollywood stars and rich retirees like nearby Lake Como, but I ...