Meeting up with old friends in Lake Garda

Trip Start Jun 17, 2008
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Trip End Dec 17, 2008


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Flag of Italy  , Veneto,
Friday, September 26, 2008

Well, our first border crossing on a train, & this one was much tighter than the one we got to Zermatt - we literally just got on & banged the wing mirror a few times getting off - oops! After getting off the train, the Sat Nav tells us 'Do a U-Turn if possible' - erm not possible I'm afraid - it was a little confused as to where we were but came round in the end! We arrived in Peschiera, right at the southernmost point of Lake Garda, at around 10pm to a very warm welcome at Camp Butterfly! They managed to find us a spot for the night, as they were very busy, but we moved the next morning into a bigger pitch as the plan was to stay a good few days here to chill out & visit various places around the lake!
 
Wow - what a difference in the weather for a start - it has been freezing for ages, well pretty much most of the time since we left Slovenia, & we we're now back into nice temperatures & sunshine - yay! Also, the cold weather has been making our fridge freeze all the food - literally everything - so we're hoping that it might work itself out a bit now with the warmer temperature - fingers crossed! So, the first couple of days, we spent chilling round camp, visiting Peschiera & gathering info on things to do & see around Lake Garda! Jo & Dan were also heading this way so we reserved them a pitch next to us for when they arrived!
 
Peschiera is a very nice little place, but because it's right at the bottom of the lake, it means it's not the best place to stay if you want to visit other places on Lake Garda, as it obviously takes a lot longer than it would if you were more centrally located! But, it was a lovely campsite & extremely reasonable, so we weren't too bothered! When Jo & Dan arrived, it felt like a lot longer than a week since we were all hammered at the Oktoberfest & it was good to catch up again! After discussing what everyone wanted to see & do etc. me & Paul decided to go to Malcesine the following day to go on the cable car there, which is supposed to give some amazing views! Jo & Dan weren't too fussed as it was a five hour ferry trip there & back so a very early start for us, & they wanted to see Peschiera as they had only just arrived!
 
So, on our ferry trip up to Malcesine it wasn't looking like the best day for it - typical!! It was very cloudy but we were just hoping they would clear when we got there! We did get to see all the places on the East Coast before Malcesine, from the ferry, such as Bardolino, Garda, Castelletto & a few more, which were all very beautiful places & different in their own little way! I loved the look of Castelletto as it was so vibrant with colour everywhere, & Garda looked a lot larger than the other places we had seen on the lake with some amazing buildings buried into the hillside along with the ruins right by the lake! We arrived at Malcesine & guess what; the clouds had not cleared - boo! We decided to go up on the Cable Car anyway, but it was a waste of time & money really as at the top it was just white everywhere, just like Eagles Nest, & we were lucky to still be seeing each other! As you can imagine, we came straight back down to the middle station, which was a bit better as we could see a little, but not half of what you normally can see looking at the brochures! Anyway, another one ticked off the list, but just wish the weather had been like it had been the past few days - bright sunshine & blue skies! It was a really long day, as we didn't arrive back at camp until about 7.30pm, after leaving at 8.30am - as you can imagine it didn't take long for us to get to sleep that night!
 
The following day we took the bus into Sirmione, & met Jo & Dan there as they had been fit by cycling there! Very beautiful place again, & only a 15 minute bus ride from us so that was good! Lots of lovely little shops, bars & restaurants everywhere & we didn't hesitate enjoying a refreshing alcoholic beverage while we were there, along with a slab of pizza - well, it would be rude not to! Whilst in Sirmione, we went to visit the ruins, which we all enjoyed clambering on & there was some amazing views from there also! We did also decide to do some 'Album Cover' poses, where we had to look serious & not directly at the camera - was very funny but we were getting a bit obsessed towards the end thinking we were Spielberg or something shooting the next huge movie! It got a bit embarrassing when people were watching us - what must we have looked like!! Funny though!
 
So the time had come to leave Sirmione & Paul decided to cycle back with Dan, while me & Jo got the bus - what an adventure that was then! Firstly, I realised as soon as we'd got on the bus that I'd left our Lake Garda book that we'd bought at the bus stop - oopsie trust me! Anyway, I thought that was the end of that book forever, until about 10 mins into our bus journey we realised that we had got on the wrong bus, going in the total opposite direction to where we wanted to go - double oopsie! So, we hopped off, God knows where we were, & jumped on the first bus going in the right direction - luckily it wasn't too long! But, guess what - I got the book back as we went via Sirmione again - I jumped out & swiped it, so all was not lost in the end! Least to say we didn't hear the end of it from the boys all night - haha very funny!!!
 
After six enjoyable nights in Lake Garda, it was time to head to pastures new - spot of lunch in Verona on the way to Venice - can't wait!
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