The Alps, Garda Lake and Verona

  Trento, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy
Saturday, September 13, 2008

This weekend I had an excursion trip with the school to the Italian Alps, Garda Lake and Verona.  I met the bust at 4:50 in the morning and we took a five hour drive to the Italian Alps.  Then I took a 6 hour hike (about 6 miles) through the alps.  At our stop for lunch we saw a huge waterfall.

Italian Alps

We had to stay at the lunch cafe for about two hours because it was storming.  Our guides decided to take us on the rest of the hike even though it was raining.

Behind the Waterfall

So we hiked for about 3 more hours in the rain.  It was worth it though.  The mountains were beautiful.  They were a lot different than the Swiss alps that are snow covered and higher.  The Italian alps were more wooded and rocky.  We hiked to another spot with lots of little waterfalls it was beautiful.

Beautiful Waterfalls

We made it to a clearing and they told us that we only had half an hour to go.  We learned that 30 italian minutes equals at least 60 American minutes but finally made it back.  We then took the bus to Trento, where we stayed the night (1 italian hour, 2 american hours haha).  Then we had our dinner that was included in the trip.  It was a four course meal: salad bar, little penne pasta, veal and potatoes, and gelato and fruit.

The next day we went to Garda Lake.

Garda Lake

Garda Lake is a popular European destination.  We passed some theme parks (Movieland, Gardaland) and arrived in Sermione.  Sermione is this adorable town that does not allow cars.  We walked along the lake and observed the adorable town.

Sermione

I had lunch with Garrett his roomate Paul and three girls that they had made friends with.  Then we ventured some more in the town, glanced at the ruins and saw the olive trees that the city is known for.

Olive Trees in Sermione

Our last destination was Verona.  Verona is a lot bigger than I expected and apparently is the fourth most popular tourist city in Italy (after Rome, Venice, and Florence of course.)  We saw the old bridge that connected the old city to the newer part.

Verona Bridge

We drove up the hill and saw a view of the city.

View of Verona

Then we went into the city and saw where Juliett's house was.  This is not a real house of course but it has a balcony and an old building.  People wrote love notes on the wall going into her house. 

Juliett's Balcony- So Tragic

Some guys on the trip performed the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet it was very entertaining.  Afterwards we saw a roman colleseum.  

Roman Colleseum in Verona

This is the third largest in Italy.  Now they hold concerts in there in the summertime.  Then we took a 3 hour bus ride home.  At one of the stops on the way back Garrett and I were talking and French man stopped us and asked if we were American. We said yes and he told us he loved America. We were shocked especially because he was french. He said that he had lived there and that he didnt like when europeans criticized our country when they have never been there. It was refreshing to hear someone take a different opinion of America. I had an amazing time on the trip.  It was fun to meet some people from the school and to see such beautiful sights.  The teacher who took us on the trip taught us some things along the way and we had our own chartered bus.