#piazza bra

I Portoni della Brà, Verona

Day 5: Lake Garda, the Magical Waters

Waking up in Verona is just about the same as waking up anywhere else. Except you're in Verona. Plenty of people would say "oh, that's crap! I'm sure waking up in Verona would be an amazing and unique experience!" Sure, maybe. If you're a morning person. News alert! I'm not a morning person. I still loved Verona, it just took me a bit to get out of bed (per usual).

This morning we had a plan. Wake up, out the door by 8:45 to do a quick photo-trip to the Arena, then over to the train station to buy a ticket and catch the 2062, 9:45 train to the southern point of Lake Garda.

Hm.

We were out the door by 9, left the Arena at 9:10 (which wasn't too far off from our original plans), made it to the station just after 9:30, and then--because life can't just hand you anything--we couldn't get the ticket machine to pull up what we needed. The ticket on there said it was gonna be like 12 something for one way for one person, where as online it said it would be the price for a round trip ticket for both of us combined.

Needless to say we panicked a bit. And complications always come when you're in a hurry, so we tried to find someone to help us. The first booth lady we spoke to told us we had to talk to a different lady, so we went over and stood in line for her with 3 minutes left.

After explaining the situation, she brought us over to the machine and punched it all in herself. When I went to pay with my card, she said cash only, so I had to scramble to find my euros. It was all a bit of a blur, then the tickets finally printed and we were off like the racetrack.

1:30 and counting and we had to make it to platform 8. So, we ran. By the time we hopped on the train and plopped, panting, into the first two open seats, it was only another 30 seconds or so until the doors closed.

How's that for a close call morning?

The train from Verona dropped is off around 10 at the southern most Lake Garda city. Here, we walked around to the east for a while, taking a much more leisurely pace than we’ve had the opportunity to do before. Our other days so far have been so go-go-go from one place to the next, so it was a miraculous necessity that today was part of our extension plan.

Also, the lake was amazing. Beautiful blues and greens, the water rippled and sparkles against the high sun. We sat for a while in front of it, just taking in the sights, and then started off again to see if we could find any shops. The only thing among the eastern shores seemed to be campsites, however, so we turned back and decided to spend an hour out on a paddle boat for 10 €.

Honestly, that was the most amazing decision we made today. The waters were so beautiful. When the guy brought our boat into the water, he didn’t bring it in every far, however. We both had changed into our suits, but still had our clothes on over them, so our capris both got pretty soaked as we walked out to get inside the boat.

We persevered, as we always do, and took off our external wear, laying our capris out to dry as we lathered on sunscreen and lounged out in the hot sun. It was, thankfully, windy on the lake, so the sun’s hot rays were leveled out a bit. I only walked away (or, well, to my knowledge thus far) with a bit of sunburn on the very top line of my forehead and a bit on my nose (even though we applied sunscreen every two hours like clockwork!).

After our paddling adventure (of which we took lots of pictures), we dried off on the stone beach (a bit hard on the body, let me tell you) and then headed back toward the train station, scoping out restaurants for lunch on the way. About half way there, we stopped and read the menu for Mida’s Stube, a “grill, pizza, and pub.” I ordered a Caesar salad that was fantasticcc and Natasha got a plate of local cold cuts and a side salad, both of which she said she really loved–so I’d say that was a successful food outing!

After the eastern part of the city, we turned the opposite direction at the train station and went west. And we found exactly what we were looking for. Along with once again fantastic views of the lake and the mountains, we also found a tight web of streets filled with shops, restaurants–you name it. Most of them were restaurants (as I’ve realized Italy mostly is), but there was on place in particular that we found which was beautiful.

Both Natasha and I were sad that we hadn’t found a street artist in Verona (or Lake Garda for that matter), but here we found a different type of art.

Candles.

Candele D'Arte had some of the most beautiful wax creations I’ve ever seen–some burnable and some not–and we were mesmerized. We probably walked around trying to make up our minds for a good 20 minutes before we decided there were too many options and we needed some gelato to help us think better. ;)

I got limone and melone, which were both tart super delicious. Natasha got cookies and chocolate to have a nice sweet pairing.

After standing and talking for a while with our treats, Natasha was able to decide on her purchase and I was more certain of mine, so we headed back.

The lady who owned the place was very sweet and even gave us each a tiny candle as a thank you. She even took the time to translate what each of us wanted written on our candles into Italian, which was immensely kind of her. If you ever manage to go to Lake Garda, make sure to visit her shop!!

Now, as it would have been a tight fit to run over for the 5:58 train, we decided to wait and sit out on the water until the 6:58, which we’re now waiting patiently for as I type this.

Our plan tonight is to get back to the Verona train station, figure out the bus system by getting tickets for it back to our hotel and from the hotel back there in the morning, bus back to the hotel, and settle in with some Verona-specific cake we picked up yesterday and Bellini. We need to get all (or most) of our stuff packed up and then figure out what time we want to take the train from Bologna to Florence and then Florence to Pisa tomorrow afternoon after we spend the morning/early afternoon in Bologna (we already purchased the tickets to Bologna!).

In einem Straßencafé an der Piazza Bra neben dem Kolosseum von Verona. Wir atmen die warme Frühlingsluft, blinzeln in die Sonne und beobachten wie Kräne die Dekoration zu Verdis Nabucco von Lastern abladen. Einige Kinder spielen, ein Hund bellt, als römische Zenturien verkleidete Studenten lassen sich mit Touristen fotografieren. Am Nebentisch unterhalten sich Italiener. Der melodiöse Singsang…