On Monday morning we took a train to the southern tip of the lake and then took a bus to Gargnano - a small city on the west edge of the Lake. The bus ride itself was very entertaining because we could see the transition between the Po River Valley and the Alps and could catch quick glimpses of Lake Garda. Here are some pictures from our first bus ride.
When we got off the bus we were surprised at how few people were there. We must have been the only tourists in the whole town. As we walked down the road we saw a limonaia (place where lemon's are grown). I took a picture...
...and then a man that was working in the limonaia shouted to us that we should come up and he would give us a tour. So Fabio, the son of the owner, showed around, gave us some lemons, and then let us explore on our own. First me picking a ripe lemon (Fabio told us how to tell if they were ripe). Second, the view from the top of the lemon villa, and third and forth some more pictures of the terraced inside of the limonaia.
After we left the limonaia, we started to explore the town. We found one of Mussolini's homes (apparently Gargnano was his summer get away), some interesting churches, and a really cool board walk on the shore of Lago di Garda. Here are some pictures of the town (I forgot to take one of Mussolini's home).
Gargnano was pretty awesome, but we saw almost everything there was to see in one afternoon. So, we hopped a bus from Gargnano to Riva del Garda. The first bus ride we took we cool, but this ride was absolutely stunning. We were on the edge of a cliff hanging over the lake for almost the whole ride. You could see the mountains and the little mountain villages across the lake and the sheer cliffs ahead. The road was so narrow that when a bus or truck was coming at us, we had to stop and let the other inch forward until it passed us. It was difficult to capture in a picture the fact that we were literaly hanging over the water, but I gave it my best shot.
We arrived in Riva del Garda - and we were not very impressed. It was super touristy, yet nothing was open because it was winter. Apparently Riva del Garda is one of the most popular vacation spots for central Europe - Especially Turkey, Switzerland, and Germany. We tried to see a waterfall, but it was closed (I didn't think that was possible) and we tried to hike up to the light house, but that was also closed. We left Riva del Garda as soon as possible for Trento. This busride was also cool. A short ride through the alps as the sunset. Unfortunatly we were moving fast and it was pretty dark so I couldn't take any pictures.When we arrived in Trento, we walked around and saw the main Piazza's at night. The buildings were pretty cool, but very similar to Bolonga. The piazza even has a nearly identical statue to Neptune as Bologna's Piazza Maggiore. We found a place to eat and crashed for the night.
In the morning our first stop was Castelo Buonconsiglio (Castle Good-Advice), because I was really itching to see a castle. The medieval stronghold of Trento was very different from the castles I saw in Germany. Our tour was much less focused on castle defenses, dungeons, watchtowers, knight's quarters, moats etc. In fact, actual battles and or attacks were not mentioned at all in our tour. The castle didn't even have a dungeon until it was no longer in Italian control. Instead the tour was focused on the medieval lifestyle and the art that the lord had collected from all over the world. There was a particular emphasis on the idea that Trento was the meeting point of the Germanic/Austrian art from the time period (like wooden sculptures) and Venetian Renaissance Art (namely frescoes and paintings of the Madonna and baby Jesus). I finally learned that a frescoe is a painting done with water colors on wet plaster (while it's still fresh or fresco). The castle tour wasn't really what I expected, but was interesting nonetheless. Here are some pictures of Castelo Buonconsiglio. First, the somewhat lavish (in my opinion) atrium of the watchtower. Second the courtyard, and last the view from the top of the Acquila Torre (Eagle Tower).
After the castle visit we went to the grocery store to buy food for a picnic. We found a spot next the Fiume Adige (Adige River) and ate our mozzarella, speck (spiced meat similar to prosciutto), piadine, and some bananas.
After a relaxing lunch we took a cable car about half way up the mountain closest to Trento in order to get a great view of the entire city and explore a typical "suburb" of Trento. Since Trento is almost completely surrounded by mountains, the suburbs are small towns in the surrounding mountains. The town we explored was called Sardagna and the only way to get there from Trento was by cable car. First, some pictures from the cable car ride and then some that I took as we hiked around Sardagna. I must have been getting tired of taking pictures because the only two I snapped of Sardanga were of the old church and a Converse All-Star Van.
Our train to Verona was at 7, so we returned to Trento, stocked up on some food from EUROMART, and took off. I really enjoyed Trento. It was a very clean, crisp, organized city and there were hardly any tourists. There were beautiful buildings and interesting attractions, yet it still felt very authentic.
We arrived in Verona around 9, and headed to the main piazza to eat. From what little I saw of Verona, I think I will really enjoy the city when I visit. It was dark, but I took a few pictures anyway.
And that's all. We took a train back to Bologna around 11:30 and that ended our two day adventure around Lago di Garda.Hope to have a new adventure to share soon.
Arrivederci!
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