OT - My Excellent European Adventure Day Six

Woke up early, and down for a very nice breakfast. I should probably mention that we were staying in the Due Torri Hotel, and our room faced out to the Church of Saint Anastasia.

The small bus came to pick us up at around 9am. Kathy and I skipped the bus though, and climbed into the BMW that our hosts, Giovanni and Angelo, were driving.

Our first destination was our host’s family winery. The bottling line was in full swing, at that time pumping out the latest project that we were going to be importing, a line of Italian wines that would retail in the states for a mere $4.99.

Once the review of the bottling line was done we climbed back in the vehicles, and it was off to Lake Garda! The lake is the largest in Italy, and we drove a good portion of the Verona side, arriving at the town of Malcesine. No time to sightsee though, we had a boat to catch!

Did I say a boat? More like a yacht. A 24 meter wood sailing vessel, chartered just for our group. We boarded, and the crew broke out cold bottles of prosecco, along with a selection of fine appetizers, then we set sail across the lake to the town of Limon sul Garda. Limone is beautiful, set between the bottom of a towering cliff and the waters of the lake. As the boat made its way up to the docks, our host pointed at a lakeside restaurant where we would have lunch.

The tourists in Lake Garda seem mostly to be German (at the restaurants the menus are printed in Italian, German and English, in that order). The boat was such a sight that as we pulled in the dock filled with tourists, many taking pictures of us as we disembarked.

A short walk and we were at the restaurant. The menu was prix fixe, but the main course contained clams, to which I have a reaction similar to that of chemotherapy, so my plate was switched to spaghetti. While we ate, our boat sailed back out onto the lake, so we could observe from afar all its grace and beauty.

Lunch ended, then back to the dock for the leisurely trip back across the lake. Once back in Malcesine we had a little time to wander and shop along the docks, but all too soon we were back in the vehicles and headed back to Verona.

We were dropped at the hotel, said goodbye to Giovanni and Angelo, and we were told we had two hours of free time before we once again had to board the bus to go to dinner. Kathy wandered over to the Duomo, and I went shopping for shoes, as my slip-ons no longer fit on my left foot (I could still wear my tennis shoes, if I left it untied, or my sandals).

Shoes in Europe are EXPENSIVE!! I found a couple of stores, but none where they had even a simple pair of tennis shoes for less than 100 Euro! So,I settled for a gelato in the square and then headed back to the hotel.

It was Kathy’s turn to beg out of dinner, she desperately wanted to see some of other Roman sites, and this was to be our last night in the town.

This dinner was “funded” by our hosts in Venice. The bus arrived, and it turns out that the restaurant was well outside of town. We arrived, and things got a little weird.

We were going to eat at an old hotel. We were greeted at the door, and a tour of the grounds started with an introduction to the owner. Then we walked out to the gardens, which were filled with roman style statuary, then over the pool, which oddly had a large, red alligator that was completely out of place. We finally ended up at the next building, where appetizers of olives and potato chips were set out, with a young man whose job was to keep our prosecco glasses full. Our guide then began telling us of all the wonderful features of the hotel, including the helipad from which you could quickly reach the airport or the city of Verona.

This went on for about ten minutes, during which I finally sat down. As soon as our guide was out of earshot, I got up and asked “so, did anyone buy the timeshare?” Really, a helipad? Potato chips? Red alligator? Really?

The menu was interesting. The first course was a bagel, with steamed milk and almond paste. The main course was salted cod (interesting enough, this is a Venetian specialty). The only thing we needed to pay for were the beverages, and we went through several bottles of wine, along with a lot of water. Apparently a whole lot of water, as the final bill was near 400 Euro, and 65% of that was not the wine. Really, we spent more on water than we did on wine…

And another day comes to an end.