Reaching Auntie Beths last week here in Europe we decided to take her on a short trip to Italy. In three and a half days we covered over 1500 Kilometers and went as far to the South as Siena, the pearl of Tuscany.
Lago di Garda and Verona
Going south our first stop was at Bardolino at the Garda Lake. We got a hint for this small pitoresque town at the eastern side of the lake, as we haven’t been there as well. Maybe it’s the most tourist friendly city I know, as it seemed to have more parkinglots than inhabitants. Infortunately the joy of discovering the city was spoiled by a market along the shore where (what felt like) all tourists of the Garda Lake gathered for the highlight of the week, joining bargain and souvenir hunters. Therefore we couldn’t see the board promenade well and quickly decided to stroll through the neat city. It was a good stopover for the first impression of the Italien Style, painted houses, green windowshades, several street cafes and the worldchampions of pizza. So we decided to have pizza instead of pasta (the normal must eat in Italy) and were happy with our choice ;)
Going to Verona we found a city of riddles. Not as full as Bardolino, we ejoyed the walk to the Piazza delle Erbe and got a map of the sightseeing spots there. Looking for the balcony of Juliet (even if there was never a real Juliet only Shakespears heroin), we wer running in circles without success. Now we know, the map was totally wrong and we only left the Piazza delle Erbe on the wrong side... The same with the hostels we wanted to stay overnight, even if we found the right adress, there was no hostel... Until now, we don’t know to where they have disappeared... (Anyway we got a motel on the outskirt of the city, with a totally 1980ies charm).
Along the river Adige the ancient wall, bridges and especially the fort are worth a visit. For the evening we stopped by the huge amphitheater where the veronese opera festival is held every year. I think it’s quite impressive, but unnumbered seats (at a three to four hours show) or others up to 190 Euros are quite an obstacle...
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| Von Lago di Garda, Verona, Südtirol |
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| Von Lago di Garda, Verona, Südtirol |
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| Von Lago di Garda, Verona, Südtirol |
Tuscany
Giving an impression of the beautiful Tuscany we decided to skip Florence because of the awful parking situation and the hugeness and went for Siena, San Gimignano and Volterra. This was already quite a travel, but as we entered Siena two hours before we expected to, we decided for a stopover in San Gimignano before staying overnight in Volterra.
The bloom of tuscan cities was around the 12th-13th century and Siena is the most beautiful one keeping in mind her size today. All over Tuscany the houses were restored over the time without destroying their original aspect too much. The most impressing place in Siena is the main place Piazza del Campo, with it’s municipality, belltower and the square where every year the sienese people find their champion of the Palio, their famous horserace. We climbed up the belltower for the view over Tuscany, enjoyed the elaborated facade of the cathedral of Siena, took a rest with some of the famous Italien icecream and strolled through the rest of the charming city.
San Gimignano that day was just to full, it’s fascinating history about their 72 towers (there are still just 15), the decline during the Black Death and repression by Florence resemble the impression of the city with its very old, but grand towers littered by some green grasses. The square around the world’s best icecream parlour was just to full – anyway as we had anticipated it, we had our ice allready.
Going to San Gimignao I enjoyed driving thorugh the Tuscan passes and serpentines allready, it just got better on the way to Volterra, as this is one of the elevated cities (fort he defendence they were all founded on hills, so you have to go down and up again, if you go to another city). And based on the faint memory of Bernd the city surprised us in a very positive way. We wanted to find a very Tuscan city, but less crowded than the other ones and we found it there. Full of little alleyways telling from their birth hundreds of years ago, with a small but typical main square and belltower and just a few visitors we enjoyed the time there (and no twighlight-freaks, anyway the movie was shot in Montepulciano).
In Volterra you can still find the remains of a roman theater with the stage and two floors of pillars. That the ancient fort is now a prison is fits perfectly as well. For the night, the woman in the tourist information got us a room in a monastery – cheap and charming :)
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| Von Toskana |
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| Von Toskana |
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| Von Toskana |
Pisa and Liguria
The only not so charming city in Tuscany I know is Pisa – but you have to stop by fort he leaning tower. So we did that and found again the most touristy spot in Italy (not even Rom is that worse, as there are uncountable spots to go for). The cathedral, baptistery and tower are flanked by a row of souvenir shops so the crowed is concentrated on this walk to the tower. Even the precious cathedral was empty considering the people outside. Maybe we do the city wrong, but visiting it maybe a must for the funny tower, that was built, sinked and built on top twice so the tower is not only leading but askew in its upper floors as well, but not worth a second time.
We quickly moved on after a rest in the gras and appreciating the cathedral. And driving was fun this holiday. Going to Cinque Terre, serveral bays along the western mediterranean shore, I was going serpentine after serpentine. Unfortunately we couldn’t remember the name of the cute city we arrived after our hike during our class vacation seven years ago. That lead us to the city we started our hike back then. In Monterosso al Mare (the first of the five cities) the cars were parked on top of the moutain allready, we found a lot maybe 100 meters above the city. That’s when we should have known, that the city will be packed. The beach was almost invisible, but we didn’t want to swim anyway.
Leaving the main area, walking up the old walls we finally could enjoy the view over the mediterranean sea. If you’re not starting the Cinque Terre hike through the cities (and that’s what you must do to enjoy the landscape and region if you have time), I would recommend Vernazza for a stay. Even if it gets full, it’s never as packed as Monterosso...
To shorten our way back to Germany we decided to drive to the Garda Lake and found us a hotel around the westcoast, which had its heydays some 30 years ago.
Delicious bruschette and seafood antipasti in Cinque Terre.
Province of Bolzano/Bozen also known as Alto Adige or Südtirol
Driving past the Garda Lake on the western side we were passing rich holiday areas witch yacht-selling like Salò, small and pitoresque cities like Gargnano, more enjoyable serpentines and impressive stone-tunnels. Almost in the north of the lake windsurfers, kitesurfers and climbers gathered on every standable, small spot. At the same time bikers became more as we were reaching Riva de Garda. We just enjoyed the view, not seeing the end of the lake, the sunbeams breaking through the clouds hanging in the moutaintops and the beginning of the wineyards.
Reaching the Province of Bolzano or Alto Adige, we passed Tramin and Kaltern along the wineroad. At a nice little family wineyard we bought the obligatory wine, some red grapes and apples. And auntie Beth could experience being inside a wineyard ;)
In contrast to the last weekend of vacations in Austria and Germany, the way back home was pleasant and without heavy traffic.
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| Von Lago di Garda, Verona, Südtirol |
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