Lake Garda

Since Lake Garda, the largest lake in Italy, is just a twenty-minute train ride from Verona, we couldn't resist visiting it. We had seen the posters of aquamarine water and a skyline punctuated by craggy clifftops, and when we arrived at the station of Desenzano (often referred to as the lake's capital) we were eager to see what the lake looked like in reality. As we headed towards the town center, a storm cloud rolled over bringing spurts of showers, so as we reached the waterfront, the lake was incredibly choppy. Our legs were sprayed with water as the waves broke against the rocks surrounding the shore, and the whole scene felt like a landscape in Austria or Switzerland instead of Italy, with the 23-degree temperatures furthering this.

Cloudy Skies

Choppy Waters

We wandered down the damp streets to discover the Italian heritage of Desenzano. The pretty pastel houses and shops selling everything from antiques to fishing tack made these streets intriguing to walk through. There were also very few tourists except for a few cyclists - families and serious road bikers alike - pedaling down the flat streets that connect the lakeside villages. There were also very few luxury boats anchored in the lake since regulations prevent large boats from coming near the shore. Instead, there were privately hired speedboats and sailing-school yachts cutting through the waves.

Pastel Streets

The town's old port is especially picturesque, with a low bridge between the moorings and the lake preventing anything other than little rowing boats from entering. The ducks swimming in between the hulls seemed strangely out of place - the town felt like a seaside resort, so the abundance of ducks, swans, and moorhens was initially confusing. 

The Old Port

When the clouds began to clear we headed up to the town's castle. This gave us great views over the lake and the mountains beyond, as well as the jumbled rooftops of the town itself. The mountainous horizon looked like the label of an Evian water bottle, so having spent so much time in cities, this felt like a welcome escape to nature. 

Views from the Castle

By the time we had returned to the lake, the water had calmed down and many more boats were sailing out. We went on the hunt for lunch and found a pizzeria run by an old couple. We stuffed ourselves with their delicious fresh calzone and then headed down to a nearby beach, where we unrolled our towels and soaked up some sun. After going into the water up to our knees (we discovered in Salerno that Max's swimming trunks aren't really 'decent' anymore so proper swimming wasn't an option) we walked back along the lakeside and came across a pier. When we walked to the very tip of the pier we had unbroken views across the enormous lake. It was truly stunning!

Views from the Pier

We caught the train home at about four. Both the journeys to and from Lake Garda had been surprisingly busy, but we still arrived back in Verona in good time. That evening we had booked to eat dinner in the center of town, but as we were both feeling fairly worn out, we canceled our booking and scrounged for food in the nearby streets. With the closest pizzeria being closed, we ended up buying two meals' worth of pizza from the supermarket for just £4, and we took it home to eat on the balcony. The views over the streets below were so peaceful that we spent over an hour lying there, to the bemusement of our neighbors. Whilst our last day in Verona hadn't quite been spent in Verona, this felt like the perfect way to end our stay, and whilst the last pizza slices from the supermarket deli were by no means Michelin material, we couldn't have been happier with our dinner. 

Final photos of Desenzano