Verona

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After spending 2 wonderful days in Milan it was time to head somewhere quieter. We decided to head to Verona vera Lake Como and Lake Garuda. Once again the air pollution was very high. The sky was grey and you couldn't see very far. It is a short trip to Lake Como from Milan. We arrived and immediately remarked how it reminded us of Queenstown only 20 toes bigger. It was very quiet with very few people about. Looking at the large number of boats that ply the waters of the lake it gets extremely busy in summer. We only drove to one end of the lake and sadly didn't see George Cluney's sumptuous manor on the shores of the lake.
We continued on to Lake Garuda. The lake is twice as big as Como. The area around it is flat. It was difficult to see how big the lake was. It is very much a holiday area, quite new. We went down to the lake which looked rather murky and green. It was very very hot. On the car thermometer it was saying 32 degrees. We have had amazing hot weather since leaving Paris. With all this hot weather over here you don't have to worry about getting sunburnt. We have been out in the heat all day and no sunburn at all!. No one wears a hat.
Once again on the road. If you stay off the toll roads you get to experience so much more and come across interesting places all the time. We try to only use toll roads when we really are just getting from one place to another and it's a long way or you are in Milan!
Our hotel in Verona was a little weird to say the least. It was like stepping into what I would imagine was something out of Russia in the 70s and indeed the couple who ran it were Russian. Everything was written in Italian English and Russian. Because we were unable to find food in the local area we went to the hotel restaurant which was an experience. The menu mainly consisted of horse. And the plates that were coming out were overflowing with huge horse steaks! The staff were very very old and really and no one spoke English. However our Italian was good enough to be able to avoid all the horse on the Menu.
The next morning we headed into Verona. After a bit of a drive round we found a park. The centre of Verona is just delightful. It really is one of the nicest places we have visited. Quite small and filled with history. Its main attraction is an complete Roman area. Apparently there was a huge earthquake in 1170 something and the area was the only building left standing apparently. The Romans clearly knew how to build to last. In one of the many piazzas was a very busy market. These markets that we have come across everywhere we have been are wonderful. Full of fresh fruits vegetables, meat, fish and also all the souvenirs you could ever want. The town itself wasn't very busy with tourists. In fact everything we went to see we were often the only ones. The town had its usual number of churches all charging money to go inside. We visited the remains of a roman town that was built on the side of the hill overlooking the river. A lot of the exhibits were just remains of what they have uncovered over the years. The Roman town had been build on and over the top of by different cultures over the last thousand years.
The best part of the day was sitting having dinner outside (putting up with all the smokers and dogs) and just watching. People watching. Once all the school trips had left it was time for the locals to come out and stroll the streets. It was like this in Milan as well. They all dress beautifully and you don't see an overweight Italian. While we were enjoying the sunshine and the heat there was lots of action in one corner of the piazza. As the light dimmed and not wanting to rush back we walked over to see what all the action was. They were preparing for a rally to come through. It was one with just expensive and vintage cars. So we sat of the steps and watched and waved our flags. The cars themselves were beautiful. There were some Ferraris on display so a photo opportunity not to be missed. We watched all the Ferraris, porsches etc come. By that time it was really to dark to see anything. Reluctantly we headed by to the hotel. It really was the most perfect day.
Next stop Venice.

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