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Published: February 22nd 2010
2/21 Lake Guarda Day trip
Went to bed early last night (around 10) and ended up waking up at around 3 in the morning. I decided to call Mom and it was great to hear her voice. It took about an hour to get back to sleep and then ended up waking up at 7 when I set my alarm… however I turned it off, rolled over and fell asleep for about 2 more hours. David (my roommate) and I awoke to Burak and Sammy (two other guys from trip) ringing our doorbell. I ran and answered it and asked them to wait for us because we really wanted to daytrip to Lake Guarda. It ended up being us four guys and Ben along with Katie, Allison, Tess, and Kari. We made our way to the end of the street where our apartment was on because we had heard there was a bus stop. It turned out there was a marathon going on in Verona that day which would have been really cool to see however, we decided Lake Guarda was our top priority. We asked a local where the bus stop to Lake Guarda was and he told us
to take a left at the light and then a right. We kept walking and passed a local park with several soccer fields. The sun is out for the first time since Thursday and weather reports say it will rain for 3 more days. It is rather refreshing to see some light and a day at a lake sounds like a great way to spend it. There were a few times where we contemplated giving up on catching a bus because the marathon set up made the prospect of them running slim to none. However, we got to a stop that listed the bus number that would take us to Guarda. The next train on Sunday that rolled around was at 10:42 and we showed up there at about 10:30. It was very complex and rather confusing trying to read the bus chart but Burak and I went out on a few hunches that Festivo meant “Sunday” so we read the times and assumed it would show up. Thankfully, we were right. At 10:42 on the dot the bus came pulling around the corner… we are off to Lake Guarda. The drive there is an hour long and BEAUTIFUL. The
Alps and hills are seen vividly in the background, the snowpeaked tips escaping in the clouds. When we arrive, the lake is in view and sailboats dot the horizon. It is gorgeous. The mountains in the background and Italian town landscapes all along the coast. The bus back to Verona is at 3:30 so we have about four hours to spend the day there. We go to eat at a little pizzeria called Il Merlo. An older Italian man dressed in black comes out to meet us. He speaks little English but I get the sense he is asking how many we have in our group so he can know how many tables to put together. I hold up 9 fingers. We sit down and decide to split some pizzas. I split one with Tess… a “Pruschetti (?)” which is ham, mozzarella, and tomato sauce. The guy tells us the pizzas are Pizza for one but he lets us split them anyway. I see why they are for one as soon as I get the pizza… the crust is EXTREMELY thin… cracker like. But you can tell that it is fresh homemade ingredients. I was definitely hungry after eating it
but the fact that I only paid 3.5 Euro for it was great. We finish eating and start walking along the coast where there is a path all along. Several pedestrians are voyaging as we are. I am in rapid fire… snapping pictures everywhere I go. We see a harbor, a gazebo, extremely tame swans, we end up coming to a rocky beach where the path ends. One Italian guy with a red scarf and very European looking top hat offers to snap a picture, then ends up asking his friend to take our picture with him in it! This is the kind of Italian hospitality I was hoping for. You meet this guy and immediately like him. He smiles and attempts to make conversation with us. An older woman he is with asks us where we are from, she assumes France. We say “America.” She makes an “aaaahhh” sound. I end up asking the dude with the red scarf his name (Come se chiama?)… I may be butchering the spelling but he says “Aurro.” I respond, “Mi chiamo Jonathan” and I shake his hand. I met a local… and it was awesome. We keep walking for about 20 more
minutes and at about 2 turn back. We stop at a souvenier shop and I buy 4 postcards for .25 Euro’s each. The guy doesn’t take my 50 Euro bill and asks if I can pay in change. I scoop whats left in my wallet which adds up to about 94 and he says that will do fine. Apparently bargaining is quite common around here. After souvenir hunting, gelato sounds like a very good option to most of the group. We head back to where the bus drops us off so we can get our bearings straight. All of a sudden the what seems like a walking path becomes a street and there are cars crammed into a small space coming both directions fairly quickly at us. Cars in Europe don’t give right of way for pedestrians. They aren’t mean when pedestrians get in the way either, its just expected that you fend for yourself and get out of the way… so we did. Cars are also all small here. Hatchbacks and mini cooper like cars are the norm, probably because of better gas mileage, gas in Verona costs 12 euros per LITER, not gallon! Anyway we head back to
the Lake area because we have time and get some gelato. I got a cappuccino instead, and it was absolutely delicious, plus it gave me a jolt of energy. After I and the others finished outside I took my cup and plate back in and the guy looked shocked (in a good way) that I did so, he thanked me, “grazie!” I guess when you eat outside its normal to just leave your plate on the table. We head back to the bus stop and wait for a bit and play a few camplike games at the gas station. We end up having to buy a bus ticket for the way back because our passes don’t work outside city limits, thankfully the driver spoke perfect English and was able to explain this. Total cost for today ends up being about 12 Euro… totally worth it! I really enjoyed the group today and it was beautiful scenery. I am warming up to Italy and am very glad I am here now. Today was the best day so far by a long shot. Class starts early tomorrow so I’m getting some sleep.
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Bryan
non-member comment
You will be glad
Jonathan - I love reading what you are up to. I couldn't help but think while I was reading that you will be so glad that you have this record of your time there. Miss you, bro. Bryan