Lake Garda + Verona

On Friday afternoon, Libby, Megan, Mary Elizabeth and I took the train from Firenze C.M. to Riva del Garda on Lake Garda. The plan was to go from Florence to Verona and catch a bus from there to Riva del Garda. When we arrived in Verona we discovered the buses were no longer running so we ran back to the station and sprinted to make the next train to Roveteo and from there took a cab to the hotel. Riva del Garda is a summer resort town and we were there with only a handful of other tourists. Most places were closed for the winter but the shops and restaurants that were open were incredibly accommodating. The hotel owner waited up for us to get there and when we arrived at 11 pm (5 hours past our check out time) tired and hungry, she happily called different restaurants looking for somewhere still serving food. When we found a place that was open and started to walk there, the restaurant owner came out and met us on the street to show us where to go. They must have a lot of free time during the off season.

The next day we woke up late and strolled around the town a little before hiking about 30 min to Bastione, a 16th century fortress that overlooks Riva del Garda. The views from Bastione were gorgeous (see Flickr.) and the weather was maybe the warmest it has been since we arrived in Italy. After the hike we made lunch and walked around to the lake. I am glad we went in the off season when it was not crowded but the lake in the summer must be beautiful. We all appreciated a weekend where we could breathe fresh air and avoid fighting crowds of people to get to class. It was also nice to watch the olympics and CNN in English at the hotel.

Sunday we took the 1 pm bus to Verona and arrived around 3. We saw "Casa del Giulietta" and the Arena in Piazza Bra but decided to catch the 4:30 train back to Florence since the weather was not so great and we were tired from traveling. The next two weekends I have nothing planned but I am thinking a day trip to Sienna or Chianti at some point. Until then, it feels nice to be back in Florence for a while.