Italy... Bardolino... Malcesine

I arrived in Italy at Verona airport and it was raining.  I took a taxi to our accomodation at Lazise - Residence La Margherita - to wait for Claudia and Tamara to arrive by car from Germany with Angelina their dog coming along too.  I walked to the nearby supermarket to find something for a very late lunch.  Funnily enough it was a German Lidl.  We didn't go in there again as it just didn't seem right to shop in a German supermarket in Italy.  The apartment complex was a lovely place to stay and with the holiday season not yet started it was very quiet.  Perfect!  Angelina enjoyed it too as the gardens were basically hers to enjoy.

Our first full day we drove North up the Eastern edge of Lake Garda to visit Bardolino and Malcesine.  It was a stunning day with bright sunshine and blue sky.  For the first time in months it was warm enough for just a t-shirt (for me anyway!). The first stop was Bardolino.  We liked the name of the place and it lived up to expectations.  There was a market along the edge of the lake selling leather bags, coats, belts, shoes, and a scattering of clothing stalls.  The narrow winding streets were picture perfect and the lake front picturesque.

Claudia and Tamara aren't early risers like me so by the time we left Bardolino it was about time for lunch.  We decided we'd find somewhere in Garda which would be the next town along the lake.  The place where we parked facing the lake was lovely but we now think we may have missed the main part of the town as what we saw wasn't very interesting.  We did notice a little trattoria down a side street and had a delicious lunch there - the first Italian pizza.

Next was Malcesine which is nearing the Northern end of Lake Garda.  The snow capped mountains that frame the area at a distance around Lazise are much closer to the lake as you head North.  Malcesine was on a slope between the mountains and the lake.  Just lovely.  The ice cream trade was highly competitive in Malcesine and if you paused to look you were immediately handed a sample on a little spoon.  Before we left we had some in a cup sitting in the sun facing the mountains.

Photos : 
1. Angelina enjoying her bone in the sun
2. Residence La Margherita - lovely gardens - we were at the very far end
3. Residence La Margherita - our apartment on the ground floor
4. -12. Bardolino
13. Lunch at Garda - our first Italian pizza
14. - 23. Malcesine

\