FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX: Lazise & Sirmione

It was time to continue moving east. Next stop Lake Garda.

We trained to Verona Porta Nuova where we picked up our car hire. I had vote against driving but Mal voted strongly for...va bene. When we were given a Ford Focus (well Lara thought it was a Ford Pocus), I nearly had a heart attack with stress fretting about how we were going to tetris our suitcases into this one. Somehow, (and fortunately for Malcolm) our 4 big suitcases fit into the boot, albeit with our carry-ons and backpacks on our laps and legs. I was too distressed and literally pinned in my seat to take a photo...several wrong turns later with Italian pop on the radio, we made it out of Verona and onto the road leading us towards Lazise, our home base for exploring Lake Garda. Finding the correct parking area would necessitate more wrong turns. And as it turned out, it wasn't even the right spot! We discovered that the rental apartment had given us the wrong instructions AFTER we were given a parking ticket. There were plenty of free parking and we parked in the one place where we weren't supposed to park! They acknowledged their error and offered to pay the fine. While on the topic of rental apartment, we stayed at Porto Vecchio Apartments. Great location right by the water but up a lot of stairs with no lift!

Half of the breakfast box the hotel packed for us

The freebie from trenitalia

Foggy. Not much to see outside

yeah the rental car was a squeeze

Our top floor terrace apartment. Spacious and clean

Tiny terrace but at least gives natural light

Lazise was an instant hit with the kids. It was picturesque right by the eastern shore of Lake Garda, with walls still surrounding the town. Perhaps it was because we could finally see the sun in full. Most probably it was because the children found food they loved, kurtosh reminiscent of our Eastern European adventures as well as chips with the "tastiest sauce ever". Unlike other towns, their Christmas market was right by the lakeside and people can then enjoy their goodies with water views. It was rather relaxing. We also had to formulate a rough plan to tackle the rest of Lake Garda, and try to retrieve the go pro that Lara left behind in Milan!! Fortunately the staff were honest enough to report it and holding it for us to organise a courier for pick up.

Lake Garda, Italy's biggest lake. The children initially thought it was the ocean. Until we saw a glimpse of the mountain in the distance through the fog

One of the three gates for entry into Lazise

The waterfront, out apartment was in the yellow building 2 to the right of the red one

The water was so clear. So many ducks around

Christmas stalls lining the water's edge. Warm wine with pomegranate

The choosing of the sauce was important business. We could only choose 2!!

Eating by the lake

Nutella Kurtosh!

Sirmione was probably the best known of the towns that was on our to visit list so might as well get it out of the way while the sun was out! The old town on the peninsula on the south end of the lake was busy with tourists (both local and overseas), we hit the old fortress, walked past the thermal baths and up to grotto in record time. The town was lively with many Italians on their Christmas break. By this time it was 5pm and we wanted to return to Lazise before it got dark. We wanted to be able to see where we were supposed to park!