Saturday, September 5, 2015

Lake Garda. Sirmione, Bardalino, Garda, San Zeno di Montagna

The ferries on Lake Garda from Sirmione are frequent and on time.  Check out www.navigazionelaghi.it  or infogarda@navigazionelaghi.it .

Our ferry departed Sirmione port at 10.55, arriving across the lake at Bardolino exactly 40 minutes later. We walked from Bardolino to Garda along the seashore,  "Passeggiata Riva Lunga" almost all on good pavement surface, and flat.  Passing little "beaches" of pebbles, many bars and snack shops, seats to stop and relax and enjoy the view, flowers, trees, Magnolias, swans, ducks, camping sites, families enjoyng their day at the beach, olive trees, pine trees,.  Not rushing, with a few stops, the walk took about 50 minutes to arrive at Garda.








Excellent Bus terminal information, not far from the port.  Bus to the mountains to escape the heat to San Zeno di Montagne, where there were approximately  4 tourists.

Back to home base of Sirmione on the last ferry at 7.15pm.

Friday, September 4, 2015

Il Ceppo. Food wonderful food in Vicenza

 Il Ceppo in Corso Palladio, 196, Vicenza reminds me of Peck in Milano, except that Ceppo is 1/10th the size.  The food is well presented, with much of their offerings made in house.

They also do A great business with Bacala, if you like that fish.  try their Bistrot del Bacala.. Sotobotega.

In these photos you can find: Provola Affumicata Fresca at a cost of E 19.90 per kg, Tortelloni con ricotta e spinaci at E 29 per kg, and a great variety of cheeses.

The top photo indicates a Festival della Sopressa - the house speciality at E. 23 per kg.

A light lunch outside on the footpath of a pedestrian road, opposite the " MUST SEE" Tempio di Santa Corona.




Sirmione, Lake Garda and Scaliger Castello

 On a map of Lake Garda in Northern Italy, Sirmione is the toe of a ballet dancer's leg, sticking out into the big lake.  The centro storico of Sirmione is a little island, now linked to the nearby mainland by bridge.


The Castello is its own little island, right at the entrance to the town.  It has not only one but 4 drawbridges over the moats ( 2 are just wider enough for one of two people or horses to cross), so to get entry to the medieval castello,  you would have needed to cross  double drawbridges. 


The castle also has a "curtain wall"  for extra security, which you can see in  the top photo.

One of the drawbridges can clearly be seen in the third photo.

The butterfly type tops of the walls indicate allegiance to the ghibelline faction (as opposed to the guelfs) in Medieval Italy.

It is possible to enter this fortress, and walk up steps to the top of the castle walls or further still inside up to the top of the tower. We climbed only to the top of the walls (an easy climb of about 80 wide steps),and the area to walk is surrounded by a low balustrade (Photo number 4).

Well worth the effort!