Verona, Sirmione and lake Garda
Verona
One day during to our trip to the Dolomites, the weather in the Alps was extremely foggy and rainy, so we decided to go in the southern direction to look for the sun. In a such way, in a few hours, we reached Verona. Without any special plans for this visit, we found one of the most popular sites in Verona – the amphitheatre.
Verona, with a bit more than a quarter of a million inhabitants, is the second-largest city municipality in the Veneto region and the third-largest in northeast Italy. Between the 13th and 14th centuries, Verona experienced great prosperity, becoming powerful and rich; famous William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet is set in Verona. The city is on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
On the day we arrived in Verona, there was an opera play scheduled in the evening and we decided to use this opportunity to spend time watching Verdi’s opera Aida once again.
That was a good decision because it is an absolutely exceptional feeling enjoying professional performance and excellent acoustics in a crowded ancient Roman Arena (its history dates back to the 1st century A.D.). Just to add that most of the play was after sunset which made the presentation even more impressive.
Sirmione and Garda lake
After a week in Canazei, we had to leave the mountains. Our next destination was Sirmione – a beautiful town located on the Sirmio peninsula of the Garda Lake. We spent a few days there enjoying the town, and sun, wandering around and visiting outlets of the surrounding area.
Garda Lake is the largest lake in Italy and a very popular holiday destination; it is about 50 kilometres long and 15 kilometres wide, however biggest part of the lake is rather narrow.
While in Sirmione, we spent two nights at Hotel Mirabello – comfortable enough for the price we paid and very conveniently located. Before coming back home (our flight was scheduled early in the morning) half of the last day we spent in Bergamo.
Bergamo is located in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, not far from Milan. It is a small city with a population of just above one hundred thousand people, although it is enough to be the fourth largest city in the region.
Lodging for the last night before departure was at Hotel Donizetti Bergamo – not a centrally located hotel, however very comfortable and easily commutable to the city centre. We visited the old town of Bergamo, walked around the city centre, and went up to the hill to enjoy the view from its top.
We have most pleasant memories about Bergamo – an experience of going uphill to the old town by mountain tram as well as enjoying very tasty Italian pizza in the evening. These are not the only travel notes about Italy; you can read travel notes about trips to Rome, Umbria, Vesuvius and Alto Adige region.