Amy's Birthday at Italy's Largest Lake, Lago Di Garda

Aegean Air brought us to our next locale...Italia!  We took the train from Milan to Desenzano Del Garda where we found our new home for the next 3 weeks in a small community inside Manerba called Montinelle.  We rented our beautiful apartment through Airbnb.com and were extremely impressed.  Not only did the owners pick us up at the train station (Grazie Beppe), but the apartment in the historic center was very well appointed.  Pasta, a fruit basket, eggs, homemade jam and prosecco were welcoming us as we walked in to our new abode.  The apartment was so large that we sent a message out to all to come join us.  Luckily, our friend Kristin braved the trek on standby all the way from Hollywood for a very nice 4 day stay.

...our apartment

Our days were spent shoreside at the lake and visiting the many resort towns along the shores of Garda.    Some of our favorite towns were:  Lazise, Sirmione, Gargnano, Limone, Riva and Malchesine.  Our nights were spent preparing large spreads of appetizers (tirokafteri...our guilty pleasure cheese dip from Greece, olives which Dad would be jealous of and prosciutto...Amy no longer vegetarian) and italian speciality dinners.

...the town of Salo

The lake reminded us of our childhood and going on camping trips with our families.  Just replace the people from other states we encountered with a mixed bag of European tourists.  The families from around Europe congregated on the shores of this town to enjoy all the lake activities this idyllic travel destination had to offer.  I was amazed on how many German speakers there were everywhere on the lake.  Needless to say I was quite happy practicing both my German and Italian.

...on top of La Rocca in our town.  Great view of the south side of the lake

Amy's birthday came on a hot, sun drenched day.  Although no fireworks, Amy enjoyed her Fiat car as her present along with homemade pizza that night.  Amy stuck to her plan and continued her Spanish studies while at the lake.  The long days at the beach helped her not only to get a good lesson in from her fantastic tutor, but also work on her tan.  Yes, she actually does tan (Zuber... you cannot call her "white meat" any longer).  She fits in really nicely now in Italy.  I also have to give her credit for learning Spanish in Italy as it is proving to be pretty helpful.  She has picked up some Italian too and now orders and does her own shopping.  Sometimes she'll mispronounce things or put extra vowels in curious places, but the Italians don't care,...forget 'bout it...fa bene cosi!

top: town of  Gargnano, bottom:  town of Limone

..Riva Del Garda

While Kristin was here we visited the city of Verona.  Although Verona was very close to the lake we thought the the towns along the lake with the cliffs of the mountains forming backdrops to the expanse of the lake were a little more impressive.  While in Verona we visited Juliet's house,  took the obligatory photo in front of the Juliet balcony, saw the roman coliseum, strolled the beautiful streets...and sampled some fine italian gelato.

...Juliet's balcony in Verona

...Amy and Kristin in Limone

...homemade appetizers on our terrace...saying ciao to Kristin

The last week at the apartment we were treated to some nice Italian hospitality.  Beppe and his Wife Titti (apartment owners) invited us to their beautiful home close to the lake for a swim and dinner.  It was a Sunday and this warm, happy family came together to share in a delicious meal with salami sandwiches as appetizers, roasted veggies, grilled sausage and spareribs for dinner and plenty of wine and prosecco to make this Italian American boy happy.  For dessert we had homemade tiramisu, peach torte and a variety of after dinner liquors which included regional sweet wine and limoncello.

We enjoyed learning about the Italian lake life where the warm days are spent with families and friends and where multiple trips to the gelato stand and the outside eateries are welcomed and frequented by all.  

Amy's top 5:
1.  the smell of jasmine in the air
2.  happy dogs and their owners everywhere
3.  cold lake dips
4.  evening runs through the olive tree orchards
5.  turning 37 in Italy (spoiled girl...36 was also spent here)

top: view of lake in our town, bottom: the town of Limone

Mike's top 5:
1.  driving through the european streets in our Fiat
2.  spending time to prepare appetizers and dinner for Amy with a glass...maybe 2 of local wine
3.  teaching Amy Spanish
4.  learning more Italian
5.  sampling endless gelato flavors with Kristin and Amy

...the hills are also alive in Italy.  Town of Tremosine...my first haircut during our year abroad.  A 50 minute experience.