End

Our finally day dawned bright, sunny and hot. We opted to spend the day by the pool,

 

 which disappointed those who had tagged along with us the day before, some of who then also opted to take the swimming and reading route. With a 6 a.m. start we took an early bed time having packed our suitcases ready for our return home.

TUI has let us down the whole week, and did not redeem themselves on our last day. Insisting on a pick up before breakfast they had not told us we could order a packed bag of food to eat on the coach. We looked on as others sucked on the straws of their cartons of orange juice while dropping crumbs from their cakes plus a load of other goodies hidden in their large paper bags on the coach floor. 

The hotel didn't seem to know we were booking out so had to quickly make up our bill. At least they bought us out coffee before we left.

We thought we were making good time. With no rep to distract our driver we sped through the pick ups, but then one lot of misfortunates were missing and then we hit a huge traffic jam. Finally after over 2 hours (honest it's a 1 hour run without the pickups) we arrived at Verona Airport. The queue for baggage check in was horrendous, the kiosks were in the part of the terminal being built, and none of the baggage conveyor belts were working. We waited and waited. I sat on the floor, another joined me. We waited some more. The only saving grace, sort of, was that our plane was 40mins late departing Gatwick do we weren't going to miss it. I asked a TUI rep if we would have time to get anything to eat as with no breakfast I was somewhat short on slow release carbs and it was getting on for 12 o'clock. He did apologise that we hadn't k own about breakfast which wasn't much help but we did manage to buy two croissants and a coffee.

Boarding was late. Then we sat on the tarmac some more because we needed the scissor lift for two disabled passengers. Verona airport only own one apparently, and it was being used for another flight. It eventually turned up nearly 35mins after we should have taken off after the captain had moaned rather loadly and sternly to the Italian ground staff. With the two dear old ladies comfortably installed in their seats, the doors were shut. Yet now we had lost our take off slot. We waited some more. Finally we took off nearly an hour after we should have done.

The agony didnt end there though. Directed to land at the South instead of the North terminal we had to be coached round to the other side and wait for our luggage to follow on. Having collected our cases we traipsed outside to find the shuttle coach to our car. Martin spotted it and waved to the driver, who promptly shut the doors in our faces and drove off. Another bit of waiting, 20 mins before another shuttle coach ferried us back to the South terminal to drop off a few new victims .. I mean holiday makers. 

Finally we collected our car and collapsed exhausted into our much missed bungalow nearly 12 hours after getting up!

Sirmione and lots of friends.

Sirmione was one of the few places I had wanted to go to before we even arrived. The photos our friends had put up last year looked amazing. We had worked out we could take the fast boat to Sirmione and then get the slow boat back, giving us 4 hours to explore the town.  With the sun promising a hot day, after breakfast we made our way down to the lake to wait our tranport. As we sat enjoying the good weather, Dawn and Jason, the couple we has spent the day with in Garda strolled up. They were intending to return to Garda but when we mentioned our plans and that the internet had informed us it was market day in Sirmione they soon decided to tag along with us. 

Minutes later our 'join us for a coffee' friends (who turned out to be called Jill and Allen) also arrived. Their idea of a good day out was to catch the ferry to one town then hike the 55mins to the next town and catch the ferry back. That was until they realised the ferry timetable didn't quite allow for that, and did we mind if they joined our little expedition.  This was followed by a further two couples who also wanted to join us. I was going to need a large umbrella at this rate. 

As it turned out, once we reached Sirmione everyone was soon swallowed up by the hoards of people already there, leaving us to wander around with Dawn and Jason. 

Sirmione is a very busy bustling place jammed full of tourists and Italians alike. The roads are narrow, and packed. At first we believed them to be pedestrianised so were shocked to find cars coming towards us, barely able to squeeze between the buildings, leaving shoppers and sightseers to rapidly grab their tiny children and or dogs and sardine-like squash into doorways to avoid being run down or hit by wing mirrors.

Soon we came to the volcanic baths. Seeing no way to make further progress we turned and meandered down more people filled busy roads. We were disappointed that the castle was shut

 and we couldn't find a way through to the promised roman ruins. We queued to amble over a bridge that everyone else seemed to be crossing only to find ourselves  in a large car park. We enjoyed the gold plated roller though.

We retraced our steps, found a bar and people watched while chatting nine to the dozen to Dawn and Jason. We seem to get on really well with them. 

It appeared, on returning to the ferry that none of our party had managed to find the way to the ruins. A shame as from the boat they looked really interesting.

Jason and Dawn had told us they had opted to eat in the small pizzarier near the ferry terminal by our hotel as the food was better and the drinks cheaper. We gave the hotel one more shot at feeding us, but the starter of 'meat' (undefined and unrecognisable) with apple salad (what??) even had Martin stumped, so after stumbling through the menu we strolled down the hill to spend a pleasant evening drinking wine and laughing and giggling with our new found friends.

Salo

Isn't it amazing? Up until now the evening meals have been rubbish and even Martin has struggled to find something to eat. So we bought loads of snacks and stuffed our faces only to be offered all the good stuff in the dining room when we were too full to eat!!

This morning we opted for the later ferry and took the short trip to the nearest town of Salo. Some of the people we had spoken to had walked there, a 55 min stroll but we had also been told it wasn't a pleasant journey so the boat it was. It only took us 10 mins to walk around the shops and discover there wasn't much there we hadn't already seen in the other two towns we had visited although some of the buildings were interesting.

After that we looked at the few market/artisan stalls by the Quay.

We still had nearly 2 hours before the return boat was due so we sat, as almost everyone else was, having a drink and watching the world go by. We were opposite a stall selling ordinary polyester skirts, amazed at how many people stopped to spend an age searching through, feeling and holding up to themselves something from the meger 20 or so items on offer. 

One woman, already wearing a very similar white skirt, picked out a plain white one and went in-between the two curtains to try it on. We gasped as unbeknown to her the mirror on the other side of the stall was angled right into her changing spot and everyone sitting at the bar could see..well everything!

This particular cafe was great for another reason, everytime you ordered a drink a tray of nibbles came with it for free, crisps, olives, crackers, carrots and small pizza slices. 

We went for another stroll in the sunshine in case we had missed anything the first time round, pausing to watch an obviously inexperienced couple who had hired a small boat attempt to bring it into moor.  They were making a bit of a pigs ear out of it so we held out breath as twice one of them nearly fell into the water making a grab for the mooring bouy. I'm pretty sure the boat owner was holding his too as was the guy anchored in the next bay when they came close to crashing into him.

As we made our way back we noticed the couple who had asked us to join them for coffee the day before in the hotel bar, board the boat. Martin started chatting to them again, they had been to the gardens in Gardone as we had recommended. Again they invited us for coffee in the hotel bar, and we spent a pleasant two hours chatting to them as the rain, returning after a day of brilliant sunshine, splattered on the roof above us.

Drizzle

The trouble with the ferrys aside from how infrequent they are, is the inability to be able to hop on, hop off. Had we wanted to disembark at Salo on our return from Gardone we would have had to pay again to travel from Salo to Portese even though we had already paid for that leg of the journey. So instead we ended up returning to the hotel and playing a game of scrabble in the almost deserted hotel bar, returning to our room and after an hour or so reading our holiday novels enduring yet another strange combination of dinner offerings. 

This morning, true to the weather forecast the mist had closed in and a persistent rain was falling. The lake, calm up until now had developed a definite swell and fairly big waves were crashing on the beach. We forwent the ferry and opted to shrug on our rain coats to explore locally.

Soggy veiw from balcony of our room. 

Exploring did not take long.  It was not possible to walk along the edge of the lake very far in either direction, just past the harbour a large hotel owns the private beach forcing you up into the hills onto a busy road with no walkway, the other direction simply had no walkway leaving you to scrabble over rocks and pebbles. Wet from the rain and somewhat despondent we retired back to our room. 

Unlike many of the Jet2 customers, TUI had failed to inform us that the rooms had no tea or coffee making facilities. Jet2 customers forewarned had provided themselves with travel kettles. We thought maybe the slightly larger shop on the nearby campsite might cater for us parched TUI customers so back out into the drizzle we went. We managed to get a corkscrew for the wine we had bought in Garda and a better selection of snacks but alas no kettle. 

We are beginning to wonder what everyone does here, and if we are somehow missing the point. It seems we are not the only ones. We braved the elements one more time to go buy an expensive coffee from the hotel bar. There was only one other couple there. Where has everyone gone? There is nothing to do round here yet very few people had boarded the ferry as we had watched. The other couple, a pair from Rochdale, asked us to join them. I think with the place being so remote people are desperate for company as we have never chatted to so many complete strangers. We are all relentlessly asking each other for ideas of places to go and things to see. 

After a pleasant exchange with our next new friends we returned to our room to watch Spurs inevitable loss against Brentford, and to look forward to our evening meal!

 Soggy veiw in other direction from our balcony.

Gardens of Gardone

Dinner last night was even weirder than the night before. The starter, which again we had to remain seated and wait for, was thinly sliced beef with two tiny triangular cut cream cheese sandwiches. I opted for the salad which I was able to serve myself from the buffet. Strangely the seafish starter from yesterday which had to be served to us yesterday was now available as part of the help yourself selection. Odd. The main was even worse and even Martin who will try anything struggled. I ended up with two bread rolls with butter sneaked from breakfast (we discovered yesterday bread doesn't warrant butter in the evenings only the morning), and Martin had a mish mash of pork escalopes, salad and ham. It is really only the lack on the dinner menus that is letting this hotel down.

This morning dawned slightly overcast and a bit cooler. Our friends Jason and Dawn who we spoke to as we left the dinning room were walking the 50mins to Salo but we has already decided on catching the early ferry, bypassing Salo and getting off at the next stop, Gardone.

Coach rep (not our rep as we don't warrant one apparently), had told us The Grand Hotel here was worth a look at. He informed us it was now grade 1 listed as it was the first ever hotel built around the lake. It has been acquired by new owners and has been shut for internal renovations but could be open soon .... or in several years, no one knows. It is the building prominent across the bay from our hotel and the first building you see as the ferry docks. 

The real reason we had come though was to visit Hellor Gardens, a two acre site crammed full of plants, trees and meandering pathways as well as many local artists statues. We had been told about it by the same English couple who had told us about the busses and ferries. We had no idea where it was but by following the signs for the cars travelling to it, we found it with only a slight detour up a steep but pleasantly plant lined road leading out the back of the town.

The first of many statues.

and one of many ponds.

fish, bonsi, cacti

scary artwork

and odd artwork.

The only thing that spoilt our enjoyment of this magical place was the amount of foreign visitors who refused to give way on the narrow pathways to let you pass. All the English speakers stepped to one side but the rest just stood chatting ten to the dozen blocking the way, pretending they didn't understand when we asked politely to be let through until finally the only options were to tramp all over the planting or to rudely shove through. 

The ferry back was 10 mins late and it started to spit as we waited to board. 

By the time we reached Salo people on the Dock could be seen sporting unbrellas or tugging up their rain hoods. We spotted Jason and Dawn as the boat pulled away and hoped they found a dry bar as it was 2 hours before the next ferry.

Garda and new friends.

Blood sugars really didn't like the transition from Blighty to Italian lakes because not more than two hours after stuffing my face full of carbs from the last dive they took another jump off the deep end, leaving me to face some rather odd looks as I desperately tried to get the Italian only speaking dinner waiter to bring me orange juice (no not Fanta please) whilst ignoring the beautifully presented sea food starter and loading my plate with chips. Three am also found me rapidly cramming cookies down to persuade glucose levels to rise. 

Life really wasn't promising us much when we had to get the maintenance guy to come sort out our room safe. So it was a pleasant surprise that the day actually turned out to be really fun. We overheard the receptionist discussing the busses out of the village with an English couple so we stopped to find out what they has found out. Turns out busses only ran once a day if they felt like it, take to the boats if you hoped to get back to the hotel. Erring on the side of caution we packed all the goodies we had strangely managed to aquire from our breakfast buffet and headed for the harbour.

We tagged ourselves onto another English couple who introduced themselves as Jason and Dawn from Lowerstoft who has previously lived in Sandwich. Since neither they nor we could make much sense of the timetable or had any idea of where we wanted to visit we decided to support each other in our ignorance and stick together for the whole day. 

Garda was the first stop, further afield seemed to take over an hour with the only returning ferry allowing a scant two hours ashore, so we agreed the 40 min run to Garda was our best option for our first day. Although not large Garda is full of typical Italian terracotta and yellow buildings built close together to leave tourist type shops huddled in shaddy alleys beneath them. Dawn and I wandered along admiring the leather bags while Jason and Martin eyed up the wines and discussed golf. We stopped for a light lunch 

beers and more chatting before returning to the ferry, enjoying Italian ice creams on our way back. 

Dawn and Jason were a great couple, making friends on holiday is a first for us so we're were more than chuffed when they gave us their room number and said we could come borrow their bottle opener for the wine we had purchased any time. Hopefully a few more hours of our holiday might be shared with them. 

Lake Garda adventures.

Up at 3 am. What a bloody stupid time to start a holiday but needs must and up with the lark we set off on that wonderful journey known as M2, M20, M23 to Gatwick. It was reasonably quiet (well it would be at that time wouldn't it?). We dropped the car at airport parking (Gatwick purple summer car park..what a name) and got the shuttle to the North terminal. We haven't flown since I got ill in America back in 2018 and  had no idea what to expect post pandemic/diabetic. I shouldn't have worried although anxiety levels were high. With far fewer travellers the staff didn't seem so stressed and there was none of that shouting to grab aa tray, take off your shoes, get into line etc. In fact everyone was very helpful and cheerful. Through and on the plane smoothly.

2 hours later it was equally as easy to find our TUI rep and board our coach but how come no matter where we go or how many coaches there are it's always ours held up for that one missing couple?

We were disappointed to discover that our hotel was so far away from the other hotels under the TUI umbrella that we didn't warrant a real live rep only a digital one (which basically was TUIs way of saying email or ring with any problems). This was even more annoying when the rep on the coach gave us lots of speil on all the hot tourist places to visit, punctuating every one with "Ask your rep for more information". We didn't even have a rep for the last leg of the journey as coach TUI got off at the hotel before ours. A tad worrying as he has been giving all the route directions to the lovely but slightly clueless coach driver. This driver didn't drive into one single hotel drive but dumped each client on the road leaving them to get themselves and their luggage to the hotel door. Of course guess who's hotel had the longest driveway?

Ours may have had the furthest walk to drag our suitcases, but ours was by far the prettiest of all the drop offs, and our accommodation is right on the edge of the Lake. Once settled we found the water view bar for a drink and toasties  where we enjoyed the views and the unexpected sun as it cleared the clouds.

We needed supplies incase of unexpected hypos for the diabetic in this group. The nearest supermarket according to Google maps was a mere 8 mins walk away. Except it was up a very steep incline away from the lakeside. Blood sugars took a huge dive as we struggled up the 1 in 8 and by the time we had purchased orange juice, biscuits and crisps I has to tuck straight in to replace the used energy.  Martin went back in the very small grocery store to buy a second haul but apparently we had bought the lot already. 

Aside from all that, and if you ignore the large burnt out building taking up most of the centre of the village and the long ago abandoned half built estate of holiday villas it looks like a great place to explore and have a pleasant break in. Next time out we will be walking DOWN the hill!