Postcard from Italy - July 2011

Early on a cold and wet morning on Thursday 7 July I left Gatwick with my friend Sue Sheridan for Verona. We were met in sunny Verona and driven to our hotel, the Olivi in Sirmione by 12.15pm. Our room wasn’t quite ready so we were given Aperol Spritzers as we relaxed in the sunshine. By 2pm we were lying by the pool! Later that afternoon we took a walk into the little town to stock up the bar in our room! After a delicious dinner we were in bed reasonably early after such an early start.

Friday and Saturday were spent by the pool in glorious sunshine, and on Saturday evening, after an early dinner, we went into Verona to see Nabucco at the Arena. A truly magical evening – great music in fantastic surroundings.

On Sunday morning we took the 8.20 ferry across to Garda. There we wandered around the shops for an hour and after a refreshing drink we walked along Lake Garda for nearly an hour until we came to Bardolino. Almost the first stop was a bar beside the Lake for a glass of Aperol Spritzer! After that we did some shopping, and both ended up buying new bags and shoes! We then found ourselves a delightful little restaurant for a light lunch with another Aperol Spritzer, and the Patron then offered us a little Limoncello to finish! It was a very hot day – about 35 degrees – so after lunch we took the ferry back to Sirmione and retired to our hotel to recover from our excursion!

Monday and Tuesday were spent quietly by the pool; we enjoyed another delicious dinner on Monday evening, finishing with a Limoncello, of course! On Tuesday we left the pool mid afternoon to get back to Verona for the 19.35 flight to Gatwick.

A wonderfully relaxing Italian break in glorious sunshine!