2025 POSTCARD FROM ITALY Thursday 28 August – Sunday 7 September

I left home at 2.30pm on Thursday 28 August and arrived at Gatwick just after 4pm. Met up with Anne Hensman and Sue Sheridan, and the other Anne and I picked up our Special Assistance people to “drive” us through Gatwick. Although we boarded the plane in plenty of time we were at least half an hour late taking off. We had a very bumpy ride to Verona which was not much fun. We arrived so late in Verona that we missed out scheduled shuttle to our hotel so we took a taxi, and arrived around 10pm. Had a very late night to bed – a lot to sort in my room and on my computer. Anne, Sue and I met up for breakfast at 8.30 and after a wander around the hotel we took ourselves to the pool for the day. We had a good dinner in the garden of the hotel in the evening. On Saturday Anne, Sue and I packed up and left the hotel around 3pm and arrived at the villa in Desenzano 30 minutes later. Much faster than we had expected. We were met by the owners and then got ourselves installed. We took ourselves out for a very nice dinner overlooking Lake Garda that evening. Spent Sunday lying by the pool with the occasional dip into it – quite chilly!! In the late afternoon we took a walk into Desenzano. Gill Sharp joined us that evening. Monday morning and lunch was spent in Desenzano before walking back to our villa. In the evening we had a long walk around to find a restaurant, being a Monday many restaurants were closed. However half way through the evening we were hit by a biblical storm for a couple of hours. It eventually eased and we managed to walk back to the villa before the rain started again. Tuesday, my birthday, we walked around Desenzano again, this time visiting the Cathedral, and found a delightful restaurant, Alessi, for a birthday lunch. We then had a quiet afternoon in the villa, followed by dinner at Stella. Very poor service there. On Wednesday 30th we spent the day on Lake Garda, calling into Bardolino and Lazise, enjoying a nice lunch in Bardolino. The other ladies spent rather too much time shopping as far as I was concerned, so opted out and enjoyed a drink or two. On Thursday I let them all go to Sirmione, where I have been many times, and I relaxed by the villa pool all day. On Friday we went into Verona in the evening to go to see Nabucco at the Arena. An interesting production, slightly modern, but for me some strange scenes. I think I prefer the old-fashioned production. Not home until 12.45am, so a late night especially as we had to pack to leave the villa early the next morning. On Saturday morning we were driven into Verona – back to our hotel the Veronesi La Torre. There we spent the day by the pool and enjoying a dinner in the garden of the hotel. Our last day was spent by the pool, and then shuttling from the hotel to the airport for our flight home that evening. A good flight – and even saw the blood moon – small in Verona and full in London!