Friday, 17 January 2025

Europe 2025 | Bassano Del Grappa, Simione, Italy

After farewelling Venice we started our mini-road trip with a bit of a false start.  Dad booked the car for the wrong day, but thankfully they were able to arrange an alternate, albeit an hour or so later.  What this meant was that our grand plans to visit Paul's Mum's house (of the cake fame) and surrounds was put aside, and we settled for a quick visit to Bassano Del Grappa, and a nice lunch at Ristorante Birraria Ottone, for an opportunity to try some of the local cuisine, including baccala.  The visit to Bassano also brought about our experience on Italian roads (wrong side and a little crazy), freeways at 130km/h and the ZTL (Zona Traffico Limitato) which makes getting around these small towns challenging.






After a quick visit to the timber bridge at Ponte Vecchio, with a quick history lesson in the areas importance back in WW1 and previous battles, we headed onto the next stop.


We arrived into Sirmione just as the sun was setting, and much to dads frustration, the sun dropped down behind some clouds as he was paying for parking, and so he missed the photos!




The water in Lake Garda is incredibly clear, so much you can watch the ducks swim under water...and see the grass at the bottom of the lake.


We then explored the Castello Scaligero di Sirmione and imagined what life would be like living in such a town.  The main part of the commune was closed, as Sirmione is clearly a summer destination - so much so that must hotels had shuttered for the winter.   It was still nice wondering the old streets in the early evening.










We then checked into our home for the night, the Villa Piopi, which has a stunning pool just outside our room - but it is unfortunately not heated...so no late night winter swim for us!




Tomorrow we'll continue our journey south to Modena for the day, and end up in Bologna by the day's end.

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