I wonder if George Clooney knows about this place? Malcesine is just one of several towns on the shores of Italy’s biggest lake. A two-stage gondola service takes you up the mountain behind Malcesine in about 20 minutes. Lyn took one look at the people-packed gondola and decided some earth-bound shopping was in order so this was a solo adventure for me.
At the top there were numerous Germans, 3 Australians and Italian families with their dogs. I don’t think any people in the world can love their dogs more than Italians. They take them everywhere. They buy them tickets on cable cars!
It was the perfect seeing day. You could see the length of the lake and the mountains in all directions. When you had finished walking to the various viewing points you could choose from several restaurants and bars. In this most civilised of countries you are never far from an espresso.
I reached the bottom of the mountain to be greeted by Lyn triumphant. She had purchased 4 presents. More incredibly, finally, on her third trip to Italy, she bought a pair of shoes. We had morning tea, fetched our swimmers, purchased picnic supplies, and walked down to the lake. Lake Garda is fed, as you probably worked out from the pictures, by melting snow. There were numerous sunbathers in the glorious weather, but no actual bathers. Lyn was determined to demonstrate the ANZAC spirit. She swam, I swam, the ducks swam. Timorous Germans looked on in wonder. We ate our picnic. Then we swam some more.
Afterwards, a precocious 8 year old German girl asked Lyn if it was cold. This led to a long conversation with the girl, her younger brother and their mum. The language barrier was considerable but the little girl was keen to use her English language skills and even more curious when she discovered the crazy swimmers were from Australia. The Germans had seen no less than 3 snakes the day before, one grey snake she actuallysaw in the water.
After our nap, Lyn insisted we go investigate the local castle, Castello Scaligero. The Lombards fortified this place, then the Veronese, then the Venetian and finally the Austrians. Anyway, even the approach through Malcesine’s cobbled streets is impressive.
Inside were all sorts of displays including a natural history museum with explanations of the geology and biology of the lake and surrounds. It was really well done and, for the record, the German girl had seen a Dice Snake. Even the entrance was interesting, two giant ammonite fossils.
An added bonus in the castle was that two early frescoes had been uncovered and restored on the inside of the castle walls.
Part of the castle proper was devoted to a wedding, a Scots wedding at that, so the men looked particularly fetching. The rest we climbed. Up to a point. Then Lyn began to plead exhaustion. So I climbed the tower keep alone. It was quite a view of the town and lake below. In the last picture a tiny Lyn is visible.
Everywhere we travel this trip Lyn regales all and sundry with the importance of wearing a hat. Brits, Italians, migrating Germans, all get told that in Australia we wear hats to protect against the sun. The castle was visited in the late 18th century by Goethe, who thought Lake Garda amazingly beautiful. A section of the castle is devoted to him. Here he is in a very sensible hat.
At Lake Garda he wrote, “How I wish my friends could be with me for a moment to enjoy the view which lies before me.”
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