May 15 - Lake Garda - Verona and Sirmione

We will staying in Desenzano del Garda on the shores of Lake Garda for the next three days and taking day trips to see sites in the area.

This morning we head to the city of Verona which is famous as the setting in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.  Verona is east of Lake Garda and dates back to before Roman times prior to 500 BC.  It became Roman in 300 BC, was conquered by the Ostrogoths in 489 AD and then the Lombards in 569.  It was involved in a numerous wars between factions in the area.  It lost over 60% of its population in the Black Plague of 1630 - 31.

Here we are entering the city through one of the old city gates.

Here is one of the churches we walked by on our way into the city.

Here are the remains of a Roman watch tower and city walls that was discovered when they had to do some street maintenance.  It's interesting how much ground level has risen since Roman times, as the Roman roads are about six feet below current street level.

Here are two of our travelers, Marie Franco and Josephine Matozzo

Here we are heading down one of the streets in the medieval part of the city.  Obviously not designed for cars.

Shakespeare wrote three plays that take place in Verona, "Romeo and Juliet", "Two Gentlemen of Verona" and "The Taming of the Shrew".  This photo is of the Capulet's home showing what is advertised as Juliet's balcony.  Only problem is that there is no evidence that there ever was a Juliet Capulet and the balcony was added to the house in the 1936.  However, the courtyard was packed with tourists.

In the courtyard is this bronze statue of Juliet which is which is the typical corroded bronze color except for the chest.  Guys like to have their picture taken with their hands on her chest, hence it's nice and shiny in that area.

Here is the main square just down from the Capulet home.  It was market day so lots of vendor stalls.

Verona has an original Roman amphitheater that dates from the 1st century AD.  The outside walls are much the worse for wear and some have come down in earthquakes but is still used for concerts,  operas and shows.

Here we are heading out of the city and walking by one of the medieval walls of the city.

Our next stop in the city of Sirmione which today is on the end of a peninsula on the southern edge of Lake Garda.  There is a castle that was built by the Scalinger family in the 13th century to defend the southern shores of the lake.  It is surrounded by a moat and can only be entered by a drawbridge.  Here is a photo of it.

Here is Pat standing along side the moat.

Here is the main square of the town.

And here is a small church of Sant'Anna della Rocca that dates from the 12th century.

And here is the altar.

There was a swan and a bunch of ducks swimming in the moat.  I thought this one was striking.

And here is one with a group of ducklings.

After Sirmione we head back to our hotel in Desenzano del Garda as we will be headed out to an elegant dinner at a restaurant in the town of Garda.

The restaurant is located in the hills above the town and has a spectacular view of the town and the lake as you can see in this picture.

The restaurant is located in an olive oil processing facility that was built back in the 14th century.  The dinner was as fabulous as the location and getting to the restaurant turned out to be an adventure as the road up to it was built for medieval carts not tour buses.