The Duffs Travels

 It was a little sad today knowing it was our last day. We enjoyed our last hotel breakfast and walked along the lake front into the old town. We were out early and seemed to have the place to ourselves. The old town is a beautiful place, we enjoyed a delicious gelato taking in the wonderful views. We finished our last minute gift buying and bought his and her perfumes for our wedding anniversary.  We spent the rest of the day at the lake side relaxing and swimming. It seemed like a perfect end to our holiday We ate our last evening meal in the hotel and it did not disappoint. Tomorrow we will be flying home. Our time in Lake Garda has been fantastic. It's been so much more than we were expecting. Our memories of Italy will stay with us for years to come and I am sure we return one day.

 A  relaxing morning then a quick ferry trip to Malcesine to hire a speed boat.Yes thats right some one wants to pretend to be James Bond. Unfortunately  the boats where all booked up so we had a few hours to look around the shops and relax in the piazza. When we did eventually get to hire our boat the water was very choppy. But nothing was going to ruin this romantic afternoon.We had seen so many couples and families return with big smiles on their faces and now it was our turn. Our excitement levels were high.  It was a disaster it was the worse two hours of my life James Bond had no idea how to drive the boat. The water was so choppy I needed to hold on for dear life. James Bond kept cutting across the waves at full speed which almost made the boat turn over. When we returned to the shore I was soaking wet. I looked like I had been swimming in my clothes. Before our little adventure sitting in the Piazza  I honestly saw no one else get off the boat wet like I...

Limone sul Garda was very close to Riva so we decided to visit and took the early morning ferry. I feel we could do this every day and never get bored, the views are magical. It's a beautiful charming little town, surrounded by olive gardens and lemon terraces. The small harbour looked beautiful as we approached. It was very busy in the little historic alleyways but somehow it was easy to find some quiet spots where you could just take in the atmosphere and gaze over the lake.  The tiny lanes are full of shops selling everything lemony that you could think of. It is quite cute at first but then it just feels very touristy. But that said it is still a beautiful place to visit and the little lanes have some incredible houses to look at .  We made our way up to the Castle. There were  definitely not as many visitors up here and that seemed to make it feel cooler as it was yet another really hot day. It was a great place to stroll around you get to see all sorts of citrus fru...

It was up early today for a trip to Verona. Our bus took us the length of Lake Garda and it was nice to see the rest of the lake and we think Riva is definitely the prettiest place. Verona is a city that prospered in the 13th century under the rule of the delle Scala family and became a world heritage site in 2000. As we approached the city and went through the outer walls we instantly could see that this was going to be a beautiful place. We entered the city across the Castle Vecchio Bridge into the main streets of Verona. The sight of this old city with grand architecture and beautiful little piazzas looked just like you imagine Italy to look.  The ancient roman amphitheater was a stunning sight in the Piazza Bra and had been built in 30AD. It is used today for world renowned opera performances. The heatwave today was intense so we just wandered the winding streets taking in all the stunning places. We came across the white limestone arches of the Porta Borsari which is an ancien...

Today after another large hotel breakfast we made our way to a small town on the eastern shore of Lake Garda. We caught the ferry from Riva to Malcesine, this gave us amazing views of Riva from the lake.  As the ferry approaches Malcesine you get a wonderful view of the Castello Scaligero which gets its name from the Della Scala family who owned it in the 13th century.  After a quick drink in the Plaza Turazza we made our way to the cable cars to get to the top of Mount Baldo. The cable cars carry 70 people and rotates as it goes up the mountain side, so everyone gets to see the views. Even though it went from 1000 m to 1760 m the temperature at the top was still intense. We still managed a walk along the top to see some fantastic views. After we had spent a few hours here we made our way down to the town for some lunch. We came across a small eatery that had an outdoor area with shade from a grape vine. It was such a cute place and felt very Italian. We enjoyed our meal of ho...

 After a very large hotel buffet breakfast of bread, cheese, meats, croissants, cakes, fruit, yogurts and much more, we decided to wear the food off by walking into the old town of Riva. The views were even better this morning and the high mountains seem so close. You almost forget you are beside a lake and not the sea as the area is full of swimmers, paddle boarders and sunbathers. The town was so beautiful. The architecture was stunning. We wandered the winding streets till lunch time, just taking it all in. The town is so colourful. Our first gelato did not disappoint but it melted so quickly. I had a caprice salad that tasted so so good. We stopped for numerous drinks as the day was really hot as the area was having a heatwave like the rest of Europe. Riva was full of little cafes and bistros and the Italian's can be spotted as they stand at the counter to drink their espresso.         Yes, someone found the bookshop. We made our way back to our hotel along ...

Holiday time again. Travel plans have been on hold due to the pandemic but things are definitely getting better so we are eager to get travelling again. We decided to stay close to home and not go long haul, but really wanted a little sunshine so decided on a week in Italy. This is a popular choice for us Brits but its never really been on our radar, so we got a cheap package deal. There has been so many news reports about the chaos in airports, people missing flights, luggage never arriving and many hours queuing to get through security. We didn't want any stress so stayed in the airport hotel as our flight was at 6am. We arrived at the airport and it was fine it was a little busier than normal but we went through easily. We caught the flight which took 2 hours, then an hour on the bus to our hotel. It was that straight forward, we can see why people like package holidays for a quick week away. The hotel was nice with an indoor and outdoor pool and generous balcony with two sun be...