We opted to discover more of northern Italy rather than stay in the paradise the Dolomites offered. Bad decision. You can’t win them all. Our drive down to Lake Garda felt hot and long.

We stopped in a really quaint wine town to find some lunch but everything was closed for a siesta–even restaurants! So then we were hot, sick of being in the car and hungry. We finally found a place only to discover their whole menu consisted of gelato. They had some other things but not on the menu. I was irritated and starving–bad combination for me. I ended up picking off of what everyone else got. They did have great gelato though.

Lake Garda (Lago di Garda) was really pretty and huge. There must be some great wind on it because there were a ton of people wind sailing and kite surfing. I saw one guy get some pretty serious air doing the kite surfing. We played “find a hotel” again on our way down the road. Places were pretty pricey and it was getting kind of late.

We ended up finding a pretty mediocre place but it was in a popular town called Malcesine. It had a pool and AC which we all demanded and a great view of the lake. We were so hot that after check in we all met down by the pool. We desperately needed to cool off. We played Durak until sunset and then went into town to find a place to eat. Over the course of our very short stay we were herded around by the hotel staff. Apparently they are running a tight ship. They packed up and put away the lawn chairs our things were on at the pool, while we were there. Then they wouldn’t allow us to sit on the adjoining outdoor patio for breakfast. Silly.

We found a fun place for dinner right on a dock. The water was splashing right under our feet. It was so nice to have a good relaxing dinner after our long hot day. As we walked back to our car there was a band on the street playing salsa music. People were dancing and it was so fun and lively. I love experiencing those types of things while traveling.