Mrs Bunny goes to Lake Garda-Italy

On our return from Europe, Mr Bunny made plans with his mummy bunny to take her on a families reunited tour, visiting various parts of Scotland and Northern England catching up with long time friends, distant family and old acquaintances whilst taking the time to spend some quality time alone with his mum. With our trip around Europe slightly tense and fraught at times, the decision for each of us to spend some time alone or with a different bunny was very much the right thing at the right time. Mr Bunny and his mum went to Scotland, Mrs Bunny and Little B packed our bags and went to Garda in Italy. I chose Lake Garda for a number of reasons, with reason number one, and the best reason of all, being the fact that we have been before, and we know the score. Mr B`s trip left on the 19th, but Mrs B had to wait for school to finish before Little B was free to cast off the chains of employment and join me. She finished on a Tuesday, so Wednesday 22nd we flew to Verona, no hanging around for us.

Lake Garda

We flew into Verona airport and caught the very conveniently parked up bus, marked Garda located right outside the airport exit, and we were on our way. It takes around 1 hour and 40 minutes to reach the Lake side town of Garda and our home for the next 9 days. For all the towns on the Lake you could visit, Garda is probably one of the quieter places and personally I am grateful for that. It seldom features on any of the numerous posts about Lake Garda with focus always being placed elsewhere. We would be staying in an apartment that we have stayed in before and knew the location well. It is also a mere 10 minutes walk from the bus station, a place that I was to come to frequent on an almost daily basis.

Day One. Lets Walk to the Right. We wandered along the lakeshore until we reached the same pleasantly located cafe that Mr B and I had frequented just a couple of years earlier. Tiny bit gutted to see that the cafe and its very nice bakery selection had been reduced quite somewhat to just a few token sandwiches and maybe the odd croissant, but casting those unavailable calorific disappointments aside, the hot Tea remained the same, ditto the ice cold drinks, and Mrs Bunny sat back in one of the comfortable armchairs and contemplated the bliss of spending long days walking the shore with Little B, drinking tea, possibly taking in a few shops, maybe the market, or even an hour or two sat on the Lake shore watching the world go by or reading our books. Silly, silly Mrs Bunny...

Meet Little B. Traveller and resort researcher extraordinaire. No sooner had the sun set on day one, Little B had a plan in situ. Starting with the infernal words ` I`ve been doing some research..` my heart sank. I knew there and then that my plans to do very little were sunk. " Tomorrow, I thought we could .....then the day after it`s.......Friday, is Market Day (I could live with that one...." and on weekends they have.....a plan for every day. Poor Mrs Bunny, bye bye peaceful cafe, nice to have met you Mr China Tea Pot, arrivederci comfy chairs. For all my sorrow at the prospect of long days ahead, what I do know, is whatever Little B cooks up, it will be worth it. She has dragged us to very special places in the past, ones that we would have missed without her.

Friday is Market Day

Garda market is huge, stretching the length of the Lakeshore. I want to say that it is cheap, but compared to our last visit, I`m not convinced anymore. I genuinely found the market quite pricy this year. Like all markets there are a few bargains to be found, but nothing on the scale of a few years ago. Be prepared for a large number of Chinese stall holders, absolutely nothing whatsoever wrong with their stalls, but lets just say they are not known for being polite. Mrs ` You So Fat` was probably the worst, when I went to hand little B a very small, (because she is) pair of trousers, and Mrs Stall Holder, uttered No, No, You So Fat! They no fit. So rude.

Gardaland and Movieland

Lumping these two consecutive days together, we had a blast! Catching the bus from Garda Bus Station, both parks are an easy 40-50 minute bus ride away. They are both excellent. Gardaland is very big, so much walking, but some great rides. A couple appeared to be unavailable, but we certainly managed to rack up some good experiences. For the first time, Mrs Bunny felt confident enough to go up in the sky gondola, a spaceship shaped seated viewing platform that rises high in the air, liked it so much we did it again. Mammut is a bit of a bone shaker, a very long mine train ride, but extremely rough. I`m going to skirt over Jumanji, just not a fan, but the Pirate ride, well hidden, is a lot of fun. The best ride of the day was a mouse type ride, we had real good laugh on that one. Movieland. This park looks so small on a map, but its small and mighty. This was a first for the both of us, but I would definitely go again. The rides are pretty special, with some superb effects. We did the jetboats and it was awesome!!! Vastly helped by bat ears bunny hearing the ride operators shout 2 ?? 2 ?? 2 people??? we were waaaaaaaay back in the queue, but right next to a bar that we could duck under and reach the front pronto. We must have bypassed 50 plus people. Just don`t look up, don`t make eye contact. She did the same at another ride as well. 2 available seats, not sat together, but so what? better than the one hour wait. We took our seats in the waiting area (an absolutely brilliant waiting system they have) the bus arrived, and every idiot raced for the doors to get better seats! it was crazy. We feigned ignorance and language barrier when I sat next to a guy who was saving the seat for his friend. She did the same on the seat for two next to me. My guy had a hissy fit and went in search of his companion, so we sat together. Yippee. Movieland? Very enjoyable.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Sirmione.

Little B really fancied a day on the lake, so we jumped on one of the many ferries and headed off to the peninsula of Sirmione. Having been to Garda many times, we have never been here, but we know that it is described as a much loved, very pretty touristy destination. One not to miss. The boat journey, we took the slow ferry, around 90 minutes, it was very pleasant, though not direct with the boat stopping at various locations for extra passengers. We finally arrived into Sirmione at the northern end of the peninsula. So busy. Busy, busy busy. We walked into the town, passing more Gelato shops than any other kind of shop, and just meandered about. Finding the town far to busy to be pleasant, we left the crowded streets and headed out of town down the peninsula. The nice shops fizzled quickly, and there was not a lot to see. Perhaps we did not walk far enough, but we walked long enough to realize we were slowly running out of people. We grabbed a drink, and headed back to the part with the Castle that you see on every photograph of Sirmione. Truthfully, we were quite dismissive. Seen the castle, now what? We had no interest in the overly busy beach. Thinking that maybe we had missed something, another part of the town perhaps, we headed back. The archway that we assumed led to parts unseen, went nowhere. There was a boat in the dock. We decided we had had enough and ran for it. Luckily for us this was the fast boat (20 minutes back to Garda) with basic tickets rapidly upgraded to fast boat tickets (an extra 9 euros or so) we left Sirmione wondering what all the fuss was about. Sirmione? Once and done for us, we were both happy to back in the quiet town of Garda.

Malcesine

Another town on the banks of Lake Garda that I have always wanted to visit, but never quite made it. Naturally with Little B, it was a must see. We caught yet another bus this time in the opposite direction and headed north. Malcesine has a ski lift/gondola ride that takes you to a high view point above the lake. What is it like? Not a scooby!!! Ski Lift? Gondola?? Not a chance! We headed instead for the town. It is very pretty, with its narrow cobbled streets, endless tourist shops, pretty harbour, boats to take you across the water to Limone, but it is just another town. Once again we were overwhelmed at just how many people were there. Nice as it was, I think the highlight of my day was meeting a lovely couple celebrating their anniversary, and with whom we had a very nice conversation about travel. Once again we were so glad to get to our little town of Garda. The more we see, the more we appreciate Garda.

Garda

Maybe I should talk a little more about this beautiful town? It is little! It is cute, it is peaceful and scenic, consists of just a few streets with shops selling nicer than average tourist tat. To me it is akin to finding what you need in a small town mini market, rather than a sell it all hypermarket. A small bakery with a little hideaway garden. Several restaurants hidden away down cobbled alleyways, whilst not Michelin (for foodies) are recommended by the Michelin Guide for good cooking. Small eateries with big personalities. The majority of people tend to linger around the waterfront, here there are many many side by side restaurants of all kinds, and all have the same ambient view of the Lake. The bus station is the shortest of walks from the lake front. Small shops selling wonderful lavender products, leather shops, and bags. This town is ideal for slowing down. Centrally located on the Lake. Just Perfect.

You can walk the lakeside for miles, head left and you will quickly find yourselves at the edge of numerous camping villages. Motorhomes Galore! Yet sandwiched between road and lake they are not sprawling seas of camp life, in fact, I think they are nice places to be, compact, cosy, they look great.

Bardolino

The town that sits between Gardaland and Garda. Can be walked to from Garda?, its a goodly walk, but we preferred the bus option. We travelled to Bardolino with one purpose, to get a second bite of the the cherry, aka another Market. Wow! If we thought Garda market was huge, Bardolino felt infinitely bigger. Stretching for what feels like miles (but most unlikely) along the lake shore. Market walked, a few goodies purchased, we made our way into the town and were instantly in love. With wide open streets, space to breath, Bardolino became our second favourite place after Garda. Still dotted with many shops selling t.s, but also many shops selling nicer wares. If you think of Garda as the village, then Bardolino is your town.

Nine days on Lake Garda, 8 days of sightseeing. No drama, no issues, no decision making, just two people enjoying a relaxing, much needed break, but with Mr Bunny making a bolt for freedom, and ready to leave his mum in more capable hands (sorry, I should add she had a fall, and needed medical, not just family care) it was time to pack our bags, and head for the airport and a flight to Albania, and Tirana, where we would be meeting up with Mr Bunny and further adventure.

Goodbye Garda, until next time!