Garda lake (Lago di Garda) in Italy
The best spot for vacations found so far.

Garda lake lies in Nothern Italy, between Venice and Milano, stretched like a lazy lizard in the direction from the south to the north. While the south is basically plain and very frequented by tourists, the more we moved to the north, the more unique, tourist forgotten places we found, as the hills were slowly turning into mountains and the roads waded through the cliffs. The northern end of the lake, the town of Riva, however, is a popular Alpine resort.

I had been at the Garda lake before, and the experience was unforgettable. The second trip to the place I planned together with Christine, and this time it was a longer stay-away, as we went all around the lake, seeing Tremosine, Desenzano, Salò, Gardone Riviera, Riva, Gargnano, Limone, Peschiera del Garda, Malcesine, and Torri del Benaco.

I will not write about the usual tourist attractions and architectural monuments; the place holds unearthly charm: the lakeshore, dotted with vineyards and olive gardens, and palms, houses hanging over the water hundreds of metres lower down, one side of the lake enjoying the sunset while the other bathes in sunrise, - but it's not always seen through the well-woven cobweb of hotels, tourist-oriented shops and feeding places. Only two places stood out in their genuinity: Gargnano with its little bakery where the locals living in the town were buying their daily bread, and Tremosine.

I found Tremosine looking for some secluded spot high up in the mountains. We stayed there for several days, at a family-run hotel close to the village of Pieve, - the picture of the sunset coloring the mountains on the other side of the lake is taken from it. This was the place where the simple life of the folks was still going on - people were living there. The kids were playing football, mothers were cooking and we were sniffing the air walking the almost-ancient streets of the village, frequented by older villagers, dogs and sounds of music.

Some bonuses we got:
a) dinner, sitting on the stones at the lakeshore and watching thunderstorm going nuts behind the mountains on the other side;
b) wild mountain rides with busses and cars;
c) sunset on an Alpine meadow: scene enhanced by cows made to wear collars with bells;
d) ancient ship sitting on anchor under our same ancient hotel window;
e) wild pirate night in the port and on the beach as a follow-up to the mentioned ship..