My Royal Vacation—if I had the Money!

It’s a beautiful day in Chicago so I thought I’d make this post about something fun instead of hearing about my manuscript progression. Since we’ve been bombarded with news about the Royal Wedding, How to dress like Kate, and 20 plus year divorces, I thought I’d present *tum ta da da* “My Royal Vacation—if I had the Money”.

If I had the money, I’d first go shopping for a new summer wardrobe. When I get home with my clothes, I’d pack them in suitcases and go on the internet to book my trip to leave that day for Lake Garda, Italy. Over the pond, I’d stare out the airplane window at the blue water and cotton stretched clouds until we land in darkness.

I’d rent a driver to take me to my house where I would retire for the night. When I wake up, I 'd open the french doors to my bedroom balcony to see the rising sun kissing the top of a mountain. 

I would hurry to get ready for the day and begin my exploration of the towns around the lake. At the end of a pier, I'd find a bench, sit down, close my eyes and listen to the waking. The water licking the boats and shore while in the distance window covers are pulled up. 

When people begin venturing out onto the pier, I would start walking down the streets, getting lost in the beauty of these townsfolk’s lives. Worn stones, uneven streets—a simple peace. A wonderful way to soak up culture.

Then I’d take a ride up into the mountains for winter warmth overlooking the towns and lake.

I’d drive around the lake, stopping at the beautiful villages for pictures and food. After filling up on pizza, and waiting for the end of the day, I’d get comfortable sitting on a pier gazing at a row of orange trees with a mountainous backdrop.

What’s your Royal Vacation? I’d love to hear it.

Incipit Vita Nova

The first time I was in Italy was the first time I went to Europe. It was March of 1998, and a friend wanted to go to Paris. I wasn’t that thrilled about seeing Paris, so I told her to add on Italy and I’m there. Before we left, everyone told me I’d love Paris and Florence, but my favorites were Rome and Venice; the vino, piazzas and canals captured my heart from the start.

This time around—a newfound love of Italy—came from another part I hadn’t seen. On Friday, we flew into Bologna and drove to a place called Lake Garda that has a backdrop of the snow topped Alps. Lake Garda was formed in the Ice Ages by a glacier. The first settlers date back to 4000 B.C. Another interesting fact is that the Red Cross was established from the “Battle of Solferino” in Lake Garda. Due to the conditions for the wounded, a man by the name of Henri Dunant wrote the “Souvenir of Solerina” in 1862 campaigning for improvements in treating the wounded, and so began the first Geneva Convention signing in 1863.

Lake Garda is now a love of mine. The lake has many different villages around it where you can stop to shop, enjoy a café or gelato, or have a delicious Italian dinner by the lake. It’s breathtaking and I want to retire here. LOL! Yeah, like that will happen. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the tour. Please keep your hands inside the car. ;)

We begin the tour on Dante Alighieri Street—the street where our hotel was located . For those of you who don’t know who Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) was, he was an Italian poet who wrote The Divine Comedy about life and God; Inferno (hell), Purgatorio (Purgatory) and Paradiso (Paradise). The title of this post is from his Sonnet, La Vita Nuova, and it means “Here beginneth the new life.” In a sense, seeing Lake Garda was like beginning a new life, and it also sums up my life over the past two years.

This picture was taken from our balcony as the sun started to wake. 

After breakfast, we hopped in the car and started to make stops along the way. It may sound morbid, but our first stop was at a cemetery. It was breathtaking with the Alps behind it and I thought what a beautiful resting place.

We stopped at the first little village north of our hotel. The sun slowly came around as I ate up everything I saw.

We walked down some streets and I took a few pictures. This is when I got a feel for the place and those who live here.

This is a picture of an island on Lake Garda. It's called the Olive Island.

These pictures are of another village and its surrounding area. 

This house was well protected and guarded from intrusion. I also took a few pictures near the house and the scenery was perfect.

Again, we walked down some streets so I could capture its essence. 

We took a cable car up to the top of Monte Baldo. Here are pictures as we were going up, on top and then when we came down.

I thought this picture was pretty cool. These are orange trees with the Alps behind them.

After driving around the lake making more stops, we finally settled down to eat where I had my first Italian pizza. Mmm….

It rained the next day, so we decided to visit a few more places on the way to the airport. Unfortunately, the weather can kill the appreciation of a place, but we both enjoyed our time  in Verona. Of course I thought of Shakespeare’s The Two Gentleman of Verona comedy as we walked around. 

We went into the Castelvecchio Museum. This actually was a great museum because some of the sculptures and paintings were founded within the castle (1355), preserved and exhibited with the castle.

Here are a few pictures taken of the Adige River. 

We also went into the Arena di Verona. It’s an ampitheatre that was built in the 1^st century A.D. and is still used as a concert venue for operas.

 

After eating, we headed to Bologna. We originally had a trip planned to Bologna in December, but canceled because of the snow. We were both glad we did because as much as there is history in Bologna, I found it disturbing and sad at the amount of dirt and graffiti that covers this city. There wasn’t a street we walked down near the center that wasn’t covered with graffiti. We can now say we’ve been to Bologna, but I doubt I’ll be back. Here are a few of the things I found beautiful in the city in the short time we were there.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Have a great week.