Month: July 2022

Opera in Verona: 💃🏻

edithtedLeave a comment

We did it! We went to Verona yesterday, which is 1.5 hours away from Lago di Garda, floated around town, shopping, wine tasting, people watching, etc.

Verona is a wonderful town, founded 2500 years ago and becoming Roman 400 years later – beauty everywhere you look
Some of you might know that I’m a big fan of writing instruments and paper products – discovering a Fabriano store in Verona is like paradise ❤️
Winetasting at “Signorvino” was very nice with wine from Sardinia and Veneto! We enjoyed it a lot, but I’m not sure how much the air conditioned room played a role in it…
The tiniest store I’ve ever seen, roughly the size of a Queen sized bed!
Edith in Verona [citymap with the Amphitheatre / circle]
The oldest store we’ve seen that day
Since my suitcase is still stuck at customs in Germany, I’ve a good excuse to do some shopping 😬
Dinner before the big event: Gorgonzola gnocchi and salad…
After dinner we went to the Amphitheatre to watch “Carmen” 💃🏻
Inside staircase with Ted, who looks like he’s shrunk 🧐
This theatre seats 22,000 people, it’s huge! And the acoustic is so good, none of the singers nor the musicians need microphones. Our seats were high up / far away, but we could hear everything: the castanets, the flamenco dancers steps, the soft sang love declarations, everything!
The opera started at 9pm, finished at 1pm – that’s when lots of people go out to dinner. All the restaurants are open and the town seems like a beehive! We were home in bed at 4am! What a long day it was and what a great adventure! 💃🏻

Keystones

edithtedLeave a comment

With all those wonderful arches everywhere, it is a special treat to also see lots of amazing keystones!

Who invented keystones? It is true that Egyptian, Babylonian, Greek and Assyrian civilizations used arches for underground structures such as drains and vaults. However, it was the Roman civilization (1000 BCE – 500 CE) that first began using a keystone (also called a capstone) in their arches.

A keystone is the wedge-shaped stone at the apex of a masonry arch or typically round- shaped one at the apex of a vault. In both cases it is the final piece placed during construction and locks all the stones into position, allowing the arch or vault to bear weight.

Muslone: Tuesday

edithted1 Comment

What an amazing day! Hike, eat, drink, swim, eat more, way more and be happy!

Hike from Muslone to Piovere along incredible stone walls, which are a UNESCO heritage site. They were built to change the steep hillside into terraces to be able to grow olive trees
Steps and stairs and a handsome hiker
Handsome hiker again – he pops up out of nowhere, every time I try to take a photo!
A happy gigantic fig tree in Piovere
Our hike was rewarded with a pleasant lunch before it got really steep and hard on the way back
But steep and hard was rewarded with awesome views! And here he is again: the handsome hiker!
I just love this view ❤️
No comment – he gets closer and closer…
I think I should give him a name. How about Ted?

After the hike from 9am till 2pm we just took a shower, a nap, and off we went to Sandra’s gorgeous swimming pool for a 2 hour float – perfect!

Followed by more goodies 🍷🍝🌶🍷

Muslone: Monday

edithted2 Comments

Lots of “ohs” and “ahs” today when we visited Oleificio Tavernini in Gargnano (www.oleificiogargnano.it), a wonderful place to buy wine and olive oil products, that are produced right there on site. We got shampoo, soap, wine, more soap, oil, shower gel and – not to forget – soap! Our hosts Beate & Harald and Sandra shared those locations with us and we were glad to have our private tour guides today to make sure we’ll find our way.

Most products had almonds, lemon, orange, chestnuts, lavender or pure olives as their main ingredients – difficult to choose from!
Same for the wine and olive oil selection – too many choices…..

Another stop was at “Aquisto”, a store that sells bags of all sizes made of old sails! When I walked into this store, one of the handbags called my name , so I had it have it! Check them out at “www.kevlove.it”

And our last stop was at Sandra’s house, where we stopped by when dropping her off on the way home. Not only is the house a true gem, a 500 year old sheep barn that she remodeled into a beautiful vacation home, but her garden made us not want to leave anymore

And last but not least: magic Gargnano

Ted, Beate & Harald, Sandra

Muslone: Beauty

edithted1 Comment
Storage room finds – (check the labels!)
I just love this village ❤️
From almost every spot you have a view to the lake
“Bienvenue”
Stroll around, finding great spots to rest and enjoy
Fountain near the church
Keystone from 1607
Blue + Blue = happy Edith
And another narrow street! Some of them are so steep, that I could not walk uphill without sliding out of my shoes at every step
The alimentari store with Enzo, the owner, filling olive oil from a big barrel into a glass bottle. No prefilled / labelled supermarket stuff, everything is from local farms

Muslone: Arches and Alleys

edithtedLeave a comment

60 people live here in Muslone, Italy, high above the Lago di Garda, and all of them must be kind of short I guess…..

This archway is underneath our house and has 4 little doors; 3 are storage rooms and 1 is the entrance to another vacation rental: a cute 1 bedroom apartment with kitchen and bathroom!
Ted didn’t grow, the archways are just so low!
This archway is used as a parking spot for a fiat. It is parked with precision – not even a hand would fit between the wall and the car 😵‍💫
… parking as it’s finest (And the car doesn’t have any scratches!)
Some arches are cool breathy spots to take a siesta
This archway has several doors and windows inside is is the main driveway to a few properties on the other side
And some arches are covered, leaving a glimpse of the past!

Next country: Italy

edithtedLeave a comment

And here we are: hitting the jackpot with this incredible quaint Italian village above Lago di Garda: Muslone!

Getting up at 3am was not that much fun, but beating traffic and arriving 6 hours later made it worthwhile. It is even more beautiful than I had wished for! This village is a hidden gem, the alimentari store had everything we needed for lunch, and we sat down at 12pm to eat sunripe tomatoes, prosciutto di Parma, Gorgonzola, olives, oliveoil and bread. Deliciousness to its finest – life is good!