Think of all the joy you’ll find …….. Update - January 06

[dizneeat]

Day 1, August 16

Off to a great start - Part 5

When we got back dinner service had already started and since half board had been part of my deal we got ready and then went down to the dining room for dinner. We were quickly taken to our table at the back of the restaurant and handed menus. And before we knew it the head waiter was back with two glasses of

sparkling wine and after ordering we were told to help ourselves to some antipasti. There was quite the array of antipasti and we both filled a plate with it and headed back to our table.

And as soon as we sat down a waiter came and served our bottle of water and the bottle of regional

white wine we had ordered. We then sat and enjoyed our wine and the antipasti and when we had finished it did not take long for our first course to arrive. Tom had ordered the

Farfalle Pasta with a smoked trout sauce, while I had ordered the

Risotto Milanese. Freshly grated Parmesan cheese was sprinkled on top and we dove in. Both dishes were pretty nice, given that this was a half board menu. And we had picked a really nice wine to go with the meal as well. Once we had finished our starters we were given a little time to just enjoy sitting there before our main courses were served. Tom had ordered the

poached bass, served with the accompaniments of the day. And we both had a good laugh when we saw what our dishes were served with, peas out of a can. There had been a commercial many moons ago which advertised them and we both repeated the catchphrase at the very same time. I had ordered the

Pork Saltimbocca, which came with the same, canned peas and roasted potatoes. And while the peas were a memory from times long gone, both dishes were pretty nice. There was a salad buffet, but we both did not care for it, neither did we care for the dessert buffet, which offered some very basic sheet cakes. We were some of the last people to leave the dining room. It had been a long day and instead of heading out again we decided to go back to our room for an early night. But wait, there was that balcony calling our name. So we both grabbed a beverage that we had bought earlier and I picked some of the fruit off that plate and we sat outside enjoying the cool night air and the beautiful view of the lake

and the chapel high up on the mountain

before we finally called it a day shortly after 10pm.


To be continued ..........​

 

[Flossbolna]

Oh, what a great report! Love reading about your Italy adventure! I really really need to get myself to Lake Garda soon!! It is quite embarrassing that I really have not visited Italy that much...

 

[englishrose47]

I am not sure what half board means , is it a smaller meal plan???

 

[linetbo]

Oh Karin, what a lovely view you have from your room.

 

[dizneeat]

Oh, what a great report! Love reading about your Italy adventure! I really really need to get myself to Lake Garda soon!! It is quite embarrassing that I really have not visited Italy that much...

I am glad you enjoy it.
We had such a great time, so I really want to share it with you here.
Lake Garda is really beautiful. I have been there as a child and young adult, but Tom had not been and really loved it. Needless to say we loved the other stops on our tour as well. You really should take Michael on an extended tour of Italy (and Austria ). He sure would love it.

I am not sure what half board means , is it a smaller meal plan???

Half board is very common here, it means breakfast and dinner. If you have full board you will have breakfast, lunch and dinner. Most of our hotels included breakfast (we only were self catering when we rented an apartment) and the hotel in Riva included breakfast and dinner = half board.

Oh Karin, what a lovely view you have from your room.

It was beautiful. The photos don't do the view justice - I only wish we would have had more time there, but we will definitely return.

 

[franandaj]

Looks like a lovely start to your trip. The view of the lake are beautiful. The funicular sounded like a great stop. The scenery is so beautiful and so different from what I am used to.

Interesting about the half/full board concept. It must be something left from ancient times when restaurants were not commonplace. We don't see that much in America, as you well know. Breakfast, yes but other meals, not so much.

 

[dizneeat]

Looks like a lovely start to your trip. The view of the lake are beautiful. The funicular sounded like a great stop. The scenery is so beautiful and so different from what I am used to.

It was a really awesome start and not to get ahead of myself, but it was the sign of things to come. And we had a day filled with lots of fun, bridge viewing and funicular riding included. It was awesome to see that sportsman jump down the ski jump - it is VERY high and I would die just walking out to where they sit before they jump.

Interesting about the half/full board concept. It must be something left from ancient times when restaurants were not commonplace. We don't see that much in America, as you well know. Breakfast, yes but other meals, not so much.

I think the half/full board is a European thing. Half board is still pretty common around here. Maybe not in the big chain hotels, but the smaller ones often offer it. Breakfast is always included in the price of the room, that is something that is quite different from the US.
I am not one to book half/full board as you usually only have a limited menu and I just love to explore. But I wanted a room with a balcony to begin with and the only one that was offered was part of this package, which offered a bottle of sparkling wine, a fruit plate, half board and the use of the spa for only 50€ more than a standard room (for two nights). Now that was a no brainer for us.

 

[dizneeat]

7

Day 2, August 17

I never knew Lake Garda is quite so large … Part 1

Tom had set the alarm the day before as we wanted to have a full day to explore, but we were both still tired, so off we went to dreamland for another 30 minutes.
When we got up and looked outside it was looking grey and it seemed to drizzle a bit, but we still had time until we wanted to start this day’s adventure. So we showered and got ready to head downstairs to the dining room for breakfast. There was a well-stocked buffet with all your breakfast essentials and the server told us that we could sit wherever we wanted and that it was possible to sit outside on the covered patio.

That sounded pretty good, as by now it had stopped to rain. Tom got himself some coffee and I got myself a cup of hot water and bathed one of my own tea bags in it, then we got some orange juice and finally we went for something to eat. We both loaded up our plates with Italian salami, ham, cheese, butter and panini rolls and returned to our table.

Once we had finished plate one Tom went to pick up another plate of savoury food, sautéed mushrooms, courgettes, scrambled eggs and bacon,

while I went to get myself a chocolate croissant. And after finishing our breakfast we went back to our room to pick up our stuff for the day. Our original plan for the day had been to get the car from the garage and drive around the lake stopping wherever we felt like it. But during our brief walk around the day before we had seen that you could buy a day ticket for the ships on the lake, so we decided to just leave the car where it was and go by ship. We had already missed the first ship of the day, but there was time before the next one, so after checking the weather again

we headed over to the booth to get our tickets, then ask where the next ship would leave from. We were pleased to hear that it was the paddle steamer and walked over. The skies were still grey, but once we were allowed on board

we found great seats on the top deck and soon we found ourselves going to Torbole, a little village close to Riva.

(we called it a Hidden Mickey )

While going there we were both wondering if we would be able to stay outside, as with the wind on that deck it was a bit chilly, but once we had arrived at Torbole we could see the sun coming through and it warmed up quickly.

And with a few more tourists joining us on our trip we continued our trip to the next destination, Malcesine.

To be continued ..........​

 

[dizneeat]

7

Day 2, August 17

I never knew Lake Garda is quite so large … Part 2

And with a few more tourists joining us on our trip we continued our trip to the next destination, Malcesine. The trip was really nice, now with the temperature rising we enjoyed the beautiful sights left and right of the boat.

About half an hour later we arrived at Malcesine

and got off as did quite a few other tourists. It is a typical small Italian village with narrow streets and houses close together and this one had a small castle right on top of a hill.

And after some exploring of the village we headed up to the castle and went right past a wedding party.

Soon we had made it to the castle,

but didn’t go inside because we did not have enough time.

To be continued ..........​

 

[dizneeat]

7

Day 2, August 17

I never knew Lake Garda is quite so large … Part 3


Soon we had made it to the castle,but didn’t go inside because we did not have enough time.

What we did have enough time to do was enjoying some ice-cream.

And while we sat and enjoyed the frozen treat the wedding party went by getting ready for the big event.

We didn’t have time to wait for the bride as we needed to head back to catch the next ship to go to our next destination.

I had thought to just go and criss cross the lake when we noticed that it would take 2 hours to go to our next stop. I had been to Lake Garda as a child, but I had not thought that it was quite that big. So we were at the pier waiting and a boat came and went but finally ours arrived, a hydrofoil.

We, and a gazillion other people got on, but we found seats and settled in and off we went. The boat really criss crossed the lake several times in the two hours we were on board

and finally we arrived at the southern end of the lake at the peninsular of Sirmione.

To be continued ..........​

 

[momof3princes]

Your holiday looks so fun! I am quite an Olympic fan so I loved the ski jump area! Did they land in the grass?
Your view from your hotel room is beautiful, I love palm trees!
Your meals looked great, can't wait to hear more

 

[GoofyFan1515]

Enjoyed your tour of Grand Cayman, and your Strawberry Mudslide and the Taste of Georgetown Tour sound really yummy. That Red Snapper looked delicious also! You had some really nice pictures of the flowers also! And of course, sampling the different varieties at the Tortuga Rum Company would be a great stop!

Enjoying the tour of Italy updates!

Landzeit Cappuccino, a large espresso topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

Anything with chocolate always deserves a big mention!

Honey Berries Waffle, a fresh waffle topped with strawberries, blueberries, Canadian maple syrup and whipped sour cream topped with granola.

This looks really yummy too!

I guess they can use Disney script anywhere..........

The Berg Isel looks like a fun stop, and the views after you took the funicular to the top are awe inspiring!

Sticking with a familiar theme, the Cheesespaetzle looks really tasty!

Looks like you had a really nice room in Riva del Garda, and a super view of Lake Garda also!

(we called it a Hidden Mickey )

I've seen some posted that aren't nearly as convincing as this one, for sure!

About half an hour later we arrived at Malcesine

and got off as did quite a few other tourists. It is a typical small Italian village with narrow streets and houses close together and this one had a small castle right on top of a hill.

Very scenic..........looks like a lovely place!

What we did have enough time to do was enjoying some ice-cream.

It's always a good time for ice cream!!!

 

[Leshaface]

Tom is super creative!

Oh that looks divine!

So darn gorgeous!

What a cool sight.

Seriously, could it be any prettier?!

Disney font??

This is ridiculously cool. Wow!

Way too high for me

He's following you saying, "Come back to WDW!"

You got an awesome view!

And night view is even better!

Yep, i'd call it a hidden mickey.

So narrow, my goodness.

 

[Poolrat]

Even on a non Disney trip, Mickey is never far away. So, after stopping to take a photo we headed

Quite a few Disney Reminders so far. The font, the balloon and the hidden Mickey, trying to make you feel at home.

The views from the ski jump look incredible and scary.


You food looks wonderful and thank you for explaining half board.


The view from the balcony and ship are breathtaking.

 

[englishrose47]

Half board is very common here, it means breakfast and dinner. If you have full board you will have breakfast, lunch and dinner. Most of our hotels included breakfast (we only were self catering when we rented an apartment) and the hotel in Riva included breakfast and dinner = half board.

I see sounds good to me , just had lunch to get on your own!!

 

[englishrose47]

What is with the hats ??? The Castle looked interesting pity you didn't have time to explore . Your breakfast of rolls and meats looked yummy, of course the eggs and bacon and eggplant as they in America call the veggie looked delish!!

 

[dizneeat]

Hello from Italy!

This is day 2 of our second trip to Italy this summer. No round trip this time, just enjoying some time off and doing nothing (apart from eating, that is ......)

Here are a few impressions of yesterday.

Heading out for an afternoon stroll and some ice-cream now. See ya all later! ​

 

[jedijill]

Those treats look tasty!

Jill in CO

 

[jenseib]

That's Disney Font!!!

Wow..what a view!

Visting a castle or eating ice-cream....I think you made the right decision!! hahaha

 

[Pinkocto]

Hi Karin

After finding out we'll be on the PC cruise together I wanted to read some of your TRs. There's a lot of familiar faces around here too, sorry I'm late to the party. I started with last year's Med cruise and I'm sooooooo glad Tom's birthday trip was so much better than that one.

How fantastic that they were able to change your flights and you're able to go on a bonus trip to F & G!!!

Too much to comment about specifically but I'm loving everything. All the birthday pixie dust was too cool. Your side trips are very fun to see.

I love all your stops for icecream, mom and I are like this as well