Mobile Blog - Day 6 - Castello Scaligero di Malcesine

The original fort was supposedly built by the Lombards. Destroyed in 590 and later rebuilt after the Hungarian invasions, the castle became part of the large estates of the bishops of Verona. Between 1277 and 1387 it belonged to the Della Scala family, and up until 1403 it was owned by the Visconti family. From 1405 to 1797 - apart from the decade starting in 1506 - it belonged to the Venetian Republic.

The French owned the castle during the days of Napoleon. From 1798 to 1866 the Austrians took over the castle and also did extensive renovations. The castle of Malcesine was declared a national monument on August 22, 1902. Today it houses a small museum dedicated to the territory of Lake Garda.

It also is a favorite spot for marriages. At dinner the other night we met a young Irish woman and her grandmother who came to Malcesine for a cousin's marriage in the castle. Today we opted to visit the castle on our last day in Malcesine. Sure enough we ran into another wedding party. It was fun watching the photographer get the bride (in full gown and train) to climb a ladder to reach the area illustrated below. I'm sure that their photographs will be more spectacular than mine.

The castle is nicely preserved and affords 360 degree views of the area.

If you look at the right-hand corner of the parking lot and go straight up to the yellow house in the hill. That's it! But I'm sure you can't see it, so here is a closer shot.

Today, aside from the castle, we just had a late lunch and strolled along the streets. Here are my last photos for this area. Tomorrow we travel by car to Verona; train to Venice; and Vaporetta to our small palazzo on the Grand Canal. I'll take a break from blogging until Monday, so enjoy your weekend. Ciao!

Above are artists Gabrielle and her husband who run the Faust Art Gallery. We met Gabrielle on our first day when she met at and introduced us to the apartment.

Mobile Blog - Day 5 - Bardolino

German Unity Day is on Monday, October 3. I think that all German's not voting today to bail out Greece are here on Lake Garda. I hear more German spoken than I do Italian. Because of the influx of these german-speaking and other tourists in the area, the bus that runs from Riva to Verona with all the local stops in between are packed and are running late. The tourist office predicts that this weekend will be even worse.

We wanted to visit Bardolino for the festa dell'Uva e del vino which officially opens tonight at 6P. We decided to go today to miss the crowds. But we also missed the festival even though all the tents were in place. But I'm guessing that since all the wine-loving throngs will be there tonight, it left the town at mid-day relatively quiet. I had a good bottle of Tacchetto Bardolino with lunch for an early celebration.

Bardolino DOC
From Wikipedia, the free encycloped

Bardolino is an Italian red wine produced along the chain of morainic hills in the province of Verona to the east of Lake Garda. It takes its name from the town Bardolino on the shores of Lake Garda and was awarded Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) status in 1968. The blend of grapes used to produce the wine includes Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara. Up to 15% of the blend may include Rossignola, Barbera, Sangiovese and/or Garganega.

The three main grapes used to produce Bardolino are also used to produce Valpolicella but the two wines are quite different. This is partly because Bardolino generally contains less Corvina which adds body and structure and more Rondinella which has a relatively neutral flavor profile. Yields in Bardolino also tend to be higher than the 13 tons per hectare officially prescribed in DOC regulations.

Other versions of Bardolino include a Superiore has at least 1 extra percent of alcohol and must be aged at least a year before being released, a rosé known as Bardolino Chiaretto, a lightly sparkling frizzante and a novello. The Bardolino novello was first produced in the late 1980s in a style that mimics the French wine Beaujolais nouveau.

It is already after 10P here, and not only did I have the Bordolino for lunch, but I had a Valpolicella for dinner, a cinnamon flavored grappa, plus a Mirto di Sardegna liquor, so I'll go straight to the photos and make my comments accordingly.

And finally, in case you think that I am not true to my word. Here is the church in Malcesine, now 5,00€ richer.

Mobile Blog - Day 4 - Riva

Today we left Malcesine on a Battello (motorship) for Riva. Before sharing photos of this trip, let me first tell a little story about a lost key. Yesterday, on top of Monte Baldo, Peter overheard the waiter say that he had found a key. Thinking that the waiter then returned said key to it's rightful owner, he thought nothing more about it. That is until we got back to the apartment and I couldn't find my key.

We searched high and low and could not find it. I'm not a religious person, but years ago I was told always to kiss some money up to St. Anthony (the patron saint of lost causes and lost things). Once kissed up, I relax and forget about my problem. In every time that I have done this, I usually get my bearings, remember where I last had the item and voila, it is found.

Today I returned to the Fuvia and sure enough the key was found and returned to me. I always keep my promise, and I will go to the church here in Malcesine and give 5,00€ (the amount I promised in my head).

Here is a picture of the church in Riva. The key had not yet been found, so no donation was made here. I only pay for results.

Riva del Garda
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Riva del Garda (German: Reiff am Gartsee) is a town and comune in the northern Italian province of Trentino. It is also known simply as Riva. The estimated population is 15,151.

Riva del Garda belonged to the republic of Venice and later to the Austro-Hungarian empire until 1918. Since 1918, Riva del Garda has been a part of Italy.

Riva del Garda is located at the north-western corner of Lake Garda, approximately 70 metres (230 ft) above sea level. The town is located at the southern edge of the Italian Alps, near to the Dolomites. It is bordered by Mount Rocchetta to the west and Monte Brione 376 metres above sea level,to the east. East to Riva del Garda: the village Torbole sul Garda, bordered by Monte Baldo.

Back to our journey to Riva. The following pictures will give you an indication of the myriad sports enjoyed on this lake. Parasailng, windsurfing, catamaran and sailboating are just the few that I captured today.

Coming towards the end of the lake you can see Riva on the left and Torbole on the right.

First...Torbole.

And finally...Riva.

Mobile Blog - Day 3 - Monte Baldo

The joy of this apartment is that we need to walk (10-20 minutes depending on with whom you are walking) into town. There are only two routes. The primary route is relatively flat, but the secondary route, via Fornaci, has a steep decline. This is okay to go down for Peter, but only I could take the road up and that winded me.

The reason I tell you this is the day that I first walked via Fornaci, when I reached the top of the street, I saw an amazing flower, with apricot colored fruit. I didn't have my camera, so today on our excursion to Monte Baldo, I captured the following shot.

The fruit (in the upper left corner of the photo) looks similar to a fruit I have only had in Salerno, Italy. That fruit is called neppole or nebbole. Is this the same? If anyone knows, I sure would like to know.

But I digress. The primary route we take to town goes right past the Funivia (Panoramic Cablecar) that we took to the top of Monte Baldo.

We started our excursion at 10:30. The trip to the summit supposedly only takes 10 minutes but with the queuing in lines, the trip took almost an hour. I can't imagine the wait during peak season.

Monte Baldo, elevation 2,218 m (7,277 ft)
(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Monte Baldo is a mountain in the Italian Alps, located in the provinces of Trentino and Verona. Its ridge spans mainly northeast-southwest, and is bounded from south by the highland ending at Caprino Veronese, from west by Lake Garda, from north by the valley joining Rovereto to Nago-Torbole and, from east, the Val d'Adige.

The name derives from the German Wald ("forest"); it appears for the first time in a German map in 1163.

The summit is reachable through a cable car from the nearby town of Malcesine, lying on the Lake Garda.

Mount Baldo is characterized by a geographical identity, a ridge parallel to Lake Garda, which stretches for 40 km, between the lake to the west and Val d'Adige to the east, and on the south it is bounded by plain Caprino and North Valley Loppio.

It was a glorious day, but even with the brilliant sun, there was still a lot of haze. So forgive my pictures if the distant Alps aren't more clearly defined. Remember, this blog is "My views untouched". I don't use filters, cropping or any other photographic tricks. You see what I see. With that, here is what I saw today.

Of course we had lunch on the mountain. We were, as usual, mistaken for German by our waitress, but she quickly understood English when it came time to pay our check. As you can see, I had my Aperol Spritz (actually 2) so when I handed Peter a 50€ bill for our 47.50€ lunch (tax and service included), I said... "You may keep the change, Peter" and our waitress said "Thank you so much!"

Who knew her name was Peter?

Peter wanted me to photograph these flowers. They were truly beautiful...but the color sort of "burns my eye". What do you think?

Okay, almost time for dinner. Ciao!