Bardolino Harbor. (Courtesy of Elke Beckert)
Bardolino borders on a lake where swans and ducks quietly live and breed in the reed thicket that fringes the shore. The birds have grown used to cyclists and people out for a stroll. People enjoy the Bardolino Promenade on the east shore of Lake Garda, on the Verona side. Where the lake is broadest, the small town of Veneto is nestled between two long necks of land and gives the great wine, Bardolino, its name. Opportunities for tasting the red and rose vintage made from Corvina, Molinara and Rondinella grapes abound at the Zeni Wine Museum. Other varieties, the Amarone and the dessert wine Recioto from nearby Valpolicella are available in the many bars, hotels and restaurants that cater to the many visitors.
The Tyrolian Caesis Thermal Spa run by Oswald Stocker offers a "grape cure," coupled with Far-Eastern wellness treatments. The Spa also features mineral springs, the water suitable for both drinking and bathing. Even the olive oil used for massages comes from their own harvest. An individually tailored diet - one of them is called Ayurvedic -- completes the program.
The Bardolino Wine Museum. (Courtesy of Elke Beckert)
The Mediterranean style four-star-plus resort is located in 40,000 square meters of sub-tropical parks and features generous size rooms and suites as well as superb bathing facilities and saunas. Every morning people can enjoy water gymnastics by qualified instructors. The hotel-arranged excursions are particularly enjoyable. Fulvio the Charmer leads bicycle tours through the Romanesque old town of Badolino, tours that include her picturesque plazas and numerous churches. The oldest church is San Severo with its pre-Romanesque crypt and the frescoes of the apocalypse, dating from the 11th and 12th century. It welcomes visitors and is open for weddings. Towers, portals and the remaining city wall loom as gigantic as the palaces of the Venetian Nobles. Guests can indulge in a stay there, sampling the same delights that once met the famous Russian Tsar Alexander. The abundant multitude of flowers catch the eye, particularly the roses that seem to wind around almost every building. They smell as delightful as in the nearby town of Lazise.
One of the highlights is probably Verona: "Romeo and Juliet's Town." One ought to make a note on the calendar about the July and August opera festival in the arena. Whatever the interest -Aida, La Bohème, The Barber of Seville, La Traviata or Nabucco, the hotel will arrange for tickets.
A tourist must is a trip on the old-fashioned sailing ship San Nicolò that departs from Cisano. The trip follows the coast northward, past Garda and Punta San Vigilio, and onto a lyrical piece of landscape, Torri del Benaco, the spot where the lake narrows and the only car ferry connects both lake shores. With a glass of Bianco in hand, perhaps a Custoza, and one views the nearby hills, looking toward Albisano, affording perhaps the nicest view of Lake Garda. No one questions why the church there is often the first choice for weddings.
Bardolino Basilica. (Courtesy of Elke Beckert)
Monte Baldo, stretching two thousand meters into the sky, keeps its snowy cap for a long time. The sailing vessel continues past the green, park-like islands Isola del Garda and Isola San Biagio and moves along the Sirmione Peninsula, the most visited spot of all of Lake Garda. While on the ship, people can see the Catull Grottos and the "Scaligerburg" with its swallowtail interior, the symbol of the Scala Family, who erected such castles during the 16th century. That is much more romantic than the masses of people in Sirmione. Goethe had already admired the Scaligerburgen
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