Lake Garda day 4

The weather was beautiful again today - warm, blue sky, no wind.  We decided to take the ferry across the lake to visit a couple of little towns on the east bank.  Left Portese around 10am, stopping at three other towns along the way to let passengers on and off, just like a bus service, but on the water.  See the photo of the ferry below.

The crossing took about 1.5 hours to get to the town of Garda where we disembarked.  It is a beautiful town with lovely character, typical of Italy.  We spent some tome walking through the streets looking at the shops which are aimed at the tourists.  There was also a Sunday market on the go with lots of stalls set up in the streets along the lake shore.  The vendors were selling the usual variety of things you don't need - trying to convince the passers by to spend money they don't have on things they don't want to impress people they don't even like, and for which they will have to find a use or storage place once they get it home.  It was a pleasant stroll nevertheless.

All along the shore and throughout the streets there are lots of trees and pretty flowers, giving the whole town a "leafy", colourful appearance.  We followed the paved walkway along the shore, heading south towards the next town of Bardolino, which was about 3.5km away.  The trees and flowers continued, and for most of the way the pebble beaches were packed with people soaking up the sun and swimming in the lake.  We suspect that there were probably mostly local people but there were also a lot of visitors, judging by the variety of languages.  It seems a popular way to get around is by bicycle - many are obviously hired, many have electric motors to aid propulsion, and many have a basket on the handlebars, which provides a convenient seat for the family pet.  Mostly little dogs, but we saw one cat as well.  All very cute and obviously enjoying the outing with their owners.

By the time we got to Bardolino and strolled around the town for a while the weather was hot again, probably over 30°C.  We shared a pizza for lunch at one of the many roadside restaurants while we watched the people, and more bicycles, and more puppies in baskets.

We caught the return ferry at around 3pm, arriving back at Portese around 4.45pm.  A quick swim in the pool was very refreshing after a day in the hot sunshine.  We relaxed and showered before supper in the restaurant again, followed by our customary stroll as the sun was setting behind the mountains.

Another very enjoyable day exploring two lovely towns filled with character and charm.  The plan for tomorrow has yet to be decided...