Day 2: Sirmione, Italie

Where? What? Who?  Haven't heard of Sirmione? I hadn't either.  

Here she is! 

The perks of living in another country is finding the the places that country considers gem travelling destinations. For France, Sirmione is one of them.  Thank you France.  France one, Lonely Planet Guide zero.

Merci

Sirmione is a tiny town situated at the end of a peninsula jutting off of the southern end of Lake Garda.  Possessing the ruins of an ancient Roman Villa, as well as a medieval water fortress, Sirmione is a town worth visiting, even if a bit touristy.

View from the top of the fortress looking south, mainland.  Even at the tip, the peninsula stretches out pretty thin over Lake Garda.

View from the opposite side of the fortress, facing north. Nothing but Lake Garda, oh and some pretty buidlings.  Gotta love the color in Italy.

Why thank you, I did take this picture of a picture.  Mighty creative.  The water fortress side of the castle. Pretty cool.  The uncool part: not being able to walk on it.

The pictures directly above give you a glimpse of the truly peninsual feel of the city, and the medieval fortress.  The pictures below show all that remains of the Roman Villa.  While guide books and travel plans hailed the site as a the most well preserved Roman villa in Italy, I have my doubts.  Even if it is, I am not sure it is worth the ticket in getting in.  Luckily for us, it was culture week, so everything, including the fortress, was free.

The beauty of the place lies in the silence and absence of people.

Wall remaining from second floor of villa.

Old olive trees inhabiting the villa garden...notice the tree trunks...strong creatures.

I can also say that I had the best fior di latte gelato of the trip in San Sirmione, at the organic gelateria.  I do not remember the name of the place, but walk past all the other gelaterias handing you large samples, take the samples of course, and continue to the upscale organic gelateria that doesn't seem to want to help you.  Yes that is what one you want.

Keep going.

Take a sample, and pass go.

And stop.  Well not really here, but with that gelato.  Don't let the face deceive you!

 And what is fior di latte?  It is not vaniglia, as it looks, so do not be fooled.  Literally meaning "milk flower" fior di latte is simply your most simple gelato.  But that may be what makes it so good, and sometimes so bad.  The ingredients are basic: milk, sugar, and cream.  Therefore, the quality of the ingredients truly impacts the quality in taste for such a simple flavor.  People have different ways of judging the quality of gelato at a gelateria.  Some have said to look at the pistachio, others have said to look at what the gelato is stored in.  To me, it is in the fior di latte.  If the firo di latte is not spectacular, you know the others will not be spectular, since milk forms the basis of all gelato.  Okay I digress, back to Sirmione.

Okay enough talk.  To really enjoy Sirmione, it must be seen.  

Castle...

Castle...

Ooh look! Birdies!

Okay, castle

Caslte...

Drawbridge!

Don't try to roll the stone...

Lest you want to go from this....

To this

And cause this

But I sued, so they gave me this.

And he seems to be okay with it.

Sure!

No Italian post is complete without outrageous accessories and trashbag jackets, thank you Italy.