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ITALY’S IDYLLIC LAKE GARDA

  There aren’t many places in Europe more beautiful than Italy’s Lago di Garda.  Its stunning scenery is due to the extensive backdrop of the Dolomite mountains to the north, together with all the picturesque towns and medieval villages…

VENICE DURING THE BIENNALE

We revisited Venice a few weeks ago for the first time since COVID shut down the world for travellers.  Venice has been one of our top favourite cities for many decades, and this was to be our 4th Biennale, so we were interested to see what chan…

A NIGHT AT THE OPERA—AT THE ROMAN ARENA, VERONA

This year was the 96th season of opera to be held in the spectacular Roman Arena at Verona.  A little older than Rome’s Coliseum, it was built around 30AD during the reign of the Emperor Caligula, and was said to be capable of holding more than…

SIRMIONE, LAKE GARDA—HOME TO A MOATED CASTLE AND AN ENORMOUS ROMAN VILLA

‘The pearl of islands!’ wrote the Roman poet Catullus in the 1st century BCE, describing the town of Sirmione, on the southern shore of beautiful Lake Garda in northern Italy.  Less than 40 kms from Verona and 150 kms from Venice, Lake Garda is…