Lago di Garda/Lake Garda: Getting Lost in Malcesine

We drove north along the coast of Lake Garda and discovered the quaint town of Malcesine sitting on a hill overlooking the lake. Artist galleries, shops, cafes and restaurants were nestled in the narrow streets.

The town hugs the Castillo Scaligero, a 13th century fortress that is a prominant landmark.

Here are baby olive trees!!
The mountains seem to jut straight up from the lake, so there are no streches of flat land from the waters edge. For most of the drive the road is narrow and it is straight down on oneside and straight up on the other.

Lake Garda is obviously a big tourist destination and hotels were quite expensive at this time. German seemed to be the second most spoken language after Italian. In my quest to stay in places with "character" I booked a room overlooking the lake in the small town of Pregasina.

It was the most precious hotel, although a bit loud, the rooms were cute and the owners, a short stubby bossy wife and tall skinny overly nervous husband, along with their apparantly "regular" clientel, seemed to come straight off a BBC comedy sitcom.

The Hotel Rosa Alpina (the website looks much more put together than the hotel is actually run) had a marvelous view.