and on the 7th day they rested

Day 7 we arrived at Lake Garda. This place is spectacular. The little lake towns have a small town feel to them with friendly people, amazing vistas, and delicious gelato. We decided to stay in the town of Toscalano. Everybody rides bikes there. The cutest little Grandmas would be out on their bikes as well as the business man on his way to work. We booked a stay at this romantic villa on the lake with a private beach. Our room had a balcony that overlooked the lake and villa gardens. It was the perfect spot to relax and unwind from our busy sightseeing adventures.

The private beach

the view from our private beach

I could lay in the sun relaxing all day everyday, but Christian gets fidgety and can't sit still that long. While I continued to relax and take in the lake air Christian went on a walkabout around the cute town. These are some pictures of his travels.

Me smiling at Christian from afar

and the close up of my cheese grin

Our room and balcony with a view of the garden and lake

If we ever come back to Italy (which we will!) we've decided to return here and just rent a villa for a week. It was heaven.

One of our beach lounging days we walked to the market and bought an apple, cheese, and a fresh baguette for a picnic lunch. Simple foods can taste more exquisite than the fanciest restaurants in a picturesque setting like Lake Garda.

I read the new Dan Brown novel Inferno on this trip. Turns out it's the perfect book for a trip to Italy (hint: it takes place in Italy. Fabulous read, I highly recommend it) 

Traveling with Christian is fun! When we went to Thailand he taught me the importance of packing light. We used these same principles on this trip and it makes life so much easier when you can fit everything into a backpack. We didn't have to check luggage, or worry about dragging suitcases through crowded cobbled streets. We could arrive in town and immediately see the sights without having to drop our luggage off first. The added weight of our backpacks also helped us to burn the extra calories consumed through gelato and pasta. The one downside is you can only pack a few outfits so halfway through our trip things started to smell a bit... funky. We took our clothes to the Lavanderia (laundromat) and dropped our clothes off with a lovely lady who had them back to us within a few hours. Christian's shirts were all pressed neatly, my unmentionables were folded up cute, and everything smelled really, really good.

on our way to the lavanderia (notice the pack... this boy packs light!)

posing on the street before our pick up time

the sweet smell of fresh laundry

We wished we could stay here forever. It was beautiful, the gelato was delicious, the walks along the beach meaningful and fulfilling. Alas, Christian was headed a couple of hours up North to Arco and I was headed South and then East to Venezia (Venice). We woke up the morning of our departures feeling rested and ready to start our adventures. Christian was excited to see the new line of La Sportiva products coming out in 2014 and tour the factory where it's all made. I was ecstatic about visiting an entire city built on water, and trying all the flavors of gelato Venice had to offer. We said our goodbyes and crossed to opposite sides of the street. Christian got on his bus and I got on mine. I was so incredibly nervous but excited at the same time.