Today is going to go down in the history books as perhaps one of my best days to date. Everything came together to make it supreme. A good nights sleep, a cute outfit, the best view, and a great group of traveling buddies made me wear a smile the whole day.
We spent the day in Malcesine (Mal-che-seen-ay) but mostly on top of Mount Baldo (that one is phonetic). Malcesine is a town that borders Lake Garda (the same one from Sirmione) and about two hours by car from Montichiari. Towns surrounding Lake Garda and many others in Northern Italy, I've learned, are big hubs for tourists from all over Europe, but mostly Germany and the U.K. as far as I can tell. I tend to like these places because I'm always a tourist too so I know at least in these areas I won't be the "odd man out" and more-if not all-businesses are likely to speak English. Anyways, regardless of this town being full of tourists it was also still full of Italian culture, scenery, and the picturesqueness only cobbled streets and terra cotta rooves can offer. Il Castello di Malcesine dates back to 700 a.d.-Goethe spent two years there writing and searching for Verona-which is much closer than he thought but too far away for him to locate on foot for quite some time. The history of this area (and the rest of Europe) cannot be ignored and is often the part I take the most away from but today was different. The best part of the day for me was Mount Baldo. I didn't realize we were going "to climb" a mountain today otherwise I wouldn't have worn a dress but it turned alright and once we got to the top I couldn't have cared less. The Italian portion of the Alps are called the Dolomites and only run through a portion of northern Italy-this is where Mount Baldo is located. The Alps are real mountains-nothing like the wimpy things we call the Appalachian Mountains back home. These things tower over everything. I could stare at them all day and still not comprehend fully how big they really are. We were eating lunch at the top of the mountain when I said "Man, I feel like we're closer to the clouds, like in them." Everybody laughed and one guy said "That's because we basically are-go with that feeling." It was insane. On top of the mountain there was a few places to get food, go parachuting, and some lodging for hikers and bikers brave enough to take on these trails. At this point I was inwardly irritated that I was in a dress and not prepared to go hiking, but have since made a resolution to return to do some Alpine hiking. A good bucket list goal, right? Anyways. I wanted to stay there. Just plop down and take it all in forever. I felt so untouchable that high up and never wanted to leave. I'm doing an entirely inefficient job of explaining but dear barbara I miss it already and I've only been gone for a few hours. (If only I needed more affirmation on my college choice.) After our descent down the mountain we tackled the castle then treated ourselves to some well deserved gelato. Gelato, made correctly, is out of this world. I ate more after we got home from dinner and wholeheartedly do not for one second regret this choice. Gelato is delicious.
If you're still reading here is the day in pictures (brought to you by the fabulous Jessica):
Ciao!