Back on the road: Iseo to Garda to Verona and the Villa Ca' Vendri

My plan to go for a swim this morning was foiled. It was cold and raining quite heavily by turns.

We were down at breakfast by about 9.30, and a surprising number of others were there too. As we ate, we watched the cloud closing in across the lake towards us, and the resulting downpour as it hit. The tables nearest the edge had to abandon their positions, as the rain was coming in on a fierce wind.

We finished the packing, and went downstairs to check out. We paid the bill and packed the car in the rain. Christian had arranged to meet his friend Pete on Lake Garda, and so we considered driving between the two lakes without going south to the A4. I thought that this was risky, so Christian suggested driving around Lake Iseo before heading off to Garda. In hindsight, this wasn't the best plan either, but we did it.

We set off into the dreary day, through Sulzano and north to the top of the lake. There were a lot of tunnels, and the rain meant that we didn't have much of a view of the lake itself. I did stop once to take photos. Once past the midway point, we had to keep going, and we did take a nice road through some hills, down past a church (in Riva di Solto?) and back to the lake's shore again. We had a quick (nasty squat) toilet stop, and then it on on through Erbusco to the A4. It was a faster journey after this, and we weren't going to be as late as we thought to meet Pete.

We left the A4 and headed for Padenghe Sul Garda. Pete's directions were really not good, and after a few wrong turns, we finally found him at the car park opposite the port, and he led us to 'Porto Latino' for lunch. There we met Cinzia and Zac - we had a mixed starter of meats and fried squid/prawns, and Christian and I had salmon. My stomach was very dicey after the wedding feast, and I found I couldn't eat much of the salmon at all, though it was nice enough (apart from the oil). I did manage a gelato after that, which was fair to middling.

After lunch, we had a wander into the port, and Cinzia pointed out all the things of interest on the lake. She works in the Dept of Pathology at Cambridge, so it was nice to have that in common. She thought I seemed familiar, but she couldn't place why.

We wandered up to the car park, and Christian showed off the car to Pete and Cinzia, while Zac stayed with me, and we talked video games. The car enthusiasts came back, we said goodbye, and Christian and I set off for Verona.

We did the short hop back on the A4, and into the south of Verona, to the supercharger, which was in the car park of the rather pointy Crowne Plaza. We went inside, after seeing another British Tesla in the car park, and spoke to them about their journey (they had gone via Germany and Croatia). Christian got an iced coffee in a martini glass (very posh), and we sat for a bit to wait for the car to charge.

Once ready, we headed through the centre of Verona. Christian took a wrong turn, and we ended up on cobbles, and then going the wrong way up a one-way street. It was a little stressful. We eventually found our way out, and drove along square rural roads in the north of the city that looked like they went nowhere. The grape vines were becoming frequent now. We got to the right village, after a small ascent into the hills, and we found lots of places called Ca' Vendri. I saw a banner for a wedding venue, and decided that it was the one. We had to turn around to get the right angle to take the drive, and once in the first section, could see the villa through the gates. We took the low road through the trees and parked outside the villa as others were unloading.

The villa was every bit as good as the photos on the website. The grounds were well kept and shady. The main hall was just enormous. The columns and ceilings were like being in a stately home. The pool was unbelievable. I couldn't believe that we were lucky enough to be able to stay here. Everyone sat around for ages, wondering where we were supposed to go, and which rooms were whose. Turned out Jenni and David were waiting for the owner to give them a tour in order to decide where to put people. We found a wifi password in one of the first floor rooms, and so that kept us occupied for a while, and we explored the pool and the kitchen. The sheet that held the password asked us to look after the villa as she was over 400 years old. Just wow.

Christian and I were eventually shown to our room, and put all our stuff in the lift, as we were on the second floor. Our room had a skylight but no windows, and so was ridiculously hot. We set the electric fan going. We were also next door to Paul, Fran, and little Gregor, and we were to share a bathroom. It was absolutely no hassle. Gregor was as good as gold.

Some shopping had been acquired, and so we all found ourselves a drink and congregated in the hall, getting used to the change of pace. Someone made a jug of Aperol spritz, but misheard, and thought it was apple spritz. I got a rude shock when the drinks came around, and I didn't make that mistake again.

After what seemed an age, a massive stack of pizzas arrived, and we all sat around the two big tables and ate our fill. It was about 10.30 by now, and so we turned in soon after.