Lake Garda

Two years ago, when we were planning our honeymoon I had on the top of my list to visit the Cinque Terre, five coastal cities on the Italian Riviera, connected by a rocky path with a gorgeous view.  When we attempted to spend a day here on our honeymoon, our plan was foiled due to a train derailment and repairs leaving only a couple of hours in Riomaggiore (no time for the hike). I was really disappointed, but E promised to take me back.

So, when we knew we were going to Italy for this summer and would have one day off a week, I was really hoping we could get there. A neighbor who is also in the English class asked if we wanted to spend a day with them so they could practice English, and they would drive wherever we wanted to hike! We immediately suggested the Cinque Terre, and made plans to go in our last week.

Unfortunately the night before we were supposed to leave they phoned us that their teenage daughter was hospitalized with bronchitis and they had to stay home....

Strike two for Cinque Terre.

Instead, the Ferarris suggested we visit Lake Garda, the easternmost of the three large lakes in the Lombardy region north of Milan. Without other options or energy to plan, we booked train tickets and took off the next morning.

photo credit

We took a train to the southern central portion of the lake, Peschiera del Garda.

(there is an old military fortress here, picture below)

monument to fallen soldiers

After wandering around the town and the marina, we decided to rent bikes and ride to Sirmione - a beautiful little town on a peninsula in Lake Garda that we stopped at on our honeymoon, and we could resist visiting again.

I would recommend this bike ride to anyone and everyone. (You can see on the map where Peschiera is and then out to the peninsula of Sirmione.) It's about 7K of biking, and was the most relaxing gorgeous bike ride - on the lake front going through sleepy towns. we loved it.

the views needed no enhancement.

We'd decided at this point in our trip (based on the fact that we were eating so well with the families in Milan), that we weren't going to spend our limited funds going out to eat. So on our bike ride we stopped in a local market and picked up beer, bread, meat, cheese, fruit and chocolate for lunch (spent less than €10!)

dipped our toes in the water and enjoyed this view.

Sirmione is gelato central, with a shop every where you look. We may or may not have had two servings while in Sirmione. :-)

Check out the size and the amount of flavors at this shop!

We decided to make it our life goal to come back and stay in the Palace Hotel Villa Cortine.

We were so glad we came back to visit Sirmione.

Hospitality & Cucina Italiana

We've experienced wonderful hospitality from the congregation of Filadelfia church. The food has been incredible and the fellowship delightful.

Our first Saturday we had dinner with the Calderaros. Daniela cooked us a feast!
(Vittorio is an elder, and their two daughters, Erika and Martina)


Antipasti of meats, cheeses, veggies, and breads




Insalada di mari


salmon roll for secondo


and for dessert, fruit & espresso




and then, gelato!


You already saw photos of our Sunday fellowship meal.

We have enjoyed many dinners with the Ferrari's, although I've only taken photos of one. Here is a traditional summer feast which Christina allowed me to help prepare.

(I love this photo of Christina!)

Pastor and intern chat before dinner


Prosciutto crudo e melon


Caprese


This is one of Simone's favorite meals -- he is an enthusiastic eater.


then, formaggio (cheese!)


The following Friday we were invited for dinner at the Sr. Calderaros: Giuseppe and Crocifissa.
Vittorio's family joined us at his parents, as well as the Ferraris and we had a fabulous time at a traditional Italian meal. Endless food, delicious wine, and loud talking over each other all night! :-)



primi - pasta was SO good. (Here Vittorio is showing Eric to add more olive oil to the pasta0


secondo: meatballs with a hardboiled egg and ham inside!


also, a very delicious beef in gravy and some Italian potato salad

Ivanna (Pastor F's mom) passing the formaggio around


insalada comes after dinner


Crocifissa e Christina


fruit!


even though we couldn't understand a word he said, Giuseppe entertained us all night.


peanut cake by Christina


the group. I was laughing so hard, I didn't notice Eric got cut off in the picture. Erika jumped in front of Daniele, and half the people weren't looking!



And this past Saturday we were invited over to the Altobellis. Mimo is the other elder in the church and is a very funny guy.

see that crazy cheese with the colored toppings? It's made from sheep milk and is the consistency of cream cheese, but MUCH better. topped with black pepper, chives, olives and red pepper.


Mimo and his wife Rosanna made us Neapolitan (Naples-style) pizza which was AMAZING. They also overfed us.






Tiramisu and Rosanna's homemade creme de limoncello (YUM)




in between laughing, Eric and Mimo talked theology.


Thank you Altobelli's!



Nom, nom, nom. We [and our bellies] are loving Italy!

La Chiesa e La Communione (The Church and Fellowship)

We had our first weekend full of church events. At a prayer meeting on Thursday we met a good portion of the congregation and were a little overwhelmed with everything (an hour of prayer in language we didn’t know!), but everyone was very welcoming and friendly.

Saturday afternoon was our first English class. This week was an introduction to the class, so Eric and I talked about ourselves in autobiographical form for about an hour and then took questions. We chatted with Pastor Ferrari afterwards about how things went and feel a little better prepared to tackle a prepared lesson from a book this weekend.

There is a broad range of English knowledge among the students and it’s hard to know what vocabulary is new and unfamiliar, so we’ll try to stop often to ask questions to see if everyone is tracking.

the sanctuary

Eric was given the first Sunday to adjust and get a feel for the church service before preaching. We would have been totally lost in the service except there is one member who is from the UK (Moved as a 6 year old to Italy) and knew English well enough to translate some points through notes. I’m really looking forward to this Sunday and hearing the sermon in English! (with Pastor Ferrari translating)

After church we had a fellowship meal where we had the traditional Italian fare of a primi dish (usually pasta), then secondo (meat) and salad, then dessert. 

The style was a little different than what we’re used to in the US. Instead of all the dishes being laid out pot-luck style, each family served their own dish to each family member. Then if there were leftovers, they were passed around the table to share. Eric and I, as the newbies, were offered just about every single dish and ate waaay too much. We slept it off in the afternoon before returning to church in the evening.

We had a wonderful time fellowshipping with the church members and hope to get to know many of them better in their homes for dinner in the upcoming weeks.