Lake Garda and Verona Opera

Next day, we went to lake Garda which is not too far away from Verona. First, we were thinking about driving around the whole lake but the traffic on the way there was pretty bad and we had a opera to go at night so we decided to go to the only southern part of the lake.

We arrived Sirmione where there is a castle. We went into the castle and went all the way up to the top. The view from there was beautiful and Lake Garda is a beautiful lake.

Right next to this castle, there was a nice restaurant so we decided to have lunch there.

First, we had octopus for an appetizer. The octopus was pretty good but I did not like the fact that it came with mashed potato. I don't know why but I did not like the combination too much. Also, I wanted to have more acidity in my dressing.

My main was saffron risotto. This was really good.

My husband had Penne with tomato sauce. This tomato sauce was just amazing. I don't know what kind of tomato they used but it was really sweet. It was not sweetness from sugar or anything like that but it was sweetness from the tomato. The tomato almost tasted like a fruit.

This is a view from the restaurant. It was so relaxing and beautiful. We wanted to just hang a hammock there and take a nap.

After Lake Garda, we went back to the hotel and rest a little bit, then changed to a nice clothe and head to the opera.

The arena was just amazing. It is so big and so old and I just couldn't get over the fact that they still use this ancient looking arena for events like opera and concert. It was just spectacular.

There was an elder lady and her daughter sitting behind us and they told us that they were from England. It was the elder lady's dream to come here and see opera and her daughter made her mom's dream come true for her birthday by bringing her to Verona to see this opera. They were very sweet and we enjoyed chatting with them.

The opera (It was "Carmen") started and I was just overwhelmed with so many people on the stage. There are so many things happening on the stage, you can not possibly see everything that is happening on the stage. I am sure that you will find out lots of new things every time you see the same show. They were even using a live horse in the show.

In the middle of the second act, the wind suddenly started to blow strongly and a part of the set started to fly away. They had to stop the opera for a moment. Then, it started to rain. We were led to go inside and wait. So we waited inside of the arena, listing to the heavy rain and thunder for about 30 minis. Then, finally they announced their cancellation. We were so disappointed but with this strong wind and rain, I understood that they couldn't continue. I though about the lady from England and my heart sunk. She must have been so disappointed. I hope she at least enjoyed the first act.

Verona was a beautiful city and if you ever go there, I recommend you to go see Opera. Even if you don't know anything about Opera, I think it is a wonderful experience.

One of the thing which was funny during this trip was that my sister always went into wrong restroom when there is not picture at the door. I made same mistake when I went to Germany for the first time so I shouldn't laugh about her but it just seemed like she went to the wrong one everywhere. It made us laugh so much.

Next day, we said bye to Italy and went back to Munich. We showed my sister this river which runs through Munich where people surf. It is in the middle of the city and this river is so rough and narrow. I don't know how they do it but they just jump in with their surfboard and ride the wave. It is a fun thing to watch and my sister liked it a lot also.

At night, we can not help but go to the beer-garden one last time with our friends.

I had my favorite German food there. Flammkuhen and Wienerschnitzhel. It was perfect way to end our trip.

I went so many places and met so many people and ate so many stuff during this trip. To my surprise, I did not gain weight from this trip. I think it is because we walked so much in Italy.

I got lots of inspiration and gain more drive to cook lots of different things.

It was great that we were able to spend time with many of our favorite people in this trip. My parents in-laws welcomed us warmly and we spend lots of good time together. And many of our friends made time for us from their busy schedule and spend time with us. Then, I was able to spend lots of time with my sister whom I often have difficulty spending time with when I go back to Japan because of our busy schedule. It made me realize again how wonderful to have a sister. She is a great sister and I miss just hanging out with her.

There are lots of people who go on a trip in order to find themselves. Before, I did not understand this because I thought you can find yourself wherever you are without traveling. But I started to think differently this recent years.

I started to think that sometimes you need to pull yourself away from your everyday life and familiar scenery in order to find yourself. It does not mean that you will find yourself right away when you travel but it definitely help you to see things from different perspective. You see new things, feel new feelings, eat new food and experience a different things which you can not experience from your everyday life. I think travel is a easy way to pull yourself out from your ordinary life and discover new world. And during that process, sometimes you find more about yourself.

I think whatever I saw, felt, ate and thought during this trip will influence to built myself. I think traveling will cultivate you and relax you at the same time. Maybe you don't even realize it yourself but I think whatever you learn from your trip will do good for you.

Well, sorry that the last part of this post was a bit serious. This is the end of my travel report. From tomorrow, it will be back to my normal everyday food post. I am excited to share more new food with you! Thank you for reading my Europe travel diary. It was a wonderful trip!