Lake Garda

Saturday October 18th, we needed to get back to Johnson's home since Chris is the new bishop and he needed to be there....also President Monson was in Germany and the youth (Ryan and Katie) got to see him speak in person while the rest of us saw it broadcast.  Anyway, on the way home, we stopped at Lake Garda, the largest lake in Italy, and the town of Sirmione.   It is a resort area which was easy to see why. "Sirmione lives up to its special location on the four-mile peninsula at Lake Garda: a romantic, medieval gem with a distinctive flair. Narrow winding streets, old houses, a beautiful historic centre and a mighty castle of the Scaliger family. " 

 So we are just walking along here heading out the peninsula to see the castle and the Roman ruins when we see David talking to a guy with a boat....no surprise there, but then he has made a deal with him and we were on our way on a boat ride around the peninsula.  Everyone was very excited!

We went slowly by the castle and town as the cute Italian told us about some of the landmarks and history.

At the end of the peninsula was the Roman ruins, which was a spa resort because there are hot springs in the area..   Nice viewpoint.

Then on the other side, someone asked if we could go fast, which we did and everyone enjoyed that!

Isn't that the coolest castle??

Then we went under the drawbridge!  He acted like we might not make it, but I'm sure he's done it hundreds of times

It was soooo much fun to wander around the old shell of a castle.

So interesting that they had an inlet for their boats to come in for protection from the storms on the lake, or from their enemies.

And of course, we climbed the tower for some good views.

Then back to the cars for the 7 hour drive home through beautiful country, until it turned dark, then it was just fun to visit!  Great place and we were so blessed with great weather!