A relaxing holiday at the Lake Garda.

Some weeks ago I spent some days in  Desenzano del Garda. I also did some day trips from that town. Desenzano del Garda is located on the south - eastern side of the Lake Garda.

Sirmione is a very touristy town. It is small and has a couple of sights. A castle (built between the XVIII and the XIV centuries) and the remains of a Roman villa.

Sirmione is a nice place to spend some hours.

Even if Sirmione is a small town; it has a good choice of restaurants, cafes and shops. There are hotels and other kind of accomodations there. I suppose most of them are outside the town.

Lazise is a beautiful walled town that lies on the south-eastern shore of Lake Garda. I liked this town more than Sirmione.

Unfortunately the day I visited Lazise was not fine, as you see on my pics. 

This is the harbour in Lazise.

Lazise has a short, but nice lake promenade.

There is a castle is Lazise, but I think it is open only for concerts and other events.

As other towns on the lake, Lazise has lots of shops. 

I have to go back to Lake Garda area to visit more villages. I also wish to return to Lazise. 

What a nice place! A visit to a coffee factory.

A few days ago I visited Omkafe. This is a coffee factory situated in Arco; a town around one hour by car from here.

Omkafe began to grind and sell coffee in 1947.

On the first floor of this building there is an interesting museum of coffee with various things related to coffee. Coffee grinders, coffee machines, cups et al.

Among the objects on display there are several coffee devices  I had never seen before. 

This was the coffee machine that attracted my attention most of all.

After the visit at the museum you can open  a door in order to see part of the factory from above. I did it. Unfortunately I wasn' t  able to understand what was happening there. There wasn' t anybody who gave me a guided tour of the place. Maybe next time? 

There is a shop on the ground floor of Omkafe. Here you can find coffee and also unrelated items. There was a large choice of cookies, chocolate and pralines. Moreover here you can see coffee machines, cups, mugs and even things for tea.

You can have a cup of coffee free of charge at the shop. Ask the shop assistant.

As in many shops, around Christmas, even this one is full of beautiful things to give away.

The visit at Omkafe really made my day. For other info see; www.omkafe.com

My mother is always busy!

As many of you know my mother loves making cookies. She makes them on various occasions; for birthdays, visits to people and for the local charity market. She makes several kinds of cookies. 

I think she was taugh to do some by an Austrian lady long ago at the beginning. Then she carried on this thing by herself.

Some years ago I gave her a book to learn how to do muffins. She learnt to do them. Now and then she makes quite simple muffins with some chocolate.

I won' t try to learn to bake cakes or cookies. I wish to learn to make something. I keep on reading how to create nice things on the web. I only have to make up my mind to start making something. When?

A sunny holiday in Slovenia.

Last week I spent some days in Portoroz. I went there for the third time.

Portoroz is a modern town on the sea. It is located some 40 km from Trieste (IT). It hasn' t any sights worth a visit, but there are a couple of nice towns not far from there that are worth a visit. Piran and Koper.

Piran is a nice sea side town with an old core made of a maze of narrow streets. Its main square is dedicated to the violinist and composer Giuseppe Tartini. You see part of this square in this pic and in the previous one. Tartini square is not square, but oval. It is surrounded by several pastel coloured buildings and overlooked by the cathedral of Saint George.

 
Piran should have six or seven churches; including Saint George cathedral. Here you see a Saint George statue inside the cathedral.

 

Here' s another pic taken inside the cathedral.

 
The church of Sain Francis of Assisi is another nice church. There is a monastery joined to it. I took a pic of a cupola inside this church. I think this pic turned out quite good. 

Here you see part of a narrow street in Piran.

Okrepcevalnica Delikatesa is a large restaurant located just behind Tartini Square. It was a good discovery for me. The food I had (sardines) was good. The prices were good as well.

 

There is a nice promenade that goes along the sea and finishes to an area named Punta where there is an old church (Our Lady of Health church) and a lighthouse.

On these two pics you see parts of the other square in Piran; trg 1 Maja (first of may square). At the center of this square is  a cistern with four statues. It was built to collect water from the surrounding roofs through pipes. Today you can still see a pipe passing through a statue (sorry I don' t have a pic to show it).

 

 


I only took a pair of pics in Portoroz. I liked much the boat you see on the left. It is used for boat trips. I had to take a pic of it.

 

I went to the casino that is property of the hotel I booked my room. Hotel Riviera. I was given a 5 euros voucher to spend it at this casino. I won around 6 euros.

 
Here' s one of the few pics I took in Koper. I visited this town some other times, so I took several pics there on my previous visits. Here you see what I had for lunch; grilled squids.

 

I had to change bus in Koper the day I came back to Italy. I was glad there is a convenient cafe inside the bus station. As you see it has a oudoor terrace.

It was sunny every day I spent in Slovenia. I walked a lot; I ate very good food (the buffet at my hotel was great!). Everything was ok.

Is summer coming? I hope so.

 

Yesterday I did a day trip to Riva del Garda. It is located by the Lake of Garda. I visit that town often. It was almost a summer day;  warm and sunny.

There is a tower in Piazza Tre Novembre; the main square in Riva del Garda. I decided to climb its 150 stairs to go to the top. From there you can also see the Rocca; a fortress that houses some museums.

Here you  see Piazza Tre Novembre from above.

You can do several boat trips from Riva del Garda. You can visit some nice villages by the lake, as Limone and Malcesine. I did it more than once and I will surely do it again.

I took only some pics, as you see. I think these turned out quite good; isn' t it? I posted several other pics of Riva del Garda in other posts.

Ibiza

I did my best to see as much as I could on this island; at leisure.

San Antoni (or Sant Antonio) was the first town I explored. I booked a room in a large hotel there. 

This is a town where a tourist can find everything he/she needs or likes.

This statue; Columbus' Egg is the landmark of San Antoni. I think it is very nice.

I think the only sight in San Antoni is its fortress like church.

San Antoni is a good place to do a boat trip. I took one to the beach of Port d' es Torrent.

Here' s the nice beach of Port d' es Torrent.

Another pic taken at Port d' es Torrent.

 
Ibiza (or Eivissa in Catalan language) is the capitol town on the island. It is made of three parts. The marina; Sa Penya and Dalt Vila.

Dalt Vila is the old core of Ibiza. It is located on a hill.

Here you see the main gate of Dalt Vila; the Portal de Ses Taules.

   



Dalt Vila is surrounded by 16th century walls. 

The group of white houses you see in this pic is part of Sa Penya. This area in the lower town is usually described as a "not to miss" place in town. It is a nice, but not exceptional area.

 

 
There are some cafes, restaurants and shops in Dalt Vila.

 


Penelope Cruz, Nina Hagen and several other stars left their handprints in Dalt Vila as you can see.

 


 
There is a small covered market in Ibiza. It is located opposite the Portal de Ses Taules. Here you can find mostly fruits and vegetables.

 


There is a small cafe at the market as well.

 


Passeig de Vara de Rey is a long and wide pedestrian promenade.  It is located some meters far from the covered market.

 


This promenade is a good place to sit, rest and have a drink or a meal. You can find some cafes there.

There are some hippy markets on the island. 


I went to the oldest one. The hippy market at Punta Arabì. See;  Es Canar.

This market was started in the 1970' s by a group of hippies. 

I spent some hours there and I didn' t get bored at all.

 

I had Spanish tortilla with vegetables for lunch at the hippy market. 

There are some eateries at the market. They are very useful, because the market is large and I didn' t see any restaurant or cafe in its vicinity.

 

There aren' t many hippies at the market, but various craftsmen (...and women!) 

 

These are rings made with sea shells.

 
Handmade pop up cards.

 

Sant Agustì des Vedrà is a nice small village located some km from Sant Antoni. There are some houses (I suppose six or seven), a square with a church, a shop and some restaurants.

 

 
Staircase.

 

This is the square in Sant Agustì des Vedrà.

 

I visited Santa Eularia des Riu a couple of times. The first time I took a bus from there to go to Es Canar and then to the hippy market (by foot).

Santa Eularia is a beach resort located on the west coast of the island. Its main sight is the Puig de Missa. It is a hill where you can visit an old church and a nice ethnological museum set in a restored house.
 

 

The ethnological museum isn' t large, but nice. 

 

I think I will go back to Ibiza one day. I liked the few places I visited.