It was almost a case of force majeure.  We had to find a destination.  The hallowed Italian seaside around Venice had failed us this time, with dark rain pouring down for days on end. We had a choice between staying and facing the deluge at Lido di Jesolo or quickly finding a destination within a practicable distance where we could still enjoy a mild sunburn.

(By the way, if you want to witness monster truck races in their natural environment, as well as Brownian overtaking maneuvers only seconds before impact, a busy Italian highway is the place to go.)

So we unfolded our (digital) maps, put our finger down on a place, buckled up the kids and off we went. Luckily, the place on the map was breezy Sirmione, on the southern shore of Garda Lake. Only a Shakespeare sonnet away from Verona, where Juliet’s polished boob shines in the midday sun like some kind of sacred grapefruit rubbed by too many.

Take a walk along the quay…

… or enter the castle…

… stop to think…

… or take a boat ride…

… check out the dungeons…

… or shop for souvenirs…

… wrap your mind around the beauty…

… or let yourself get wrapped in it…

… relish the mountains far away…

… or be moved by the flute of a 55-year-old jobless man…

… have a frugal bruschette picnic by the water front…

… or whiz through the waves…

… take in the scenery from the promontory…

… or get sun soaked like a stranded colony of seals…

Copyright photos: Andreea Sepi & Armand Csordas 2014.