Grey skies and Grottoes

It was raining heavily when I woke at 6 this morning. The lake was shrouded in grey, and the opposite bank had disappeared into the mist, so I closed the curtains again and opened the kindle instead.  It was 7:30 before Sheryl headed for the shower and I put the kettle on for a pre-breakfast cuppa. 

We were the first of our group to arrive at breakfast and as the rain had cleared we sat on an outside table on the terrace to enjoy our coffee and pastries. Others eventually arrived and with no plans for the day, it was decided we would just do our own thing, some heading for the larger town centre outside the historic walls of Sirmione, and others taking the opportunity to rest. Sheryl and I decided to find the much talked about Grotto, which in this context refers to the ruins of an ancient Roman Villa built at the end of the first century BC. With more rain forecast for the afternoon, we set off at 10:30 hoping to beat the rain. 

We explored a small church on the way, and when we found the Grotto, decided against paying the 10€ entry, finding a path at the water’s edge and walking back towards the village instead. We exited the city gates and examined the drawbridge (which had cars parked on it!) before walking back towards home with threatening skies above. 

The promised rain arrived before we had made it back to the hotel, as we spent some time looking for a bakery we had been told of, and we may also have been distracted by a few shops we hadn’t visited yesterday. We never found the bakery, but managed to procure some olive foccacia, which Sheryl carried carefully under the shelter of her umbrella all the way back to the Olivi Hotel. Here we picnicked on the bed, teaming our foccacia with sweet cherry tomatoes and percorino cheese we had brought with us from the street market in Milan. 

The remainder of the afternoon was spent relaxing in our room, overlooking the grey lake and watching the showers pass through, before we met again at 6:45 to walk in the rain, to the ristorante that had been chosen for tonight’s dining experience. There were a variety of meals chosen among the group tonight, ranging from pasta, to fish, calzone, and chicken and chips (that was not what it was called on the menu though!). Well fed, we trudged back up the hill to the hotel still under umbrellas, the rain having really set in now.