We made it to Soave Castle just in time for it to have closed for lunch, so we found a nice Enoteca/Cafe and had lunch ourselves. (For reference: the Drago, at the base of the castle, has some of the best pasta any of us have ever had, and they cook a very nice steak, too. Know a thing or two about wine, of course.)
After lunch we went looking for more winery regions in and around Soave, but seemed to keep being drawn back into the (quite ugly) urban/industrial sprawl that extends east of Verona. Did poke our way up to a couple of hilly villages, but didn’t find anywhere really to sit and observe a view. The photo below of a valley view was taken while simply pulled over on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere.
Giving up on the mountain village idea, we headed west to Bardolino, which wile also on Cath’s list of Vaneto wine region locations is also on the bank of Lake Garda, and so very likely to be picturesque. Unfortunately, a slight misstep with the navigation took us back through the heart of Verona (within a block of our apartment) through peak-hour traffic. There was much back-seat driving, I can tell you! Finally made it to Bardolino around 5:30, had a little walk around the waterfront, then (as it had started to drizzle) found our way into a wine-bar. The local drop (Bardolino Classico/Superiore/Riposa) turned out to be very nice indeed. A little more robust than the Valpolicella that we have been drinking a bit of.
Back to the flat in twilight: all good.
Off to Mantova today. Grey, cold and drizzly. Oh, well. Tiratappi booked for lunch: looking forward to that.
