From the city of Verona it takes just an hour and a bit by car to do the 55 kilometres of the panoramic road which goes along Garda Lake, till reaching the medieval village of Malcesine.
The route to Malcesine is so spectacular that it was filmed in the first scene of the latest James Bond film Quantum of Solace.
Malcesine is famous because of its enviable position in Lake Garda and its very old castle, of roman origin and rebuilt later by the Scaligeri, the Lords of Verona. The castle was used later by the Venice Republic and the Austrians.
The castle enchantment and the position of Malcesine even inspired the great German writer Goethe during his visit to Italy.
In summer you can enjoy the fresh and clean water of Lake Garda, and practice sport activities such as windsurf and there are also lovely cycling routes to peddle along.
In winter the village of Malcesine transforms into the starting point to Baldo, the magic mountain of volcanic origin, that, being 1.800 metres high, guarantees lots of snow every winter and a breathtaking panorama while skiing looking down over the whole Lake Garda and the Alps Mountains!
The ski season in the Baldo starts in December and ends in March.
The newly incorporated panoramic cable car from Malcesine takes you up to the top of the Baldo Mountain, from where there are 7 ski lifts, which allow you to ski through 40 kilometres of slopes, suitable for experts and for beginners as well.
Before the ski day finishes we suggest you to rest at least 15 minutes, sitting at the top of Baldo Mountain, looking down at the Garda Lake and the whole landscape. This is one of my favourite views!
Ciao
Sergio
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Skiing in Malcesine, between Lake Garda and Verona |
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Slow Food and "Zero kilometres" menu |
It is still possible to eat healthy and in a sustainable way.
But...how?
Inspired from the “Slow Food” philosophy, which was born in Italy to fight against the modern “Fast Food” style, in Venice and its region Veneto the local agriculture association, Coldiretti, started a few years ago the "zero kilometres menu" project, an initiative to improve the consume of the agriculture products of the Veneto countryside, basically it means from the product to the final costumer in as less kilometres as possible.
Coldiretti, via a popular referendum, has implemented a system which goals are to reduce transportation expenses and environmental impact provocated by the pollution and traffic.
The basic idea is to stimulate the purchase of local and seasonal agriculture products in order to reduce the energetic consume and the carbonic anhydride linked with the transportation of aliments which have been travelling thousands of miles before arriving to our tables!!!
The "zero kilometres" initiative got an unexpected legal success: it took only four months to collect 25.000 signatures, necessary to ask the Veneto government a new law to promote food with seasonal and local origin in the public canteens (hospitals, schools, universities, old people’s homes).
The request was accepted and became regional law in July 2008.
Nowadays in Veneto more and more restaurants, ice cream shops, pubs and little markets bet on this project, committing to use and sell at least 30% of the products coming from the local country side.
In order to transform this initiative in a successful one it also takes the citizens to get involved, thinking for instance that buying kiwis from New Zealand is not sustainable for our planet, when there are very good quality kiwis in Verona, less than 100 miles from Venice.
It is necessary to recover the old habits, when people ate the products from the earth in a certain period of the year.
We think that all this is good for the travellers, who because of the local typical products get more chances to discover the history and the culture of Veneto.
Enjoy the "zero kilometres menu"!
Ciao
ItalianFeelings
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THE VENICE MARATHON, 25th of October 2009. |
On Sunday 25th of October more than 5.000 athletes will participate in the Venice Marathon, starting from the little village of Stra’, on the Brenta Riviera which is famous because of the architect Andrea Palladio’s beautiful villas constructed along it, with the goal of finishing in the magical city of Venice!
42.195 metres of running through the Venice countryside, passing tiny canals and over 14 Venetian bridges, arriving in the Park Sette Martiri, quite close to San Marco Square, in a panoramic position on the Venice lagoon.
We have spoken to many people who participated in the Venice Marathon during previous years and everybody confirms that the route is very good as it’s very flat; a great chance to improve your own best time.
The event is well organized and in order to avoid congestion the maximum amount of runners is kept to 7.000.
Apart from the Marathon there are two nice solidarity initiatives: fund raising to help the people of Uganda and a project which tries to reduce the architectonic barriers encountered by disabled people in Venice downtown.
Families can participate in the Family Run on Saturday 24th, and on the day of the race the athletes will have the chance to attend the “Pasta Party”, a yummy dish of Spaghetti right at the end of the race, to recuperate energy…
Logistically speaking, it’s much handier to sleep in the Venice countryside, so you don’t have to wake up too early on the Marathon day.
You can contact us for further information.
We wish you a great experience in this amazing Venice Marathon!
Bye
Sergio
