A Very Full Weekend

I hope everyone had a lovely Labor Day weekend!  Ours was jam-packed full of sightseeing, but it was an absolute blast.  After our day in Venice, we ventured a little farther from home for the rest of the weekend.  On Saturday, we drove up to Trento (known for the Council of Trent) to check out the Castello di Buonconsiglio, where apparently many of the Council of Trent sessions were held.  The castle has been turned into quite the museum, with lots of artifacts, sculptures, paintings, and frescoes.  Pretty fascinating stuff. 

After the castle (and some gelato, of course), we headed down to Lago di Garda, or more specifically, the town of Arco.  Arco is a cute little town a few kilometers from the lake, nestled up against the mountains.  It's very popular for both climbers and mountain bikers, so a walk through downtown includes lots of shopping for outdoor gear as well as dodging the bikers.  After quite a bit of wandering around and finally a stop at the tourism office, we managed to find a hotel that still had a room available. 

The next day (Sunday) was supposed to be a beach day at the lake, but of course we woke up to rain.  We drove down to the lake anyways, and still managed to squeeze in a couple hours of walking along the shore and exploring the downtown area in between showers.  Despite the overcast weather, it's still an impressive view.

We took the scenic route home rather than the autostrade, driving down alongside the lake.  It was nice to enjoy the view while still staying dry inside the car.  The rain continued on Monday, so we had a cozy Labor Day inside.  We were all pretty tired so a day to relax and catch up on sleep was certainly appreciated, although we did venture out later in the day to show Donovan's mom downtown Vicenza. 

Tuesday was back to work for Donovan, so his mom and I took the opportunity to go to Verona and see a few things we knew he wouldn't be that interested in, such as Juliet's balcony and tomb.  We also toured the Arena, where Donovan and I went to the opera at recently. 

And that was our weekend!  We crammed a lot into a few days, but we enjoyed every minute of it.  Now it's back to real life for a little while.  Have a great week everyone!