I loved exploring Lake Garda on the bike. We cycled through the cobbled streets (much to the annoyance of pedestrians), we cycled along the length of the water ways and then through the hilly parts of town.
I often found myself looking around more at the surroundings than concentrating on actually cycling - that isn't good for other cyclist!
The colour of the water is simply mesmerising! The blues, greens and clearness of the water is astounding. I have such a tranquil fascination with water - I could sit and watch it for hours. I find it very calming - always have.
We covered about 50 km on the bike which isn't really that far but as the weather was so warm, I wanted to just jump into the water to cool off.
Marco likes to sprint sometimes uphill so he decided to hold back whilst Gianni and I headed off. We decided to pull off the road and hide to heckle him, annoyingly he had his headphones in so it was completely wasted! It was amusing when he stopped ahead and was surprised to see us behind him.
Our second visit to Lake Garda was an opportunity for me to swim. All week I was so excited about swimming but both Gianni and Marco were teasing me saying I couldn't go swimming. The weather wasn't as nice as our first visit, it was overcast but that didn't bother me at all.
Marco was so annoyed with the fact it wasn't sunny but I honestly didn't mind. It was still warm so it was perfect for swimming!
Strangely the colour of the lake looked so different without the sun shining. It wasn't as vibrant. During the day, the weather improved and the lake regained it's beautiful mesmerising colours.
I swam in a Lake in Antigua but I forgot how different the water feels compared to the sea. It felt so clean. It didn't hurt my eyes and it oddly felt very light. I kelp wondering whether there were any crabs along the bottom of the rocks (I didn't find out the answer!).
Marco is very strict when it comes to eating and swimming. After we ate lunch (a simple sandwich), I was not allowed to swim for three hours! I thought this was incredibly excessive. As a child, we were told not to swim for 30-60 minutes after eating - not three hours!
Marco explained that after you eat, if you expose your body to cold water it can stop the digestion of the food which in turn causes the heart to stop - resulting in death! This is obviously very extreme and doesn't happen every time but he is worried that it'll be ok for 100 times then that one time it happens - it's too late.
I do understand the logic however I tried to research what could happen and there was nothing explaining that could happen. When I looked for articles in Italian however I did find things.
Sadly the day we were there, a man drowned. Marco said it was because he had eaten and been drinking alcohol. It was awful seeing the police searching for his body. I read the articles later and he was a homeless man who had been drinking and shouldn't have swam in the section he did. Either way still very sad.
Waiting the three hours before I could swim was torture. I even changed the clock on my phone to say it was a later time (it didn't work!). The little nap in the sun was nice though.
After the wait, we hired a pedalo and had so much fun. I've never been on one with a slide before so it was great sliding into the lake. We also both dived (dove?) off the boat. Marco was brave (or stupid?) and dive from the top of the slide but I did it just from the side.
I love how much fun we have. People are too boring and serious so often so it's great just being crazy sometimes.
This is the second time I've been to Italy with Marco and both times I have had the most amazing time. I feel totally relaxed and refreshed. We cycle loads and yet I still feel so well rested after our trip.
We're heading back in February for skiing so I'm already looking forward to that trip.
Ciao for now xxx
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