Being only about 35 minutes from Verona by car, we squeezed in two visits to Lake Garda.
Lake Garda is a stunning destination located in northern Italy. It is the largest lake in the country and is surrounded by picturesque towns and breathtaking landscapes. As a popular tourist destination, it attracts visitors from all over the world.
One of the main attractions of Lake Garda is its crystal-clear waters, which are perfect for swimming, sailing, and other water activities. The lake is also surrounded by beautiful beaches, where visitors can relax and soak up the sun. This was certainly the case in Bardolino which with all its holiday accommodation seemed completely geared up for tourists. Certainly we saw many people sunbathing or enjoying a swim. To get out of the heat of the day we took refuge in a hotel and enjoyed some cool lemonade.
The towns around Lake Garda are full of charm and character. We never quite made it to Sirmione, known for its medieval castle and thermal baths. But we did visit Lazise and Peschiera del Garda.
Both towns were similar in atmosphere and style, although Peschiera is the bigger of the two. There were plenty of old buildings, restaurants and bars, and each had its own harbour. During the evening in Peschiera, it was apparent just how much of the lake’s shore has been developed, as there were lights surrounding the lake for as far as the eye could see.
Although by no means a quiet location, Lake Garda looked very interesting and we do plan to return at some point in the future.
It’s more than 2 years since we moved to Scotland. Since then, we’ve learnt new words such as dreich, scunnered and slàinte mhath (Gaelic for “good health”). We’ve looked in awe at the breathtaking landscapes on show. We’ve learnt about Scotland’s sometimes violent history, and visited some fascinating castles and monuments. We’ve tasted tablet, sampled Irn Bru, had a Burns supper with vegetarian haggis, and sampled a range of different malt whiskies. But it’s the warmth of the people who live in this wonderful country that makes us feel so welcome.
So here then is our personal profile of the land we now call home…
The People: Friendly, welcoming to non-Scots, pro-European, and open. Also modest, with a fantastic sense of humour.
The scenery: Stunning! That one word sums up Scotland’s beauty, whether it is the highlands, the islands, the borders or everything in between. Much is unspoilt, isolated and peaceful; and long may it stay so.
Nature: There are red squirrels, otters and golden eagles in Scotland! But we also have beavers, pine marten, white tailed eagles and even a temperate rain forest. In our own back garden we regularly see bats, plus many different specifies of bird including Yellow Hammer, Greater Spotted Woodpecker and Bullfinch.
Towns and cities: So Edinburgh needs no introduction. Whether it is Grassmarket, the Royal Mile, Holyrood Park or Princes Street, it is lively, interesting and colourful. And don’t forget the enormous castle overlooking the city! Edinburgh is one of our favourite places to visit and a regular port of call whenever we have visitors.
Being further from our home, we know less about Glasgow, but from a visit before we moved we know that it too is lively; and that George Square is impressive. Glasgow is definitely a place that needs more exploring.
Sadly, we haven’t seen many more of the other towns and cities outside of the borders. But we did visit Stirling, staying in the old town near to its own impressive castle. Stirling is definitely a place we will visit again.
The weather: Our family and friends in England refer to Scotland as the frozen north. And yes, it is usually one or two degrees cooler than most of England on any given day, but it isn’t frequently frozen. Indeed, our first winter saw only a few days of frost. But you can go out in the morning in glorious sunshine and then need a hat, scarf and coat in the afternoon. And it does seem to rain quite a lot in the west and north of Scotland. We had snow in 2021 but the gritters did a great job. Many have silly names, including Sir Salter Scott, Gritney Spears and Gritty Gritty Bang Bang (to name just a few).
Lifestyle: Often mocked, the stereotype unhealthy Scot presumably exists, but life isn’t really different to elsewhere. However, shops are open much longer on a Sunday, there is a minimum unit price on alcohol, and important services in our experience seem better than anything we experienced before we moved here (e.g. easier to get a doctor’s appointment, trains more reliable, roads gritted, free eye tests, free prescriptions, baby boxes, and recently announced: free buses for young as well as older people). We also have a right to roam over the land.
Music: Our original list included Runrig, Amy MacDonald, KT Tunstall, Capercaillie, Deacon Blue, Altered Images, Travis and the Proclaimers. But this has now expanded to include Skerryvore, Skippinish, Tidelines, Julie Fowlis, Dougie Maclean, Camera Obscura, Siobhan Wilson, Iona Fyfe, the Corries and Niteworks.
Icons: There are monuments to William Wallace throughout Scotland. Then we have Robbie Burns and Walter Scott. More recent icons include the late Sean Connery. Perhaps not so much an icon, but equally famous, is the Loch Ness Monster
The news media: Bad: Occasionally we watch Reporting Scotland from the BBC, but it’s news coverage is poor, negative and repetitive. They don’t even appear to like Scotland! As for the print media, well there is a Scottish edition of the Daily Mail, so draw your own conclusions.
Sport: The national football team is hoping to reach the world cup finals, and the national rugby team had a good six nations last year. Curling is popular, with the national men’s and women’s teams enjoying recent success. There are also lots of golf courses in Scotland, there are the highland games; and of course there is Andy Murray
The neighbours: We’ve learnt something about the place we came from. Looking now through a Scottish lens we can see immediately just how marginalised Scotland is by the UK as a whole. What happens in Scotland is rarely newsworthy. Scotland is just somewhere cold, wet and up north.
Politics: Much to the annoyance of almost every newspaper in Scotland, the people of this land keep voting for the Scottish National Party in Holyrood (Scotland) and Westminster (UK) elections. Refreshingly, Holyrood and local council elections use proportional representation, so unlike in England, the make up of government at national and local level reflects more accurately the wishes of the people. We also have the only Green Party politicians in government anywhere in the UK, thanks to a modern power sharing agreement between them and the SNP.
Independence: This remains the big, but sometimes unspoken issue here. So what do we, as English people living in Scotland think of independence? It’s quite simple really: do we want to live in a country that is striving to be an open, green and fair, nordic style social democracy, or do we want to continue living in a country in decay, led by a hard right government in Westminster that repeatedly lies to its people. It really is a no brainer.
Regrets: None, other than perhaps we should have moved here sooner.
(Note: Photographs from Pixabay except above; and 3rd and 7th from the top of this post).