Continuing our evening cruise, we passed by the Grottoes of Catullus (first two photos), the name given to the ruins of a Roman villa built between the end of the 1st century BC and the beginning of the 1st century AD at the northernmost end of the Sirmione peninsula on the southern shore of Lake Garda. The archaeological complex, which always remained uncovered over time, has been the subject of academic research since the 15th century. Today, it is the most valuable testament of the Roman period in Sirmione's territory and an exceptional find of a Roman villa in northern Italy.

A Different Hotel and a drive through Sirmione: After a wonderful cruise on Lake Garda to celebrate our 51st wedding anniversary, we walked back to the hotel we had originally reserved. They had found us a room at Hotel Olivi. However, the hotel was farther out on the peninsula where Sirmione is located and they had parking. That resulted in another cart ride back to the parking lot and then me driving the rental car into the ZTL, through the Scaliger Castle and the narrow streets of Sirmione to the hotel. Fortunately, it was later and there weren’t as many people. However, it was still challenging and we were not really certain about how to get to the hotel. I folded the side mirrors to enable driving past pedestrians with only a few inches of clearance on either side in many places. We made it through the castle and past the many shops and then to the hotel without hitting anybody. Probably the most unique drive I’ve ever done. After that and the drive from Venice, I was confident I could drive anywhere in Europe, enough so that I drove a rental car all over Italy for a month the following (last) year. The Olivi was a very nice hotel, nice enough that we stayed there again i.

After a good night’s sleep, we had a great breakfast at the hotel and then it was time for the 2 hour drive to Lake Como. After missing the Lake Garda turnoff and a harrowing drive through Sirmione on the way to the hotel using paper maps, I activated the European data plan on my phone and we used the GPS to navigate through Sirmione to Lake Como. It was still a challenge driving through Sirmione, but overall it went smoothly.

Last photo: I had planned to stop at Monza (the Temple of Speed and home of the Italian Grand Prix) on our way to Lake Como. However, we only rented the car for one day and we got away a little later than planned, it would have added another day to the car rental charge plus possible late fees and we were anxious to get to Lake Como, so we skipped it. We got there the following year (last year) though.

My previous post can be found at https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-805174-1.html, while the first post of this series (that includes a map of all of the places where we stopped) can be found at https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-801137-1.html

Next up: The rest of the drive to Lake Como