Peschiera del Garda

Every morning in Arco, the church bells would ring and the birds will start chirping and to me, its quite a melody. I remember smiling even in my sleep hearing these sounds I call melody. It's very pleasing to one's ear and the next thing would be a nice morning kiss from the love of my life. How sweet! And in no time, breakfast is ready and the sun is shining. What a life! if you ask me....

The night before was another raining night and to my worst nightmare... there was a thunder storm with lightning. I didn't grew up to handle thunder lightning very well, each time the lightning strikes, I hide myself under blanket and really. To think I am sleeping in a tent and thunder storm, this can drive me crazy. Thunder storm sucks. Jos cannot stop assuring me the thunder is very far away. Although I feel more assure with him holding me tight but I cannot believe the thunder is very far away. :P

Anyway, back to our adventure. The day went on with a temperature as high as 35 degrees almost throughout the whole day. That's pretty common for summer in Europe, especially in places like Italy and France. Not so much in Holland.

Peschiera del Garda is one of the most characteristics town within Lake Garda. It is situated 25kms away from Verona. We have travelled from Arco in a car and took us less than half an hour. We drove a long straight road along with the river. Beautiful scene and nice warm breeze. The first sight of Peschiera was just river on the right and left and canals at some point. Although its a tourist spot, I can happily say it didn't feel at all clustered. Not that its empty, there are people but its just good enough to allow us to feel relaxed.

Yes, it was at a temperature as high as 35 degrees c, but once I looked at the river, it didn't feel 35 anymore. And the minute I put my feet into the river, I felt my body temperature instantly fell. The nice cooling effect, close your eyes and feel the wind. When we parked our car, we found a bottle of sunscreen, we just had to use it because the sun gives me a feeling its gonna burn us up real bad!

There are swans hanging around by the bank of the river and they have totally no fear of humans around them. We could sit by the bank of the river, enjoy the cold river and interact with the swans! Haha! But I ain't a swan person. Neither is Jos. So we are quite happy to just snap a picture or two of the swans. They look beautiful & graceful!

And sometimes, we see little ducks right in the middle of the huge river. Strange sight but they seems to enjoy being alone in a huge world.

The one thing in Italy that is the same everywhere is the sweets shop and their Gelatos. They seems to be really into sweet stuffs. Or maybe they are just into food of all kinds, sweet or not, Italian does it best! But really, its amazing how these sweet treats draws me close to the glass windows each time I passes them by. The way they made it, the colors in them, the details etc just draws my attention and I had to take a picture of it each time I passes by. If time permits and it doesn't give me extra calories, I would buy everything of each designs and keep them. Having said that, besides the sweet stalls, Italy is also full of nice restaurant that each time I passes them, the smell of pizza, pasta etc never fails to draw me close or stood for a minute to check what's cooking! OK, I know I am a glut! :D

Just before we entered into the fortress, there is a little stall selling fresh fruits and ..... CHILLIS! strange much? I cannot understand who would buy chilli and huge ones. Maybe they are just for show but look! Its really huge and 2nd thoughts, chilli and fresh fruits doesn't match does it?

Generally, the place is just beautiful with nice sunshine. We enjoyed the day very much despite the hot sun. The bonus? The beautiful view walking back! We were dancing our way back to our car. I will not forget the way we held hands and Jos made me turn in circles and me happily skipping back to the car. For a moment, I feel like a kid once again.

When back in the campsite, my master cooked again! I am so lucky to have someone that can cook and all I do is wait for my dinner to be served. Chicken cooked with green beans and serve with rice! GM Jos' masterpiece I will say and I enjoy the dish everytime I eat them. So... thanks Mr GM J xx

As usual, after dinner, we went for our romantic walk to Arco town and have a gelato and a beer. Its always fun when you are with a lousy drinker and because I am not a good drinker . One beer is enough for me to start speaking nonsense. So yes, I ended with me on Jos' back, he had to piggy-back me back to campsite with me repeatedly saying :"its niet goed!" all the way back. haha. Wait, I need to clarify, I was totally sober of course! Just an excuse to ride on his back without having to walk! :D *Top Secret*

Our Summer Holiday - 2nd Stop - Camping Arco, Italy

Next morning, another stress free morning, when we woke up, packed up, put down the tent and travelled another 790 km from Heidenhof to Arco, Italy. The place where we intend to visit next. Again, no pre-reservation and also no idea if there will be a camping space for us. We drove at a speed of 140 to 160 km/h and reach Arco in 5 hours! Pretty awesome eh? Yes, again stress-free ride, stop twice to have lunch and small bites and off we go on the road again.

Arco is situated at the heart of the northern Lake Garda Region. Atone end, Arco faces Lake Garda, while its other end is surrounded by the mountains. It is a typical place for rock climbing. The town is surrounded on one side by sheer limestone cliffs jutting up like a wall protecting its ancient hilltop castle.

The castle of Arco, one of he most beautiful fortress in the Alps, was built by the counts of Arco at the top of a towering rock overlooking the plain of the river Sarca. Looking from the Castle gives one a breathtaking panorama.

The drive up to Arco campsite was a breeze. Although its a narrow one way up and one way down road, as long as you are not driving behind a huge bus or a big truck, the drive up is infact scenic. The scenic view of the lake and greenery are just too pleasing to the eyes that I didn't mind having to drive up and down many many times!

Campeggio Arco is the campsite we have intended to put up for the next 3-4 days depending on how much we like the place. The same process; check with the reception for availability, find ourselves a spot and put up the tent! I very much enjoy that process because, we were never turned down when in Italy!

While we decide on a camping site, to our pleasant surprise, we are camp right next to the river. The beautiful sound of the flowing water sounded pleasing to one's ear. I cannot help but leap with joy and the smile on our face naturally glow. Both Jos and I love the river, once we put up our tent and have everything in place... the first thing we did was to check the river out!

The water was freezing cold as you can see from my expression but same time, to soak your feet in freezing cold fresh river water during a hot sunny day is not a bad idea! However, be warn... your feet would also feel numb by less than 5 mins. So we had to run in and out of the river which of course is totally fun! Saw some boys building dams in the river and Jos explains its a typical dutch boy's childhood activities... without further a do, the next I saw Jos reliving his childhood days by carrying big rocks, small rocks joining in the boys. I've never seen this nor done this... but after some observation, I joined in the fun too! cold it was but totally fun! One bad review... the rock broke my nails! Grrrr....

Next, we walked around Arco town, which is less than 10mins walk from our camp site. That is one very good reason why I love Arco! It has the best facilities and among all, easily accessible surroundings.

That first night in Arco was one romantic one. Jos cooked pasta for the first time on the brand new camping stove from Piet (Jos' Dad). Cooking for Jos seems to be so easy. I have to admit, I am a darn lousy cook, so I cannot imagine how is it possible to cook in a camp site. But he made it seems so easy of which I am totally proud of. He is brilliant!

Here is some pictures of the cooking process and the aftermath.

Romantic Candle light dinner. Main Dish - Pasta Dessert - Yogurt

We ended the night with a night-walk around Arco Campsite. The air was good, the scene was nice and the companion was one sweetest guy ever! :)

P.S. Beautiful Memory are like treasures, they stay with you till death do us part. xx

Our Summer Holiday - First Stop, CampingPlatz Heidedof, Germany

Like I've said in my earlier blog post. I've every desires to put every details of my experience of my unforgettable summer holiday in Italy and France. Its a pity no matter how many photos I took, or how much I remember of our holiday can never be the same when I put them in writing. I wish I could elaborate how I felt during those time but I guess it will not relate the same feeling. Nevertheless, I will try my utmost best to describe every scene I have capture in words.

Before I go on with the exciting journey, I really want to also recall what happen the night before our road trip because it was also one exciting and unforgettable one. Jos came home with the happiest mood and the first thing he said to me once the clock strikes 5pm was .... "Holiday!" And yes, he hardly works late, that's with any Dutchie I guess. They have a life, totally unlike Asian like us who never seems to ever stop working.

I remember vividly his light hearted behaviour, one of which I've not seen for the whole week prior to the holiday. So I was really happy and relax just like he is. We started packing right after dinner. He did all the camping stuffs, the electrical, tents, plates, spoons, fork etc and I did the luggage, our clothes and our toiletries. To be honest, we are such a good team, we complete them with quite a breeze.

I've also never imagine going on a trip without knowing where we will stay. We did not do any pre-booking of any camp site. We were just going to hit the road and go with the flow! Exciting much? To me, this has never happen before but I guess I totally trust Jos knows what he is doing and never had second thoughts about it.

Jos and me alike, we are very relax people. No stress! So we took our time to wake up the next morning. So, early next morning.... well, not so early, about 8am, we woke up, start transferring all our stuffs into his 2 door Audi A4. Went off to town to town to grab some bread and pastries for underway and off we went to Jos' Mum's home for quick coffee before we head off to our first stop - Campingplatz Heidehof. Nelly loves the sight of the family closeness and she has this thing about having coffee together before any trips. It does makes one feels warm and fuzzy with her little thoughts of such. Love her much! :)

Us in the car! On Da Way...!

We were suppose to stop in Germany overnight as the journey directly to our next stop Arco, Italy will be too long a drive and we do not want any stress. The drive took approximately 5 hours. Yes, seems long but I didnt feel dreadful at all. Maybe because I am next to someone i love too much. :)

First sight of the first camp site I see is not too bad at all! In fact, I kinda like the feel. Jos parked his car, and went straight to the reception to asked for a camping space for 1 tent and 2 person. No hassle, the reception took us in and asked that we find a spot ourselves. Super cool. I remember the receptionist is an old lady who has boobies as big as a mini watermelon! She had to rest her boobies on the reception table! Hahaha! Good memory I have ! :P

Entrance to the Reception.

First sight of the first camp site I see is not too bad at all! In fact, I kinda like the feel. Jos parked his car, and went straight to the reception to asked for a camping space for 1 tent and 2 person. No hassle, the reception took us in and asked that we find a spot ourselves. Super cool. I remember the receptionist is an old lady who has boobies as big as a mini watermelon! She had to rest her boobies on the reception table! Hahaha! Good memory I have ! :P

Now check out the surroundings of the campsite while we find a space for our little tent! Actually not that little... you will see. :)

The campsite and its surroundings!

And then, before I know it, we found a spot and quickly Jos was already working on building up the tent. As it was my first time, I hang around and watched. Jos said he could put the tent up within 10 minutes, so i decide this must be challenging and did a timer on it. And yes, it was within 10 minutes! Great Job Love! You are superb! xx

Not done yet... Almost there ! :)

And tada! The inside of the tent.
Check out the airbed! Pretty cool eh?

There are also Chalet for Rental!

The first night of our summer trip was spent in Campingplatz, Heidedof. Like I said, I can never imagine doing this. I did thought about the toilet, bathroom and facility etc but once I step into this camp site, I know I have nothing to worry about. It is fully equipped with bathroom, toilet and also provide electricity for every tent. I could blow my hair, charge my phone, blow up the air-bed in mins etc.

There is also a dining restaurant just 5 minutes walk from the campsite serving pizzas, pasta etc. We had to settle our dinner there as we were both too tired to drive out anywhere for dinner. So after the tent is done, we took a walk around the campsite, strangely found something we really needed - a used extended cable for campers which cost us EUR20.00

God has been good to us. The first day was perfect but when night falls, the rain started pouring, we had to stay inside of the tent to stay out from the rain. Even then, it was a romantic 1st night in the tent with Jos. It was really kinda out of this world for me! Now I can say, I've been there, done that!

To find out more about this campsite, you might like to visit www.campingplatz.de

I'll stop here for our first night. My next post will be on Italy! Most romantic and interesting. So stay tune!

Love all! Ciao!

P.S. Seriously need to lose some weight! Carbo overload! :S

Back from the most unforgettable trip !

Its been more than a month since I last blog. To be honest, although I was having a good time having a full 6 weeks of summer holiday with my beau, I've missed blogging very much. Everyday during my holiday, I tell myself i mustn't forget what I've seen today because I wanna blog about it. Some days, I would even quickly pick up my iPhone and start typing a quick note on an application I have - Secret Diary, on what I've experience during my trip so that I'll remember to blog about.

So yes, I do miss blogging. I guess writing to me is a socially acceptable form of getting naked in public. At the same time, it also gives me an outlet, somewhere I could express my true feelings of things I feel and yet I do not get criticise of.

My Trip has been a one-in-a-lifetime experience for me. It's most unforgettable for 2 reason, one of which is being with the love of my life the whole time and he's been such a sweet thing. And two, the places I've visited and living in a tent for the whole time has never been somewhere or something I would ever dream of doing or even being there. So yes, I am really grateful to Jos for making all this possible. He has gone through great troubles to ensure everything is prepared for me. If you asked me what I liked about this trip... my answer is everything! The breakfast, the dinner, the BBQ, the queen size airbed and many more! He has made this holiday totally unforgettable!

I will start writing about the many experience of my holiday soon... but for now, I need some sleep!

Loves!

P.S. Thanks Love for making this possible. Ik Hou Van Jou! xx