Wine wine everywhere and not a drop to drink

Italy was gorgeous. Rome, as ever, was our favourite. Unfortunately, we messed up slightly and didn't get to eat at our favourite restaurant because we planned to eat there on Monday when it was closed. So, we ate at our other favourite restaurant for the second time. And were slightly gratified that there were two other solo diners there who had been there the night we had been.

I was so curious as one of them was an older gent who was dressed in black tie both times we saw him there. I wondered if it was a nightly ritual.

We then went off to Verona where the hotel had had an ultra modern refurb, which was a shame. The bed was one of those awful ones where the mattress was smaller than the base, and left my shins and calves black and blue. Another slight flaw in the design was the distance from the bathroom lightswitch to the bathroom, and the glass door in between, which meant nocturnal visits in the dark or wake each other up. Cue more bruises.

Verona was lovely though, albeit small and we covered most of the streets and sites several times, and had a great bus adventure to Lake Garda and Sirmione which reminded us of Capri.

We found a great restaurant there, and a nice caffe in a small piazza where we saw the cutest Boston Terrier pup two days in a row. Caffe Tosca in Piazza Pescheria.

The restaurant was the Locanda Il Capitano in the Piazza dei Seignori. So good we went there twice (and the second time we were treated to another sight of the Boston Terrier pup). The food was incredible - we had the same pasta dish both times (Duck Ragout and Bigoli for Hubby and Beef Tortelloni with Sage for me) and then the second time I had Beef Cheeks. Never had them before, but they were so tender and tasty.

The great thing about our second visit as well was that we got chatting to an American couple who were great fun, and as we left, the manager gave us a bottle of their custom blended olive oil.

In terms of the attractions, we avoided the crowds at the Arena (where my beloved Toto are due to play in July!), and Juliet's Balcony (which is a fake, made from a sarcophagus in the 1970's as the whole Romeo and Juliet is fiction...), and mooched around the back streets, visited the Castelvecchio, the Giardino Giusti (beautiful!), climed to the top of the Torre Lamberti, and visited the Teatro. It is a very pretty town, loads of huge churches and towers, and well worth a couple of days there. There are lots of museums too, although Hubby and I tend to avoid these and make up our own history!!

In Sirmione, we went to the Grotte Catulli - amazing ruins from what would have been the ancient equivalent of today's spa resort with thermal baths. It was packed with tourists, but we had a lovely pizza at Il Girasole.

So - a hint, and Hubby will kill me... but despite all the wine and flowing Limoncello, I stuck to water and fruit juice.

Still probably put on a ton of weight though!