Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Day 2 ~ More Verona and Zenato Winery

Today we woke early to investigate our rental car situation, which, was ultimately successful when we accidentally found it by giving up after an hour long search. We then had some delicious filled croissants for breakfast and proceeded to the Castello Vecchio museum. The castle was built in the 14th century and turned into a museum shortly after WWII. The castle was amazing and the museum had a lot of wonderful paintings from all over Italy (but mainly the Verona area) dating from 1200-1800, as well as some great artifacts from the castle's military history.


Bridge over Adige River to Castello Vecchio, Verona

We then headed to Verona's Duomo to take a peek inside. A classic example of an Italian cathedral, and very wonderful, sadly no photos worth posting but it is a must see if you are ever in Verona. We then booked it to pick up the rental car before they closed for lunch, grabbed some panini on the way and grabbed our bags from the hotel.

Next we were off to the Zenato Winery in San Benadetto, but when we arrived early we decided to take a drive further out the peninsula where we indulged in some gelato and took a short walk along the shores of Lago di Garda.

Upon arriving at Zenato we were greetted by Mateo who gave us a wonderful tour and led us through a tasting of six of their wonderful wines: a sparkling Lugana, Lugana, Corvina Merlot blend, Ripasso, Amarone Classico, and Rigoletto Lugana dessert wine. Sarah is looking forward to bringing some of these into the restaurant to share with friends and regulars.


Zenato Logo on a wine cask


Old wine press


Half of Zenato family's personal wine cellar

We left Zenato for Venice, stopped for dinner, got a bit lost then finally found our hotel thanks to some cryptic Italian instructions from a nice old local involving lots of hand motions. Off to bed so we can get more exploring in tomorrow!


Lights on the A4 Autostrada

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