The Konzals: Beatrice's Baptism

We are very happy to share with our families and friends the Baptism of our Beatrice,

the ceremony will take place on the next

30th April 2011

h 15.30

at the Church of Santa Maria della Neve

Via S. Maria Maggiore,13 - Sirmione (BS)

We visited Sirmione in July 2010, at that time Beatrice was still moving inside of mom's belly: when we entered into this Church, built in the XV Century on the ruins of a Longobard Basilica, we were striked by the serenity given by the place. The linear architecture , the simplicity of the stone, the brightness of the statue of Saint Mary of the Snow: every part of this Church leads to make it a peaceful place in which we felt welcomed. Pawel thought it could have been the right place for our baby's baptism...and this is why we will be there on the 30th of April!

As the ceremony will be celebrated in Italian by the local priest, we will give you a little book to follow the Rite in Polish, English and French. We will do the readings in Italian and Polish and we will repeat twice the Pater Noster, in Italian and Polish.

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We will celebrate this great occasion of gathering together with a dinner party

h 19.00

at Ristorante Il Ciclone

Via Verona, 29 - Lugana di Sirmione (BS)

DRESS CODE PINK TIE: ladies and gentlemen are strongly encouraged to wear a pink accessory or pink clothes.

Those who can't find anything in such a nuance in their wordrobes will be provided with the following item to complete their outfits, regardlessly of their gender:

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Dear all, please continue to read this page and visit the links to know more about touristic information on Sirmione and other lovely places nearby or, simply, to get more practical tips about how to reach Sirmione Old town, Lugana di Sirmione -the area where is located the Restaurant - the Hotels, the bus and trains schedules and more!

Sirmione

Sirmione is developed between the coast of the Garda Lake (areas called Lugana and Colombare) and a smal peninsula called Catulliana from the name of the latin poet Catullo: he was an intellectual celebrity in the circle of the Rome's upper class in the I°century BC and a regular guest of those Romans who were spending vacations in Sirmione, a reknown thermal sources spot already at that time. One of his poems, the Carmen XXXI is dedicated to the beauty of the town

Sirmio, jewel of islands, jewel of peninsulas,

jewel of whatever is set in the bright waters

or the great sea, or either ocean,

with what joy, what pleasure I gaze at you,

scarcely believing myself free of Thynia

and the Bithynian fields, seeing you in safety.

O what freedom from care is more joyful

than when the mind lays down its burden,

and weary, back home from foreign toil,

we rest in the bed we longed for?

This one moment’s worth all the labour.

Hail, O lovely Sirmio, and rejoice as I rejoice,

and you, O lake of Lydian waters, laugh

with whatever of laughter lives here.

The remains of the Acquarium (the roman complex of swimming pools with termal water) and of the Villa Romana (Called now Villa Romana or Grotte di Catullo, the biggest mansion ever built northen then Rome at that time of history) today its an archeological museum: the ruins arise in the middle of the nicest shore of lake. When the generals of Napoleon realized it was not possible to unscrew the all Villa from the peninsula and bring it to Paris, they took away as much as pots and mosaics as possible that today are in the Louvre, but the pilars of the Villa are still there :-)

The museum/villa can be visited from 10am to 6 pm, from tuesday to sunday and requires a lot of walking thorugh steps, so if you have a not walking child it might be better to be equipped with a baby backpack or a front body carrier as it is not suitable for strollers. To come to the Villa you can walk through the old town of Sirmione until the top of the peninsula or take a small funny wheel train for tourists that with 1 euro will ride you there.

Just 200 mt before the Villa Romana you will see on the road an indication to the Lido delle Bionde, the lovely and small beach of Old Sirmione: the beach is made of small stones but there is also a tight and long wooden pier to lay down, as well as a bar restaurant overviewing the site.

The Medieval Walls that welcome you at the entrance of Sirmione Old Town were created by the Della Scala, Lords of Verona from 1226 until 1405 and they were part of an extensive series of fortifications made by the family to protect the territory from attacks by land or by water: visiting Sirmione, Verona and any village around the southern shore of Garda you will find towers, walls and palaces witnessing the strategic and economic strenght of the Della Scala kindom.

When you enter from the main door of the Walls into the Old Town, pay attention to the very small chapel you will have on your left and take a step in: it is a very tiny jewel of architecture! It is possible to make a visit of the well preserved remains of the Sirmione Walls, the entrance costs 4 euros and the views from up there are worthy the price, especially observing how the lake literally enter inside of the walls, creating an inner harbour.

Walking in the Old Town you will also see indications of a numerated path (bringing also the Church and other romans and medieval ruins) but you can also just go and wonder around, discovering the little lanes, the hidden courtyards and find yourself back at the lakeshore from both sides.

Beaches in Sirmione, Colombare and Lugana

Here is a little map of the beaches you can go in the area, they are all free access, with grass to lay down on the soft and small stones on the shore. It is not signed on the map the beach at the top of the peninsula, at the bottom of the Villa Romana itìs only reachable by foot when the water is low or normally by boat and it's made of huge flat rocks. Most of the beaches are in Lugana, so very close to your night accomodations:-)

Food & Wine Tips in Sirmione, Colombare and Lugana

Strolling through Sirmione you will recognise quickly that Ice Cream its a serious issue in this place: they are all great, but we recommend the taste chocolate - sour cherry at the Gelateria Scaligeri! If you are looking for a romantic dinner with a unique view on the lake, we had a good experience with the Restaurant Il Grifone, placed at the very end of the little lane (Vicolo Bisse) that goes on the right around the castle to the Lake. For good food without lake view and a more easy style, we also had a good time and a good wine at the Hosteria in Piazzetta dei Mosaici and the Al Torcol in via San Salvatore 30.

Talking about osterie, the right place to enjoy a glass, the most famous wines are the Valpolicella and Bardolino among the reds, and Lugana and Prosecco among the whites. The Lugana is steady and light, basically impossible to find anywhere else in Italy than in this territory where also Sirmione lays, called exactly Lugana.

The Prosecco is the most well known italian sparkling wine, as it is made in the North East of Italy, all the places Easter than Bergamo have normally a very good Prosecco as housewine to make you try!

In this same part of Italy started the traditon of having a Prosecco as a drink before dinner mixed with Aperol or Campari and Fizzy Water, the name to order it is Spritz andit will come automatically with Aperol (sweeter), unless you order Spritz Campari (bitter).

Coming back from the top of the peninsula to the coast, in the area of southern Sirmione called Colombare, we suggest you the Restaurant Malibu, in Via Lucchino, tipical italian ambient and food, there's a terrace with the view on the lake. There are no numbers in this street, so to find the restaurant you might also look for the indication of Hotel Belvedere, just above the restaurant. Another very nice restaurant, nice design but still very tipical italian food, no lake view, is the restaurant QuantoBasta, always in Colombare www.qbristorante.it/.

Sharping east to the coast in Lugana there are also other was to please your appetite: Il ciclone that we chose for the party, which has a good selection of both fish and meat courses and pizza www.pizzeriaciclone.it in a relaxed but design style, then the more traditional style Al braciere, www.ristorantealbraciere.com and Al Cavallo,http://www.ristorantepizzeriacavallo.it/.

For a sweet breakfast or a light lunch in Lugana, make sure to visit the beautiful Art Deco Style Bar -Confectioner La Fenice, placed in an art deco building between the Hotel Lugana Parco and the Lugana Church.

As Lugana is the place from where the Lugana wine takes after, you might enjoy a visit to the Wine Producer since 1939 Ca' de Frati, in via Dei Frati n.22, open 8.30-12.30 and 14.30-18.30 monday to saturday, www.cadeifrati.it/

How to reach Sirmione and Lugana.
By car: Motorway A4 exit Sirmione
If you are by car, the main parking close to the Sirmione Old Town it is called Monte Baldo, in square Monte Baldo. For the fees of parking http://www.sirmionebs.it/_modules/download/download/TUR_tariffe parcheggi_2010.pdf
By train: getting of at the train station of Desenzano, the closest train station to Sirmione and Lugana. Desenzano is served by direct trains from Milan Centrale, Verona, Venezia and by connections with a change from Bergamo, Brescia, Treviso: please check your train schedule on www.trenitalia.it.
From Desenzano Train Station you might take a Taxi to Lugana (if you want first to check into your Hotel/Residence accomodation) (the cost of the trip will be between 15 and 20 euros and it will take about 20 minutes), or you might take a Bus (with stop in front of Desenzano Train Station), please check the schedules of the bus LN026 from Desenzano to Sirmione www.trasportibrescia.it/upload/orari/estivi/LN026.pdf
(Get off in Colombare to take a quick city bus to Lugana - Chiesa Stop where are most of the accomodations, see the schedules at www.sirmionebs.it/_modules/download/download/TRASPORTI_INVERNALE_2010.pdf )
By bus: coming from Verona or Brescia
www.trasportibrescia.it/upload/orari/estivi/LN026.pdf
By public transports from the Airports to Sirmione:
The connections from the Airports of Milan Malpensa and Bergamo to Milan Central station are serverd by shuttle buses, here you can chek the schedules:
Malpensa – Milan Central Station http://www.malpensashuttle.it/, Bergamo – Milan Central Station www.orioshuttle.com/?a=1&arg=0&l=e and for both http://www.autostradale.it/interna.aspx?gr=2&sez=60&sot=2
Please note that the train called Malpensa express in the Malpensa airport doesnt bring you to Milan Central Station but to another area of Milan, from which it will take you another 15 min of metro stops to finally get to the Milan Central Station, so the shuttle bus is much more convenient, unless you wish to visit Milan before going to Sirmione!
If you land in Bergamo, you might also consider other two ways, depending on your landing schedule:
a) to go by shuttle bus from Bergamo Airport to Bergamo train station, the schedules are available at www.atb.bergamo.it/user/Default.aspx?SEZ=2&PAG=126&NOT=215
then take a train from Bergamo train station to Desenzano
b) to go by shuttle bus from Bergamo Airport to Brescia train station, the schedules are available at http://www.autostradale.it/interna.aspx?gr=2&sez=60&sot=2&ae=10 and from brescia take a bus line LN026 to Sirmione, please check the schedules www.trasportibrescia.it/upload/orari/estivi/LN026.pdf
from Brescia train station to the bus stop (solferino, on the schedule) its 350 mt: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Piazzale+Autolinee&daddr=Brescia,+25124+Brescia,+Italy+(Brescia)&hl=en&geocode=FXXItgIdH92bAA;FTbFtgIdm9WbACmNc_8KbnaBRzFtfU0X16XDnw&mra=dme&mrsp=0&sz=17&sll=45.533155,10.215435&sspn=0.003374,0.010568&ie=UTF8&z=17
Getting around between Sirmione and Lugana:
You can use the local line bus, here are the schedules, http://www.sirmionebs.it/_modules/download/download/TRASPORTI_INVERNALE_2010.pdf
All the accomodations are at walkable distance from the Lugana - Chiesa Stop

Accomodations

For most of you we already arranged accomodation at Hotel Ganfo www.hotelganfo.it , b&b Catullo or Residence Bianca http://www.residence-bianca.it
Those who are still without accomodation might book themselves by means of hotelcombined.com at Hotel Arena, Hotel Mistral, Hotel Bolero, Hotel Riel, Hotel Ganfo, they are all within few hundred meters from the restaurant of the Party.

Tips about other destinations to visit

Milan

For tips about what to do and where to go in Milan, have a look on the page regarding our wedding on this same website www.konzal.org/valentina. Corso Como and the Brera Quartier are still cool, for the other bars you might find on the spot more updated things as I am off of Milan since a while :-)

Verona

To reach Verona it's a trip of 20 min train from Desenzano, 40 minutes by car from Sirmione or 50 by bus. When you arrive at the main train station either by bus/train or by car, as there is a huge parking, you can buy at the touristic office the verona card and get a map: the verona card allow you to get on and off the few minutes bus to the center, entering churches, the Arena, the house of Juliet and many other monuments 1) without paying single tickets 2) without queuing, as there is always a veronacard holders fast track!

here are the info about the card http://veronacard.it/

The city its magnificent, there are so many monuments to be seen but also just to wonder around the lanes of the old center, ending up in the huge squares, its a joy for the spirit.

On this website there are tons of info about everything its worhty to be seen and done in Verona http://www.tourism.verona.it/_vti_g2_centro.aspx?rpstry=27_

ps.unlike the house of Juliet, the house of Romeo its still owned by privates so it isnt open to visitors :-)

Vicenza

Ever heard of the Palladian or Neoclassic style, say the White House in Washington or the Palace on the Water in Warsaw?Well, the guy, Andrea Palladio was from Vicenza and this is where u can see the biggest amounts of his works through life, until the Olimpic Theathre, in the picture above, that was completed by his son.

Vicenza historical center is also considered World Heritage by Unesco, even if the town is less worldwide famous than Verona. You can arrive to Vicenza easily by train or car.

For a quick guide of Vicenza see

http://www.italyheaven.co.uk/veneto/vicenza.html

off course you can make a full Palladio immersion buying an all access ticket http://www.palladiocard.it/index_en.html

Malcesine

If you are in the mood for a car tour of romantic small villages, the Garda Lake offers plenty of them, but in particular Malcesine has a beautiful castle and its linked by cable car to the Monte Baldo, the highest mountain on the Garda Lake