How to become a belligerent Italian behind the wheel and finally, Sirmione!

For our last day in Italy we took the early morning fast train from Venice to Verona and from there we picked up our rental car and drove to Lake Garda which is about half an hour’s drive. We want some relaxation and nature for our last day and what better way to spend our lunch in Sirmione in Lake Garda.



Sirmione in Lake Garda - This is the medieval fortification, the Scaliger Castle (from the Lords of Verona) that once fell under the Austrians. The castle dates back to the 13th century.



Sirmione is an elongated peninsula jutting out of the mainland to the lake. Located in Brescia province, already part of Veneto’s bordering region, Lombardy, this little town, like its neighbouring sisters Desenzano and Peschiera, are very popular thus unbearably touristy. We didn’t expect the horrible chain of traffic we’ve come upon after exiting the highway. Cars were manic on the road, as well as this was my first introduction to the Italian contemptuous way of driving.



Now, I’ll expound a little bit on this Italian way of driving because this experience has totally made me furious my blood pressure levels rose to boiling point I was about to explode the Eyjafjallajokull way (okay, who can actually pronounce this? lol ).



OK I’ll be forthright—I am gob smacked to witness the large number of Italians short in driving etiquette. If they were to take a driving exam in the Netherlands, many would have flunked. I would have thought the Filipino drivers back in Manila were worse but many Italian drivers are not only ignoring you, like most bus and jeepney drivers do in the Philippines when they cut you head on, they are casually aggressive and extremely zealous! You can see them raising their hands frantically up in the air and should the car windows are down, you could probably hear them scream, ‘Merda!’ or ‘Cazzo!!!’ while sneering at you. What about the honking, the tailgating, driving above the required speed limit and harassing a pedestrian on a zebra path? HELLO!? I am having a heart attack now.



When someone gets aggressive with me on the road, what do I do? Answer: An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Pronto! LOL



Anyhow before I get further deep into this traffic duel, let me tell you that Sirmione is a very, very lovely town! Even when all of Italy went there! It looks like everyone had the same plan in mind that day haha, which was an Easter Monday a national holiday, and with the beautiful weather, the herd of locals flocked to their beloved lake. It took us almost an hour from the highway exit to get to Sirmione town proper when that would have taken us under 10 minutes.











Next: LUNCH in Sirmione!