Culture and Pasta

We left Colico with the sun shining and headed down the lake and into rain!  We had decided to visit a couple of places on the River Mincio listed on drive 7 in our book. We arrived (100 + miles later a 1/3 of it tunnel!) at the aire at Borghetto at lunch time so after parking and a quick lunch we headed out.  Luckily it had just stopped raining.  Borghetto is a small riverside village built in 1393 by the Dukes of Milan to protect the town of Valeggio sul Mincio.  Borghetto is really pretty with old mill wheels next to the restaurants by the river.

We crossed the river and headed towards the ornamental gardens, Parco Giardino Sigurta.  We had difficulty finding the entrance (thanks to Michael being sure he knew the way and he didn't!) and when we did find it we realised we could not take the dogs in, so we headed to the 14th century Castello Scaligero at the top of the hill. The sun was just setting when we got there, so we had a quick look around before heading down the hill into town.  Weirdly we met a peacock on the way which Luna though a bit odd!

We had a nice walk through the town which had some lovely shops including a number of delicatessens and shops selling fresh pasta.  Valeggio is famous for its tortellini.  We then headed back to Vincent, who was still all alone in the aire - well I suppose it is November!

After a very wet night (we woke at 4 with the rain drumming on the roof!) we headed down river to Mantua - which is also known as Mantova although we are not really sure why.  We parked near the Palazzo Te and walked the dogs quickly before heading to the Coop to buy supplies.  After lunch we headed into town for some sightseeing without the dogs.  

We wandered the streets up to the main square, Piazza Sordello, which is dominated by the Palazzo Ducale, a huge medieval palace which incorporates a castle, church, courtyards and gardens.  It is really a  a small town and apparently the largest residence in Italy after the Vatican.  We decided to visit the castle and the palace.  The castle has an amazing room, Camera degli Sposi, which is frescoed with illusionist paintings.  We watched the brief film before entering the room - Mike was pleased to spot the Lagotto!

After the castle we visited the palace, which dates back to the 14th century and was for 400 years the home of the dukes of Mantua who ruled until 1707.  Of the 500 rooms we 'only' visited  39.  These were full of amazing ceilings, tapestries, mirrored galleries and masterpieces.  

Across the square from the palace is the white baroque Duomo which initially seemed uninspiring, as there are no pretty stained glass windows. We decided to go inside and it is quite different from the other cathedrals we have seen - quite beautiful and peaceful.

From the palace we popped into a local shop to buy some cakes to have with our tea and some fresh pumpkin ravioli  - a local speciality - and  walked back to Vincent. After tea we took the dogs for a quick walk and popped into the local bar for a beer before making a chicken curry for supper - the pasta will be enjoyed tomorrow.