It's unfortunately our last day in Sirmione, sun was shining again, we had consumed yet another superb Hotel Pace italian sweet breakfast, - and we did have a few plans for the day - firstly we would walk up the hill to Grotte di Catullo.
"Grotte di Catula" the ruins of a Roman villa - lies at the tip of the Sirmione Peninsular - as in forefront of the photo below.
It is said to be the most splendid example of a private building belonging to the Roman aristocracy in the whole of Northern Italy.
The Villa is rectangular (167 by 105 meters) with two projections on it short sides
and covers more than 5 acres in all
It has a large Olive Orchard
a huge fresh water cistern nearly 43 meters long
Ample baths consisted of several rooms - probably dug out at the beginning of the 2nd century AD - they say.
The Villa itself dates to Augustan times (late first Century BC)
it has incredible views across Lago Garda
And fortunately for the Brig and I, we were the only ones at Catullo at this time of morning.
A superb couple of hours
On our walk back down to town we could see that some early birds had also hit the surrounding beaches.
Back to the lively Piazza Giosue Carducci
To catch our ferry to Gardone Riviera
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After our Ferry escapade we decided to have a final roam around Sirmione
The Church above (and it's roof below) is the Santa Maria Maggiore (XV century)
It has some lovely porticos and frescoes
and attractive courtyards overlooking Garda.
Now it's time to find an antipasti stop
to stock up for our last evening's snack
on our Hotel's pontile - a super Sirmione finale.
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