Before I headed to the town, I first had to go and take a look at the lake. A pathway at the end of my street took me straight there. It was a breathtaking sight, the pale aqua and blues of the lake hazily blurring into the pale grey of the mountains behind, looking as though the whole scene had been airbrushed with a watery smoke. Blues and greens have always been my favourite colours and I find the cool shades really soothing.
Back on the pavement, it turns out pedestrians and cyclists share the same space and there were a lot of bikes, none of which seemed to have bells so I needed to keep my eyes and ears open for the sounds of rubber on cobbles to avoid being run over.
The pathway followed the water's edge and there was a cooling breeze coming off the lake, although every now and then there was a whiff that smelled remarkably like pig sh*t!
The old town is another mix of beautiful old buildings, narrow streets, tourists, tourist-trap shops and restaurants. I bought myself a melon gelato to tide myself over until lunch and it was so fruity and refreshing it can't possibly have been unhealthy.
About halfway home, I stopped for lunch at a lakeside restaurant. A large salad and a small carafe of wine, bianchi now, I'll leave the rosé in Provence, set me up for the stroll back to my accommodation and the pool.
The rest of the walk home was meandering. I'm not sure if it was due to the residual effects of the boat, or the lunchtime wine, but either way it was pleasant. Geckos scuttling across the path and dogs, ducks and tourists dozing in the shade.
It was that hot, lazy time of day when I got back so I spent a bit of time by the pool before asking my host to borrow a bike to get me to the thermal spa.
Evening
The bike was an old boneshaker of a mountain bike but it was great to be riding along, creating a breeze and giving my hot feet a break. The glee I felt at being allowed to ride on the pavement wore off quickly. Sharing the road with cars might seem scary but at least drivers generally stick to one side of the road and generally warn you when they are going to stop or change direction. Pedestrians on the other hand... Add pushchairs, dogs and mobile phones to the mix and it is a miracle that the local emergency services are not kept busy 24x7 with pavement pile-ups.
I made it to the spa unscathed, got forced to buy a pair of rubber flip-flops along with my entry ticket, then forced to wear a ridiculous blue and white swimming hat whilst in the pools. Despite all of this, it was blissful. The spa, Aquaria, is located on the western side of Sirmione so I was able to watch the sun turn the lake pink as it dropped behind the mountains, whilst having my shoulders pummelled with thermal water.
As it got darker, the lights in the towns on the far coast of the lake looked like glitter on the hillside through the evening haze. My ticket included a glass of champagne but I delayed this pleasure until after I'd sampled the aforementioned 'emotional showers'...
The spa includes indoor and outdoor thermal pools with lots of jacuzzi areas and massaging jets of water, saunas, steam rooms, lots of lovely lighting and mellow music for 'a complete sensory experience', not to mention views across the lake. There was a tricksy lazy river thing where you wander through this lovely channel of warm bubbly water only to find you can't get out without then going through a really cold channel of bubbly water. Once I'd got over the cheek of it, I went round again because it left my thighs all tingly.
But back to the emotional showers, well, there was 'Warm Breeze' where you got lightly sprayed with a fine mist of water, whilst warm air was blown at you along with a delicious citrusy scent. Then there was 'Summer Storm' where you got pelted with hot droplets that felt just like rain only nicer because of the temperature. This was also accompanied with a lovely scent and, to round off, a flash of lightening. There were also cold versions of these but they are not important. I think despite my earlier sniggering, this was my favourite part of the spa, really, really lovely.
I spent a luxurious two and a bit hours there, then doused myself in mozzie repellent ready for the ride home, no doubt defeating the theaputic effect of the waters I'd just bathed in. This time, as I was going the other way, I stuck to the road and felt like a right rebel because I was riding with no lights, no helmet, no bell and could hop onto the pavement whenever I liked. Just like everyone else was doing (sorry mum, but it was fun!).
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