Oh how I love doing this! Writing down my expectations before the trip and confronting them with reality once I’m on the trip or back at home. This time I decided to make it even more fun to everyone (I hope). There were 4 of us on our trip to Lago di Garda and around (like far away around, like 150km to the east and to the south). It took us 11,5h to get to our destination and you have to do something in the car, right? So I asked everyone to share their expectations on the way to Italy and their reality on our way back.
Our plan looked like that: staying close to Lago di Garda, a trip around the lake, daytrips to Verona, Brescia and to Museo Ferrari in Maranello. Unfortunately weather forecasts weren’t very optimistic and made us change our plans: instead of going to Brescia, we went to Venice.
3, 2, 1, let me start with myself:
Expectations:
I hope each and every town will be pretty and it will be our biggest problem – what to do, where to go, how to choose the right place.
Reality:
It was supposed to be beautiful and it was. I was surprised how many things you can do around Lago di Garda. You should probably spend 2 weeks there to do everything – windsurfing, kitesurfing, mountain biking, hiking, sightseeing…. But probably it’s impossible to do everything.. Each and every town was pretty even if it was so small that it wasn’t included in the guidebook, just like Peschiera del Garda.
Expectations:
I hope for a cloudless sky and beautiful views on the Alps – they should be really impressive from there. I hope than one town will be prettier than the other. We’ll drink lots of good coffee, eat many gelatos, tons of pizza and other good stuff.
Reality:
First of all, I was hoping for a good coffee and good food and it didn’t let me down! Italians know how to make pizza, pasta and great coffee and keep it affordable. Food was good everywhere, even in the touristic places. They know how to build churches too. We entered to some of them and they were really beautiful and impressive. And lake Garda is even more beautiful than I imagined.
Expectations:
I hope that Lago di Garda look exactly how I remember – very blue and with beautiful mountains around. And that Verona will be as pretty as I remember. I really hope that all descriptions in Ferrari Museum are written in more languages than just Italian and that there are more than 4 cars. 50 would be nice.
Reality:
I really enjoyed Ferrari Museum, but I was hoping for more cars. The museum itself wasn’t boring – there are themed rooms telling an interesting story. Verona was as pretty as I remembered and I enjoyed it a lot. It’s one of my favourite cities in the world. Lago di Garda was even prettier than I remembered and I’d love to go there again. I’m surprised that Italians have such draconian speed limits and very high fines.
Expectations:
I hope it will be sunny, views will be spectacular and water will be blue. I hope that you’re allowed to take photos in Ferrari Museum! Verona – I’m hoping for a nice weather, views and that the battery in our camera will die sooner than we’d like it to – because of the views. And please, no rain!
Reality:
It was sunny and beautiful and most places looked exactly how I imagined. And water had a beautiful color. Food – amazing. Cappuccino which tastes like coffee, not like water with milk and coffee flavour. Verona was surprisingly pretty! Ferrari Museum was cool, although I was expecting more cars. But I saw my beloved F40 so I can die now.
If you’re interested in more expectations and reality, check out Thailand and Vietnam.
