Sirmione, occupying a narrow peninsula jutting into the southern end of Lake Garda, is probably the most popular of the lakeside towns, and it was certainly packed last week.

Mind you, this is the height of the summer holidays for most countries in mainland Europe, while most English and Welsh schoolchildren have yet to start their summer breaks.

From the castle we had good views of the town.

From the castle a fifteen-minute walk takes you to the tip of the peninsula and the ruins of a Roman villa. We failed to get there, but may visit another time.

Further along the lake is the town of Lazise (both Sirmione and Lazise can be reached by ferry from Desenzano). Visiting at the weekend, we expected to find the town busy, but I would describe it as bustling, rather than heaving.

We didn’t do much else other than stroll the pretty streets and walk along the promenade. We’ve learned that from here one can walk all the way to Garda in two hours, all along the side of the lake.

If it hadn’t been for wanting to get hold of a Lombardy card for entry into museums round here, we might not have visited Brescia. Walking from the train station we found the town dull, but the piazzas and streets did improve as we walked further towards the old part of the city.

The museum of Santa Giulia, the main museum in the region, awarded ‘outstanding’ by the Rough Guide, was empty apart from us and the abundant numbers of staff always present in the museums we have been to in Italy. (Not content with watching you from afar, they sometimes follow you from room to room, up and down stairs).

Some museums (particularly the ‘house museums) have been excellent, but often exhibits are displayed with either too little explanation, or a huge block of writing which means nothing (Italians call this ‘fried air’). Do the curators ever wonder why there aren’t more visitors?

A walk up to the Castle afterwards awarded good views of the city.

Brescia is the home of the Mille Miglia, the historic car race I wrote about from Bologna. We couldn’t be so close and not visit the museum, which is what we did yesterday.

The museum, in contrast to the city museum, was excellent and even I, who knows little about cars, and understands less, found it fascinating. There is a display of cars that have participated in the race and lots of interesting facts. Included in your ticket is a tablet on which you can find short videos about what you are seeing.

Unfortunately for my blog, photos were not allowed (I don’t know why as there is nothing to stop you taking pictures of the cars out on the roads).

Interesting fact no 1: During the Second World War, due to a shortage of petrol, distilled beetroot was added to petrol by unscrupulous suppliers. This led to the creation of petrol pumps with a glass ‘pipe’ so consumers could check on the purity of the fuel as they were filling up.

Interesting fact no 2: Stirling Moss holds the record for completing the Mille Miglia circuit in the fastest time (in 1955). He is the only winner of the Mille Miglia still alive.

As gripping as the museum was, I’m afraid I can’t recall any more, but I did achieve 5 out of 10 in the quiz at the end, which I was pretty pleased with.

Desenzano del Garda is the final stop on this leg of our tour of Italy as we return ‘home’ for five weeks in August. (By ‘home’ I mean the UK, as having sold our house in January, we have no home). Apart from, of course, seeing friends and family, I am looking forward to cooler temperatures, tea (over-priced here and very little selection) local walks (we’ve had wonderfully challenging walks, but have struggled to find any other kind) and hearing English around me. There is certainly a lot we will miss – the sunshine and blue skies, reasonably-priced meals out, cappuccino (much creamier than back home) gelato and being able to buy a glass of good wine for €4 (and you are always served what would be a ‘large’ glass back in the UK).

Our Airbnb accommodation is not a holiday apartment, but a home someone haas moved out of for a few weeks. With all the owner’s personal knick-knacks and treasured possessions around I feel as if we are trespassers, I think I prefer staying in less personal space. On the plus side, the owner was so horrified that we didn’t have a car, that she has given us the use of hers for our first two weeks, when she is away. This is a real bonus as we are more remote than we had realised – 45 minutes’ walk from the train station and Desenzano centre.

Desenzano is rightly proud of the part it has played in the history of aviation. Between 1913 and 1931 the Schneider trophy for seaplanes was contested around the world and won three times by Italy. The contest came to an end in 1931 following three consecutive wins by the British (in 1927, 1929 and 1931) as under the trophy rules the first country to win three times within five years would permanently win the trophy. (It is now on display in the Science Museum in London).

On the occasion of the last race, in 1931, the Italian entry had engine problems and failed to start, but later went on to set two new world records, in flights over Lake Garda. In April 1933 the aircraft flew at 424 mph, only to break it eighteen months later flying a speed of 440 mph. This remains the fastest speed ever attained by a piston-engined seaplane

I have the impression that this time was a bit of a heyday for Desenzano and have seen several houses built in Italian Liberty style.

If this isn’t of interest to you, then skip it. This is largely for me as I wanted to make a list of the walks we had done. First, a word about the walks in the Cinque Terre area in general.

First, they are tough. These are the grades used by the CAI (Club Alpino Italiano).

There are only a couple of walks in the area with the lowest rating (T) and one of them (Riomaggiore to Manarola) has been closed since 2012 due to a landslide. According to the Cinque Terre website, the path from Riomaggiore to Manarola, and the path from Manarola to Corniglia, are expected to re-open in April 2021. However, no work on the two paths has been carried out to date, and there is no sign of any work starting in the immediate future, but we will see.

Most of the walks we have done have been rated E. All these walks have uphill and downhill sections and are mostly along rocky paths with sections of steps, that have either been built or are created using the rocks that are naturally there (occasionally we have needed to use our hands to help scramble down as the steps can be huge).

The paths overlooking the coast often have narrow sections with steep drops on the seaward side.

Not all the paths are well-maintained. We have sometimes wished for a machete so we could cut our way through thick undergrowth.

That being said, we have loved all the walking here, and would happily repeat most of the trails we have taken.

Apologies for only providing approximate times – I wish now that I had made a note of how long each walk took. I have given no distances either. We didn’t find distances very helpful – one mile on the flat is not the same as one mile up or down a rocky path!

These are the walks we have done:

Walk 1: Biassa to Riomaggiore

We took a bus from La Spezia to Biassa, but then failed to find the trail to our next point, Telegrafo, so instead walked along the road up to Telegrafo.

From Telegrafo, the path meanders down between the cultivated terraces. When we did the walk in June, all the wild flowers were out and the sea views were spectacular.

We remember the walk taking about 3-4 hours including our stop in Telegrafo. We were definitely in Riomaggiore in time for a lovely lunch in a harbour-side restaurant.

Walk 2: Biassa to Manarola

The second time we started from Biassa we did find the trail to Telegrafo (537) however we nearly turned back several times as the undergrowth clearly hadn’t been cut back for several years. We decided that if we did this walk again, we would take the road to Telegrafo, as we did in our first walk.

From Telegrafo, we took our only T-rated path, the AV5T, to Monte Galera, then the 585 to the hamlet of Volastra. We found a bar/restaurant at Volastra, but the waitress didn’t seem overly impressed with our measly order of two bottles of water. (When we stopped here a second time on a different day, she was also very unfriendly). This is unusual and most people serving in restaurants and bars have been delightful.

From Volastra, there are a lot of steps down to Manarola. After a while you are presented with a choice of two paths, the Panoramic path, hugging the coast with wonderful views and steep drops to the sea, or a gentler slope which winds its way to the higher end of the village. We took the challenging Panoramic path which was great to do once, but we thought that if we did the walk again, we would take the gentler route.

This was a longer walk consisting of a good four hours of walking.

Walk 3: Campiglia to Portovenere

Campiglia is another little village a bus-ride from La Spezia. There is a lovely bar in Campiglia selling the usual drinks plus wonderful focaccia and the staff will make up panini to take away. From the outside seating area, there are splendid views across the bay.

The walk down to Portovenere was very enjoyable taking about two and a half hours, but very rocky and steep in places. We found a couple of spots we could rest en-route.

Walk 4: Biassa to Portovenere via Campiglia

The next time we walked to Portovenere, we decided to increase the challenge by starting in Biassa. This was not a good idea as the path was overgrown, in bad condition and had no view.

Walk 5: Lerici to Tellaro

This looked like an easy walk on the map, but halfway along the path had been blocked.

We could have either turned back at this point (we didn’t know what other hazards lay ahead) or go on. We went on and the rest of the path was OK, but not great. We decided we wouldn’t do the walk again.

To add insult to injury, when we reached the small resort of Tellaro, we had to hunt to find a gelateria, and when we did, the ice-cream was not up to the usual standard. Tip: if you see the locals eating pre-packaged big name ice-cream, the local gelateria should be avoided.

Walk 6: Manarola to Corniglia

We started this walk at 6pm on a hot summer’s evening which was definitely not a good move. We opted to take the less strenuous route up to Volastra, at the higher end of Manarola, but it still seemed steep, never-ending, and was exhausting. Looking back we should have turned back at Volastra and returned to Manarola the way we had come. I have discovered there are buses from Manarola to Volastra if you want to give yourself an easier time.

From Volastra, the path is fairly flat before descending to Corniglia. From the village of Corniglia there are 377 brick-built steps down to the station, but there is a little bus running the route if you prefer.

The walk took about two and a half hours not including stops.

Walk 7: Corniglia to Monterosso

This is the only section that we needed to buy the Cinque Terre trekking card for (€7.50 for one day) and is made up of two sections – Corniglia to Vernazza and Vernazza to Monterosso. The sections take about two hours each and involve a lot of uphill and downhill. We found the first section easier and better-maintained. These two walks were the busiest we have done in the Cinque Terre area by far, but were not so crowded they were off-putting. Everyone walking the routes seemed equal to the task and at no point were we walking at the back of a slow-moving queue.

Walk 8: Riomaggiore circular

Wanting one final, but not too demanding walk today, we walked on the SVA from Riomaggiore up to the Sanctuary of the Madonna di Montenero.

From the Sanctuary we came down a steeper, more direct route back to the village which was fine,

and what’s more there was a lovely cafe once we were most of the way down.

The walking time was about 1 and a half hours and we decided this was a walk we would repeat if we were coming back to the area.

Despite the heat, we were determined to walk the only two paths that are still open between the Cinque Terre villages, and so made an early start yesterday.

The settlement of Corniglia was our starting point, but choosing not to climb the 377 steps up from the train station, we instead took the little bus (included in our one-day Cinque Terre trekking card). A quick cup of coffee, and we were on the trail by 9.

The trail was well-maintained and the huge steps, commonplace on the higher paths, were absent. The views were superb.

After a sandwich and cold drink, we decided to continue along the path to Monterosso. We had thought we might leave it to a second day, but as the trail to Vernazza has been in such good condition, and not too strenuous, we thought we’d continue (no need to buy a Cinque Terre trekking card another day either).

Although the trail was supposed to be longer (taking two hours instead of the 1 and a half hours we’d just done) we’d been led to believe the path was more on the flat and, therefore, easier. Oh dear, don’t believe everything you read. There seemed considerably more up and down, and the path wasn’t in such great condition. Maybe it was just that it was hotter, and I wasn’t as fresh.

We’re following our exertions yesterday with a rest day, and earlier took a picnic to Campiglia, a small village near here. We first went to Campiglia after a night of heavy rain three weeks ago and had no view due to the low cloud.

An air-conditioned art gallery is very alluring in the afternoon heat and so it was that we made our way to CAMeC (Centro Arte Moderna e Contemporanea) yesterday.

The first of two artists with exhibitions was a Russian artist, Aidyn Zeinalov, whose ‘Siren of the Gulf’ we had already seen on the promenade.

The artist donated the bronze to La Spezia, where he has spent much of his time, last year.

Elsewhere in the town is Zeinalov’s bronze of Richard Wagner, who stayed in the town in the summer of 1853.

There were also two bronzes of Italian composers, Puccini, who was born in Lucca, a place one could visit from here, and Verdi, born halfway between here and Milan.

The second artist whose work we saw was an Italian sculptor and painter called Aldo Mondino (1938-2005).

Travels in North Africa and the Middle East inspired much of his work.

Longing for a sea breeze in the present heat, we took a boat ride yesterday on a hop on/off ferry from La Spezia along the Cinque Terre coast.

We first went past Portovenere, dubbed the ‘sixth terre’.

After Portovenere, we passed several tiny settlements, some of which can only be accessed by hundreds of steps from the nearest road. Many of the houses might only be used in summer, but imagine returning home after a supermarket shop!

After lunch, a walk round Monterosso and an ice-cream we were ready to get back on the boat. It was a good job we had decided not to stop at any places on the way back as instead of following the timetable, the boat proceeded straight to Portovenere without stopping once. We then all had to get off and wait for the next boat to La Spezia. No explanation.

However, a good day. We always enjoy a boat ride.

While two of the four coastal paths between the villages of the Cinque Terre are closed due to landslides (and one wonders if they will ever open again) it is still possible to walk between all the villages using higher marked paths (no need to buy a pass when walking them either). Having already visited Riomaggiore and Manarola (we are visiting them in order starting with the most easterly) we planned to walk the higher path from Manarola to Corniglia (pronounced Cornelia) yesterday evening in an attempt to avoid the worst of the day’s heat.

Corniglia is the oldest of the Cinque Terre villages and the only one not directly on the coast. Perched on its rocky promontory, it can be seen from all the other Terre.

We first had the steep climb out of Manarola, the most exhausting part of the walk, and although it was early evening, it was still very hot.

After about twenty-five minutes, when we were still only half-way up, a friendly descending American called out, ‘Nearly there!’ I soon realised this was a fib, and put it down to motivational banter.

Eventually, we did indeed reach the top of the slope where the small settlement of Volastra sits. After a cool drink, we continued for a distance along terraces of vines before descending to Corniglia.

From the village it was a mere 377 steps down to the station. Incidentally, there is also a shuttle bus, but wanting to complete the whole journey on foot, we didn’t take it. It was only while waiting for the train that the heat and exertions of the walk caught up with me. Still very hot, we are enjoying a ‘rest’ day today.

Across Italy, a supposed miracle that happened over 600 years ago is today celebrated by communities coming together to lay out carpets of flowers to their own designs.

In 1263 in Bolsena, in the region of Lazio, consecrated bread allegedly bled onto the cloth on which it was standing. This was seen as a miracle and confirmed the Roman Catholic belief that the bread and wine served during Mass become the body and blood of Christ (rather than representing the body and blood) at the moment of consecration. It was said that the miracle occurred in the hands of a priest who had doubts about this process (transubstantiation).

Today, the cloth with the spots of blood (which apparently show a similarity with the Renaissance image of Christ) is kept in Orvieto Cathedral, not far from Bolsena.

The village of Brugnato, a bus ride from La Spezia, and recognised as one of the most beautiful villages in Italy, takes part in this celebration and when we arrived mid-morning, design outlines were taking shape along the roads and alleyways.

By mid-afternoon most designs were far from completion, but sadly we had to leave to catch one of the infrequent buses home. This evening would really be the optimum time to be in Brugnato, when all the work is done and there is a procession in the village.

This is the progress made before we left.

Three of the best flower festivals in Italy are reportedly in Spello in Umbria, Noto in Sicily and Genzano in Lazio and would be worth checking out if you’re staying close by in May or June one year.

The Cinque Terre is very busy now, but we managed to get away from the crowds by walking round the backstreets in Manarola, the second village on our ‘Five Lands’ tour.