the lemon scented town

Wearing: The Laden Showroom X Even Vintage Off Shoulder Romantic Top | vintage skirt | Bared Shoes Toucan black lace up sandals | Andrea Moore Cruise sunniesOur original plan for Italy was to hit up the Almafi Coast and Cinque Terre and whilst we manage to lock in one of the last Airbnbs at the latter, we couldn't find a single place to stay on the Almafi. The entire area seemed to be completely booked out far far in advance - and I can see why, the place is stunning, honeymoon worthy and still top of my travel wish list but for next time. So instead, after a little map staring and travel blog reading, we decided to visit Lake Garda instead. Somewhere we always knew about, but didn't really consider all that much because it was not really along our route. However, I'm so glad we came. After travelling the up the Adriatic Coast, then heading inland for Ljubljana, it was great to be so close to so much water again.When they say 'Lake' when referring to Garda, don't be fooled. Lake Garda is absolutely massive and at some points along the water, you can't even see the other side, leaving you the perfect opportunity to daydream and pretend you're by the ocean. There are many many towns around the lake with the main ones being Garda (town) where we stayed, Malcesine on the north east, Sirmione a peninsula down south, Riva Del Garda up north and Limone which is on the northern west side of the lake. Travelling between towns can take up to two hours on the bus from north to south so with only a handful of days in the area, we had to get a little picky.One of my favourite towns in Lake Garda was Limone sul Garda (or just call it Limone). The place is really popular for its lemon growing history and as a result, the town is still completely covered with lemons. Every single street number is painted onto a lemon clay plaque, the souvenir shops are overflowing with lemon scented things and the street tree of choice is of course, the lemon tree. Yellow painted buildings? You got it! It's a quirky little place here bordered by the rocky mountains and if you don't miss three ferries in a row like us, you can even team your day trip to Limone up with a stopover at Riva. Our plan originally but of course things don't always go to plan.PS. This off the shoulder top - it's been a suitcase favourite all holidays! It's almost sold out so there's more of my favourite off the shoulder styles below :-)Photography: Thomas Debono & Connie Cao