Today we are visiting Sirmione, a few minutes from our hotel, at the tip of a narrow peninsula on Lake Garda. The village is known for its Roman ruins and Spa waters. Maria Callas the opera singer, resided here with her wealthy husband, the Veronese businessman, Giovanni Batista Meneghini. They lived in a beautiful villa from 1952 until 1958, until Callas fell in love with Aristotle Onassis and left her husband for the multi millionaire shipping magnate.

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We park just before the entrance and walk across the bridge into the tiny village. The streets are narrow and cobbled and we board the little train up to the summit to take in the stunning views of Lake Garda. Sirmione is also famous for the Mille Miglia (thousand miles translated) motor race which was started in 1927 by two young counts, Francesco Mazotti and Aymo Maggi and took place from 1927 to 1957. The race continues today, but is limited to 400 vintage cars, produced no later than 1957.

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Today we are meeting up with Doug and pals who are touring in a 1936 MGTC car that once belonged to Betty Haig, (part of the Haig whiskey family) one of the first female rally drivers, who took part in the Alpine Rally Race in 1949. Doug is recreating the rally route and we will join him on several stages. We meet them in the square at Sirmione on a very hot day.

We stop and have lunch at one of the cafes and choose pasta vongole, one of Ed’s favourite Italian dishes (see recipe). We sit for several hours, enjoying the food and drink and discussing the next few days, where we will follow La Route des Alpes.

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RECIPE FOR PASTA VONGOLE

Use about 10 clams per person, this recipe is for two

20 clams in their shells, cleaned

2 tbs olive oil

I small onion chopped finely

I garlic clove chopped finely

2 ripe Italian plum tomatoes, with skin removed, chopped (you can use any sweet ripe tomatoes)

2 tbs dry white wine

Small chilli chopped finely

Salt and pepper

Spaghetti (about 260gm)

2 tbs chopped flat leaf parsley

This dish takes minutes to make, so have everything ready before you start!

Put the spaghetti on to cook in a large pan of boiling salted water (usually about 10 minutes for al dente). Heat the oil in a pan, add the onion, garlic and chilli and cook until the onion is soft (a few minutes if the onion is fine enough). Add the tomatoes and wine, season with salt and pepper and cook for another minute. Then add the clams and put a lid over the pan. Cook for 3 or 4 minutes until all the clams have opened, throwing away any that remain closed.

Drain the spaghetti and toss it in a little olive oil. Transfer to warm pasta bowls, spoon the clam mixture over the spaghetti and sprinkle with the chopped parsley.

Eat this dish with a very cold white wine such as Lugana (where the grapes are grown on the southern shores of Lake Garda) or Chiaretto – a Rosé variety of the famous Italian Bardalino wine. Bardelino Classico red wine is produced in the province of Verona to the east of Lake Garda.

Buon apetito

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