Daniel Craig, he who dared to be the first blonde Bond (but wasn't beautiful Roger Moore blondish?), has had the great good taste to go to Lake Garda, at least in his latest movie, A Quantum of Solace (good title, guys).I've been a Bond movie fan since I was a little squirt in Italy, and perhaps due to early imprinting, Sean Connery continues to be my favorite. Part of the varied and near-universal appeal of this film series, besides the gorgeous men and women and special effects, has been the location footage. Remember the over-the-top Venice scenes in Casino Royale?
Anyhoo. This time they go to the northern and north-western sides of the lake, with some of the most spectacular scenery in the world interspersed with lovely little villages and blessed with a golden climate, made possible (despite the fact that the Garda is an alpine lake and cold as hell)(but the most beautiful blue in the world) by the protection of the mountains to the North. This West Coast of the lake is known as the Riviera dei Limoni because of the lemons that flourish there, whereas the opposite coast is known as the Riviera degli Ulivi due to its abundant olive groves (when I lived in the Veneto, I would cook with olive oil from the area). Some of the towns we should be seeing in the movie are Tremosine (in the photo), Tignale, Gargnano, Limone and Riva.
Lake Garda has long been one of my favorite places in the world, as I said early on in this blog. I have always preferred it to the upstart Lake Como (which is now viewable on Google View). I wish I was there right now instead. I must be unusually stupid to be sitting here at a computer in Massachusetts instead of being lakeside, eating some coregone while sipping Lugana di Sirmione. Unusually stupid even for a vegetable. Pshaw!
