La Bella Vita Barge Cruise Photos

From: La Bella Vita Barge Cruise Review

Day 6: Mantua (Lakes)

Our next destination was the lakefront, where we'd seen excursion boats during the drive into Mantua.

As we approached the Lago di Mezzo on foot, we saw the newest Navi Andes boat, Andes 2000, arriving at the pier.

We boarded the boat and followed our local tour guide (shown here) to the top deck, where other tourists--mostly Italians, including school groups--soon joined us.

Our guide showed us a map of the lakes as they looked in Renaissance times, and an officer of Andes 2000 visited with us for a while.

Our voyage--which lasted about an hour--took us into the Lago Inferiore, where we enjoyed a view of the Palazzo Ducale and two boats of a rival excursion company.

A channel led to another lake, La Vallazza, which fed into the Mincio and Po rivers.

La Vallazza had the look of a nature preserve. The lake had water lilies, rushes, trees, and wildlife such as this heron.

When we returned to the Lago Inferiore, we passed a kayak race.

A while later, we were back at our own boat, La Bella Vita, where the dining-room table had been set for the Captain's Farewell Dinner.