Postcards from the past: Brian McGilloway on his family holidays to Lake Garda

Writer, Brian McGilloway, reflects on how a journey to his beloved Lake Garda brought him a true sense of home

Brian and his daughter meeting the former owner of the crazy gold course

If nostalgia is homesickness for the past, it seems strange to think of this in the context of holidays. For homesickness, by its very nature relates to home, and holidays are an escape from that same place. But for me, the best holidays are those where you feel at home. Where you belong, not just in terms of surroundings but in the sense of the place, the people, the attitude. For me, Italy’s Garda region is just such a home from home.

Part of this is because when I was eight, my family took our first ever foreign trip: a coach journey through central Europe to northern Italy, ending up at the resort of Lido De Jesolo on the Venetian coast. I still wonder at the sanity of my parents attempting such a trip with young children — but we loved it. We found our own entertainment on the bus and saw a huge number of places and countries due to the number of rest stops. I still recall the night we arrived: July 11, 1982. I know this with such accuracy, as it was the night of the World Cup final. Our Italian coach driver watched the game on the small TV screen at the front of the coach while negotiating the curves of the Dolomites. We arrived at the resort just after the final whistle, with Italy having beaten West Germany 3-1. The streets filled with jubilation. In my memories, that holiday was marked by crazy golf, swimming, watermelon, beaches, laughter. I loved it and loved the sense of being somewhere new, but among family — a sense that I have ever since associated with Italy.