Lago Maggiore

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Lago Maggorie was as classy as we expected. Beautiful palaces and villas surrounding a deep blue lake surrounded by the alps and green hills. We stayed with Luisa and Eduardo in their house that they use as a bed and breakfast. It is a beautiful house with great views of the lake out of all of the windows and a second story deck that overlooks their extensive flower gardens. It was so nice to be in someone's home that they had put together themselves in such a beautiful style. The first day that we arrived they invited us to have dinner with them and their friend Sylvia who is a glass artist that travels all over the world to give workshops or display her art. They all spoke English very well and it was great to relax, eat delicious home-cooked food from the garden, and talk to people about life and politics and Italy and Africa. I freaked out after dinner when I fond out that Eduardo was a huge jazz fan and had an amazing collection of jazz on vinyl. He has met many of my heroes of jazz and was a good friend of Sue Mingus when he was living in New York. Of course due to it being 'the summer of reggae', when I asked about his jazz records after dinner, he put on some reggae and said we could get to jazz in a minute. Kristi and I sat on the porch watching the moon over the lake and with the music it was just like we were down in the caribbean. The even have palm trees that grow right above their porch. We had a great time taking Luisas advice and exploring the mountains and the towns on the lake. The plants are beautiful because although they get snow in the winters, the water from the lake keeps temperatures pretty mild. This is why they have beautiful flowers, pine forests, palm trees...we even went to an island that had bananna trees. Lago Maggiore is so natural and beautiful, yet traditional and classy italian. We are definately going back to see Luisa and Eduardo.

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Photos

B&B
This is Luisa and Eduardo's house that we stayed in above the lake

Figerola on the lake
Sunset, this was our view from the boat at dinner

Isola Bella
a small island on the lake

Us on Isola Madre
The town of Verbana is in the background

Isola Madre
We went to visit this island. It has beautiful gardens with crazy birds wandering all around. The mansion displays old marionet theaters that they used to use to entertain the children.

Cioppio
Kristi walking down the street in Cioppio, a small fishing village on Lago Maggiore