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Published: March 12th 2007
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me with both islands
quite the german photographer I found for this one! Wknd #3:The Northern Italian Lakes. Lake Maggiore... "makes even your mind smile" I sat in the OR today, watching a craniotomy and removal of a GBM from the right parietal region, and I kept day-dreaming on how I would begin this blog. In truth, it was ineffably beautiful... but I'll try... I spent the morning in the OR and by 15:30 I was on the train to Laveno. This is the local train, btw, and packed as hell with annoying children, people with golden teeth, fanny packs, and krimped hair... just to name a few of the highlights I saw 😊. People LOVVVVE to unabashedly stare, too. It's AWEsome. Anyway, I arrived in Laveno and immediately boarded the ferry to Intra, where I was spending the night at a quaint little B&B I found. It was dusk and a light fog had settled over the lake. Although it was beautiful, it was impossible to appreciate the view i was to wake up to in the morning. (It was also impossible bc I was trying to ward off this sketch ball the whole ride... I had to fake-call dave! worked like a charm...!)
That night I went to a
ferry Laveno to Intra
see what I mean? It's tranquil and serene... but I see no Alps... no islands... I had **NO** idea for what I was in store! lounge on the lake for a late dinner where an 18 y.o (and that's being generous) served me dinner and drinks- 18! crazy. Anyway, after he and all his local buddies spent quite some time staring and whispering about me, he sauntered over and this was the conversation: him- "so, where are you from? me- "USA, philadelphia" him- "oh, well what are you doing here?" ... blah blah, so I told him I was working/studying at the institute of neurology. him- "oh... so you must be intelligent". me- "yep". he then walked away. ha. 😊 This place had TV screens where they were playing MTV-equivalent top 20 or something. I'll have you know that even the Italians like Beyonce! Apparently a DJ was coming to spin later, but after looking around and seeing 7:1 guy:girl ratio, I decided to head home and forego "shaking it" for one night.
As a side note, the guy at the front desk of my hotel told me that it was still "down season", so all of the villas, gardens, and castles were closed. I was pretty bummed, but optimistic that I could find my own good time... and I did! You
my first view
holy shit! 'nough said [:)] know how when you're traveling, especially to someplace where you plan to spend time outdoors, you wake up in the morning and just HOPE with every bit of your being for a sunny day? Well that's how I felt when I woke up that morning. I went to the window and expectantly thrust open the windows to find a bright, brilliant day awaiting me. omg... I almost forgot. Breakfast is included... so as I was sipping my caffe, an older man came down with his mentally challenged son. He was yelling in this sing-song voice, "CIAO, CIAO" as loud as he could. Well, he sees me and comes right over to my table, "CIAAAAAAAAAOOOOO"! I smiled and said "chiao" and apparently that was an invitation to sit at my table (all the while yelling, "ciaoooo" and "bella" at the top of his lungs!) I motioned to his dad? and said it was fine if they sat there... UNTIL... (drum roll, please), he tried to put milk in my caffe! That's where I draw the line! I covered my cup protectively and his father took him away.
Okay, so after a rauwdy (sp?) breakfast I set out to find the
Isola Pescatori
this is a pic I took from Isola Bella... bus stop where I could hitch a ride to the small ferry that would take me to some of the islands: Isola Pescatori and Isola Bella. This nice guy gave me directions, and after about 5 minutes of standing at the bus stop, he pulled up and said he was going that way if I wanted a ride. I probably shouldn't have, but I jumped in
encounter #2 with a local😊.
The start moving along a bit, the pictures will help me out here. I actually took an absurd ABSURD number of them because at every glance, things looked even more incredible. A crystal clear, cerulean blue lake littered with swans with a back drop in the far distance of both the swiss and italian Alps, and closer of the colorful towns on the lake front. First I went to Isola Pescatore, which is the big island. While I was taking pictures off the tip of the island, a waiter actually walked down onto the rocks and asked if I wanted a picture.
In his words, "It's beautiful, isn't it? It makes even your mind smile!" From Isola Pescatori, I took a five minute ferry ride to Isola Bella.
Isola Bella
a stroll by the lake while waiting for the funicular Although the large garden you see was closed, walking around the island was rejuvenating. While I was basking in the sun (and I was!), it occurred to me that I should ask one of the smaller boat captains what to do. Well one suggested to cross the lake and take the funicular (a glorified gondola) up the mountain for an amazing panoramic view. He actually offerred to take me over there for free.
Before I knew it I was having an argument with the funicular guy who said that, due to the wind, it was open to mountain bikers ONLY. I wasn't taking "no" for an answer, so he eventually gave in (oh, I can be persuasive... either that or a pain in the ass!) and let me on.
So, I rode half way up the mountain with about 10 italian mtn bikers/races. They were in their serious gear and thought it was just hilarious that I was in there with them. ha. Anyway, the damn thing stopped half way and, again, said that due to the wind, it wasn't even going all the way up! I was so disappointed... the trees obstructed most of the view. So, in
now it gets RIDICULOUS
both the Swiss and Italian Alps in this one! my broken italian, I was again suggesting they just let me go up... just this once. This time it was to no avail. I watched the mountain bikers go, knowing that I had a two hour, plus walk down to navigate and no hope of getting to the top.
Before I gave up, I approached these two women who serendipitously appeared on the road and asked them if there was a place around here where I could appreciate the view. They thought about it, then led me to their sweet AUDI, in which they drove me to a view. When I told her I was going to walk down because the funicular was out of commission, she *GASPED* and started exclaiming about how FAR it was and how it would take me forever. Instead, she asked me if I wanted to come with them... they were heading to the restaurant at the PEAK (ummmm, hell yeah!) to meet their husbands and have a caffe. I accepted and here starts my AUDI tour of Lake Maggiore!
Their husbands were AWESOME... so sweet and hilarious! One even nipple-tweaked the other one while we were on a kiddie train ride- SOOOO
BRRRRRR
it's COLD up here with that wind... funny. They also had their golden lab, Smokey. Basically, I was their Adopt-a-daughter for the day. They bought me cafe and lunch and then proceeded to take me to all the most gorgeous spots around the lake. First, we hiked from the restaurant about 15 minutes up to the top of Mt. Mottarone (1491m) for the ridiculous panoramic views you see. In the heart of winter, they ski there... and although the trails are "short and nothing special" according to them, the view is truly magnificent. From the top, we could see 5 different lakes at one time, and also a full view of both the Swiss and Italian Alps. Breath-taking.
They then took me
to another lake just west of Lake Maggiore called Lake Orta. They actually got married on the little island there 25 years ago. First we went up a small mountain to see the lake, and then we went to the historic downtown village to see the lake itself. To get down, we took this car/train for little kids
chairlift over Maggiore
take one second and just IMAGINE skiing here... whoah. and all got a huge kick out of it. By that time it was late, and we exchanged emails for pictures and they actually drove me all the way back to my hotel, hugging and kissing me goodbye. Their two sons are studying business in Hawaii (rough life!) and they said it was like an exchange for a day 😊
By 18:30 I had crossed the lake back to Laveno (no sketchy guy this time, but it was dark!) and was on my train to Lake Como, on cloud 9 over my incredible day at Maggiore!!!
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OMG
Meliss, what an amazing experience and your pictures are exquisite. Keep meeting people and getting free food! :)