Blogs from Stresa, Piedmont, Italy, Europe

Well, we woke up to a beautiful morning here in Chamonix. Our plans this morning were to have breakfast, check in with the para gliding school, and for Sandy to do laundry. So, after a wonderful breakfast, we took off to find the laundromat. The first one we found only allowed you to drop off your clothes and come back later in the day, as they would do the laundry. Took off from there, and finally found another one. Although most of the machines were broken, Sandy managed to find one that worked and got started while I took off to call the school.. Hooray, they advised that the flight was on,and I left for the gondola to meet my pilot. The lines to get on the gondola were incredibly long, but we managed to sneak ... read more

Our last full day in Stresa. After breakfast, we headed out to walk to Belgirate, along the coast. The journey started off brilliantly striding out along the paths past a mini-golf site and a park with animals - however at this point the path stopped in the car park near the park and the gap along side the road did not appear to be that safe with the number of cars heading our way. So undeterred we turned around and walked back the way we had come and kept walking along the coast, passing the cable car of yesterday’s visit and carrying on to Baveno, which was less in the middle of the road - although only slightly and hoping no coach would shoot past. Baveno is a very picturesque town on the side of the ... read more

As the title of this blog indicates there were a few challenges to our travel but more to come on that. The morning, after enjoying breakfast in the hotel’s panoramic breakfast room overlooking the lake and the Alps, started with another walk by the lake to keep the legs stretched out before our 2 hour trip from Lausanne to Stresa. The views across to Evian and Thonon ( both places we have enjoyed) was stunning with the sun glinting off the water. Very relaxing. Later we headed up the steep hills to reach the old town with its impressive gothic cathedral, which is amazing inside with an impressive organ and console - it would be good to try that out! The building was so peaceful and the colours of the stained glass windows created amazing colours ... read more

Om 8.30 gaat de wekker en worden we uitgerust wakker na de lange reisdag van gisteren. Aangezien we in het donker aan zijn gekomen maken we vol verwachting de luiken van de kamer open en worden verrast met een prachtig uitzicht over het Lago Maggiore. Zo'n uitzicht zouden we elke dag wel willen, zonnetje erbij en het humeur is weer opperbest. Een half uurtje later zijn we klaar voor het ontbijt en het verbaast ons hoeveel mensen er toch nog in het hotel verblijven. Het is namelijk erg stil en rustig geweest, maar de leeftijd van de meeste gasten is dan ook de 60 wel gepasseerd, dus daar zal het ook wel mee te maken hebben. Muesli, yoghurt, broodjes, croissantjes en genoeg soorten beleg evenals koud en warm drinken. Rond 9.45 hebben we weer genoeg brandstof ... read more

Geo: 45.8846, 8.53298Mom nature is back to her cooperative self. We again had a beautiful day. High about seventy or so with a few scattered clouds. Thanks Mom.We were able to visit the sort of sights today that were not possible on Lake Como. There are at least three small islands in Lake Maggiore. We visited two by ferry says Bird (HP thinks otherwise you would assume we swam). We do not know if the Romans used the islands, but one would doubt it as they did not need a defensive position. We do know they were in use at least by the ninth century.On the islands we see the typical small passage ways. These 4-5 acre islands have 50-60 permanent residents on each. The support is only tourism. All businesses are either luxury hotels, restaurants ... read more