From Wine to Water

---

Geo: 45.9215, 8.55156

Having spent a couple of days immersed in the vineyards around Barolo we headed north to Torino this morning. This was a pleasant drive on another cool but sunny day. We drove into Torino about 11-30 but did not have a detailed map. Made a wrong turn and then roadworks made the correction time very slow. Eventually, Marg found the city map and we headed back into the centre. Stopped though at the river where there was a fabulously ornate fountain with statues representing the various months of the year. nearby was the Borga Medioeval, a reproduction Medieval village and castle constructed in 1884. We had a wander around there admiring the detail that had been put into this. There were several brides also there posing for pictures in this attractive setting. Drove into the centre of the city where we dropped Brent and Marg. They were meeting a friend of a friend there so planned to stay the night.
Fletcher and I then drove on. It took us half an hour just to get out of the city environs and then we headed north. Our plan was to try and make Locarno this evening. However, we had a very poor map and though we reached Biella without too much trouble could not find the direct route through to Verbania that we wanted. Drove up into the Alps and eventually stoped in Trevino at a newsagents and were able to buy a better map of the area. Armed with this we found that we were heading in more or less the right direction and continued. We did have to stop in Varallo though at the tourist info office for further clarification but eventually found the right road.
Although all of this might sound frustrating, (and there were the occasional expressions of disgust) however, the drive was very scenic and coming over the mountains and down towards Lake D'Orta was stunning.
After looking in vain for accomodation at Omegna we went on to Verbania. Here, as we came into the town, we saw this hotel, 3 Ponti and they had a great room. We are on the 4th floor looking out over Lake Maggiore and it is an apartment with cooking facilities etc,(not that we will use them,) but would be a great headquarters for exploring this beautiful area of Italy. We have had a great meal in the town and just watched a fireworks display in the town of Stresa, exactly on the opposite side of the lake from us.
Tomorrow we are heading for Innsbruck and will meet up with Brent and Marg again as they are coming up on the train.

---