An entry in the TFS Travel Journal
Enjoyed breakfast in the stunning dining room; it is enormous and the equal of some of the palaces/castles we’ve seen thus far, with beautiful painted ceilings of angels with garlands of flowers surrounding them.
Set off for Lake Maggiore, this time taking the East Lake Drive to Como. Far less traffic, but still the most ridiculous winding narrow road! Finally reached the autostrada, cruising through the plains of Piemonte at 140km and then got on the wrong one, eventually finding our way to Stresa on the tip of the lake, which is lovely, but from this viewpoint looked just like Lake Como, but with different peaks lining its shores.
Arrived in time for lunch this time, and bought tickets for a semi-private boat trip to Isola Pescatore and Isola Bella, 2 of the 3 Borremeo islands lying just off the lakeshore from Stresa. Went first to Pescatore and lunched at Verbano, where we ran into Bob, Kevin, Renee and Bob’s mother! Sat at a picturesque spot on the end of the island, with an expansive view of the lake and the grand palace on Isola Bella.
The food was ok, with the vegetable soup being the big winner, along with the toasted almonds on the salmon trout almondine. (the fish was not bad, but the almonds were great!) We chatted briefly with the couple dining next to us, who were from NYC, (she does short-term fixed income for Dreyfuss, he’s a muni investment banker) while waiting the usual 30 minutes for the check.
We then wandered the entire 1/2 mile long island while enjoying a noce and crema gelato. Zipped over to Isola Bella and toured the wonderful 16th century palace and gardens, which was built as a wedding gift! Quite impressive, especially the mosaic floors and all the marble throughout, and especially the hall of tapestries: a very long, very high room with large, beautifully detailed tapestries lining one long wall. The gardens were very nice, especially the ornate 4-story high wall of sculptures. We particularly enjoyed how fragrant it still was even at this late date, and the fact that beautiful white peacocks roamed the gardens along with us.
Returned to Stresa, with its lakeshore drive of grand hotels, and walked around the city, again running into the NY couple, who shared some recommendations and told a fun story about searching for and finding the Italian villa that his artist grandfather who was also an opera singer had lived in 60 years ago with his 18 great danes. Then it was back on the road for an uneventful ride back to Como where we hit their rush-hour traffic jam, briefly went the wrong way due to their sporadic, teasing signage, and finally got on the scenic but treacherous road home. Relaxed in the room, with an enjoyable digestif to accompany the daily emailing.