Return to Italy!! Stresa and the Borromese Islands

STRESA, ITALY – June 8, 2006 (rough notes only)

6AM train and a few well-timed connections brough me to Stresa, Italy, along the western banks of Lake Maggiore, this morning

This is such a meaningful bonus for me, I owe to Thomas – I had wanted to visit here last month when in Menaggio, but ran out of time before my train left for Paris. Being here today was something I really savored.

Lake Maggiore has a sprinkling of tiny walk- from-one- edge-to-the- other-in-15- minutes island which were once owned by the wealthy Borromeo family. Isola Bella, Superiore dei Pescatori, and Madre were transformed into beautiful island hideaways with palatial villas, elegant terraced gardens and magnificent views across the lake.

I popped from one island to the next, wandered through the villa and gardens of Isola Bella (named from the wife of Charles Borromeo, Isabella), which included a puppetry room and underground grotto (perfect for a retreat from the summer heat).
The terraced Baroque gardens, which give the island the look of a stepped pyramid from the water, are topped with a nautically themed wall and a rearing unicorn – the symbol of the Borromeo family. Peacock strutting in one of the gardens.

Met a cute couple of old ladies from England. “Dare I say, Have a good day.”
On the afternoon boat, a captain insisted I wear his cap as he snatched a photo of me

Sunbathed on the rocks of Isola Madre

~Melanie