The view from our hotel room is lovely and breakfast couldn’t have been nicer. The only down side is that Dan’s cough that began in Florence is getting worse. The hotel will be sending in a doctor to take a look at him at about 3:30 PM when we return from today’s excursions.
A short walk along the promenade along the lake and we reach our boat for the day. We immediately head toward Isola Bella a privately owned island with its exquisite Villa Borromeo. Count Vitaliano Borromeo started construction of his baroque palace and gardens in 1632. Today the Borromeo family lives in Milan, but spends several weeks on Isola Bella each summer. Their blue and red flag was flying, so we believe they were in residence during our visit.
The Villa couldn’t be more baroque or more opulent with each room more elaborate than the next. Highlights of our guided tour included a bedroom where special guests would stay including Napoleon in 1797. The Music Room with its fantastical harpishord was used to host the 1935 Stresa Conference where Mussolini, French Minister Laval, and British Prime Minister Ramsey MacDonald met to discuss the violations of the Versailles treaty by Germany. It resulted in a condemnation of Germany. Unfortunately it amounted to nothing since Mussolini later attacked Ethiopia and joined forces with Hitler.
Other points of interest in the Villa included a small table that was decorated with mini mosaic tiles. It supposedly took 19 years to make and was a gift given by Pope Leo XII. There was also a large room filled with 16th century Flemish tapestries. Downstairs was an amazing collection of marionettes and unique cave like grotto rooms. The 18th century rooms are decorated floor to ceiling with black and white stones with a shell motif. There are no windows and the rooms provided the family with a cool refuge from the summer heat and housed some of their artwork. This includes the marble statue of the Sleeping Nymph by Antonio Canova. There is also a unique cantilevered stairway from the 17th century fortress that predated the building of the Villa.
Now it was time to explore the vast garden with its wandering white peacocks. We enjoyed walking about the terraced gardens, which even included an aviary filled with love birds. It was a little bit of paradise.
Our tour director keeps us busy, so before we knew it we were back on the boat headed on to our next activity, lunch on Isola Pescatori. There really wasn’t much on the small island except restaurants and scenic views. Lunch was not very good. The lake white fish was terribly salty and the dessert was tasteless. The location, however, was lovely.
After lunch we headed back to Stresa. Nothing was planned for the rest of the day. We returned with time to spare before Dan’s 3:30 doctor’s appointment. In the meantime we contacted Dan’s doctor’s office back home in order to see if it would be ok for him to take the antibiotics I brought from home. They basically gave the ok for us to do so. When the local doctor arrived he came with a young man from the hotel to act as a translator. The doctor spoke no English and the young man didn’t know medical terms, so the whole thing was a bit awkward. The doctor checked Dan over and prescribed the same antibiotic I had brought from home plus some cough medicine.
After such a busy day, and large lunch, we really weren’t in the mood for dinner. During our search for a drug store — which was easy to find because they are marked with large big green crosses — we went to a grocery store. We bought some small bottles of Aperol spritz, crackers, cheese, and bananas. I had asked for a regional cheese at the deli counter and was given some Toma del Mottarone. It turned out to be quite flavorful, but also quite stinky.
I was also on the hunt for the famous Margharitine di Stresa cookie. It is basically a shortbread cookie sprinkled with powdered sugar and either shaped round or like a daisy. It was developed in 1857 on the occasion of Princess Margherita’s first communion. In a small bakery located on a side street I spotted a tray of them. I bought a few for our dessert and some to share.
It was a nice change having a relaxing evening in our room and enjoying our cheese and crackers on our balcony. Eileen and Jim stopped by and tried some of our tasty, but stinky cheese and cookies. It wasn’t such a bad idea to have some down time given Dan’s cough. Hopefully he will sleep tonight.
CORRECTION; Florence was always at war with its neighbors especially Siena and Pisa. It was brought to my attention that my Day 9 blog incorrectly stated that Florence had tasteless bread because it didn’t want to buy salt from Siena. It was Pisa that controlled the salt trade, not Siena. There is a quote that came up more than once during our trip that makes it clear there is still disharmony between Tuscans. “Meglio un morto in casa che un pisano all’uscio.” “Better to have a death in the family than a Pisan at your door.” Message here is don’t bring a boy or girl from Pisa home to meet your parents if you live in Florence.
BY THE WAY WITH WENDY & DAN 