Highlights of the Italian Lakes - June 7 - 15, 2019

June 7- 8, 2019

Overnight flight on Lufthansa out of Newark with a stop in Frankfurt, Germany before our final destination.....Milan, Italy.  This trip was a Trafalgar Costsaver and our guide, Heidi,  met us at the airport for our shuttle to the hotel in Saronno.  Well known for its almond or apricot biscuits, the sweet, almond-flavored Italian liquor called Amaretto is also produced in this town.  Hotel Capolago Varese was a lovely hotel with 78 rooms located a short distance from Malpensa Airport and the Swiss Border.  After a chance to unwind, we met Heidi and our fellow travelers for a briefing before having dinner together in the hotel.

 June 9, 2019 - Day 2 - Lake Como and Bellagio
After breakfast we enjoyed a beautiful ride to Lake Como along some very narrow roads (our driver, Mirko, was amazing).  We then boarded a tour boat for our cruise around Lake Como before going to Bellagio, the pearl of the Lake.

Villa del Balbianello

Built at the end of the 18th century on the remains of an old Franciscan church, the villa was owned by Guido Monzino, explorer and mountaineer.  When he died in 1988, he left the villa and everything in it to the state.  Monzino led the first Italian expedition to climb Mount Everest in 1973.  This villa is often used in movies......James Bond in Casino Royale and also Star Wars:Episode II - Attack of the Clones.  The gardens are amazing and we were able to take the tour when we stayed in Varenna a few years ago.

To board this private tour boat, you had to walk across the bow.

We had visited Bellagio a few years ago while staying in Varenna, across the lake but it was great to go back and get a more in-depth look around.  Heavy curtains between the harbor front arcades create welcome shade and keeps visitors comfortable.  Bellagio is much more touristy than Varenna, but it's still fun to stroll along the narrow lanes and check out the tourist shops. We took the steep staircase to the upper part of the town and wandered to the area where the two legs of the lake split off to the south.  Low and behold, we found a beautiful lakefront restaurant that was serving lunch.......so in we went.

OMG - are we there yet!

Let the pasta eating begin!

The little village across Lake Como is Varenna, which was my inspiration to return to the area of Italy.

Certainly not  handicapped accessible. 

Our find for lunch.  Wonderful! LaPunta

After some time here in Bellagio, we hopped back on the boat to go back to Como where we would have a traditional Italian dinner with our group in a restaurant on the lake.  This was an optional experience and although it was good, we prefer the little family owned trattoria's with more personalized service.

Afternoon snack

No public toilets, so if you need to use one, you sit and order something to drink and stay a while. Not a problem for us.   La Dolce Vita 

This is a sand sculpture.  Amazing talent.

Como town

Piazza Duomo, Como Lombardy

Parking barriers which can be lowered to enable parking for owners.  We so could have used these in South Beach!

Our little tour boat on Lake Como

June 10, 2019 - Day 3
After breakfast at the hotel, we made our way to the Swiss city of Lugano, which is also known as the "Monte Carlo of Switzerland".    Lake Lugano is a glacial lake which is situated on the border between southern Switzerland and Northern Italy.  The lake, named after the city of Lugano, is situated between Lake Como and Lake Maggiore.

 Lago Lugano is beautiful with fiord like mountains coming straight up out of the lake.

Swiss/Italian border

After a little time to explore the city, we enjoyed a scenic lake cruise around Lake Lugano.  Weather was not the best, but we did have breaks of sun during the day.  After the cruise we made our way to the Monte San Salvatore Funicolare to take the 10 minute ride to the top of the mountain.  Mount San Salvatore towers majestically over Lugano, offering a unique perspective of Lake Ceresio, the Lombard plain and of the magnificent mountain ranges of the Swiss and Savoy Alps.  The church roof and the Capodoro Terrace lookout points offer stunning 360 degree views.

Heidi - our fabulous guide

When we got off the funicular, we had a steep hike to the top of the mountain and many of our travel companions chose not to go to the top.   Not wanting to miss a thing, we continued to hike to the top and it was worth every minute.

View from the top.

Later, we arrived at our next hotel,  Villa Carlotta, situated right on Lake Maggiore.  The location is perfect, however the hotel was older and nothing fancy.  Clean, plain, white room with beds that seem a bit smaller than some of the other hotels.  Not comfy.  Dinner included tonight in the hotel was tortellini, veal, tiramisu.    Raining cats and dogs with thunder and lightning during the night. Travel is always an adventure!

Beds hard like rocks.   Pillows too.   Glad I had my little travel pillow.

Check out the beds......they appeared to toddler size. :) LOL.  Somebody's feet were hanging off. LOL

View of Lake Maggiore from our room at Villa Carlotta

June 11, 2019
Day 3

Today we boarded our coach and traveled to Stresa where we met our  tour boat on Lake Maggiore to visit Isola Bella, one of the Borromean Islands. This was an optional tour. This amazing estate is privately owned by the Borromean family who still visit the estate often.  The family took ownership of the land in the 16th and 17th centuries.   Only the best architects and gardeners were called on to breathe life into their ambitious projects.  Isola Bella was transformed into a grand, luxurious residence.   After a guided tour of the palace, we walked through the beautiful gardens and enjoyed the white peacocks...who were delighted to put on a show for us.  Weather has been cloudy with some sun popping through, but thankfully the rain has held off.  Back in Stresa, we did some shopping and enjoyed lunch in a traditional Italian trattoria.  Afterwards, our coach brought us back to the hotel for a short rest before our next optional excursion...Lake Orta and San Giulio Island.  I mention "optional" because not all tours are included in the package price.  If you choose not to take the optional tours, you will have some free time.    We, on the other hand, don't want to miss a thing, so we took every optional tour that was offered, making for some very busy days!  Today was actually a free day if you didn't care to take the optional tours.   After about a 45 minute ride on the coach, we arrived Lake Orta and boarded another boat to San Giulio.  Since this tour is called Highlights of the Italian Lakes, we've been spending much of our time on boats.  This beautiful picturesque town was home to the Basilica di San Giulio which we toured with a local guide.We walked around the  island and then  hopped back on the boat to the village of Orta where we had some free time to enjoy a gelato before our next boat ride back to the hotel.  Tonight we found a little waterfront Bistro for dinner.  A beautiful experience.

Famous white peacocks

Just Kos walking his peacock

Isola Bella

Beautiful shell covered grottoes.

This was a unisex bathroom!  Yikes.

Belgirate

Take a close look - Pasta KamaSutra

Dinner!

June 12, 2019
Day 4
Today we left our hotel on Lake Maggiore early to head to our next lake....Lago Garda....the largest of the Italian Lakes.  But first.....we had a stop in Verona, famous for Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet balcony----which was fake, but the tourists love it.  Heidi, our fabulous guide, told us that Shakespeare never actually stepped foot in Italy!  After checking out the Arena (similar to the Colosseum), we enjoyed lunch in the square before hopping back on the coach to head to Lago Garda.

Kos and Juliet......boys will be boys! :)  PS - there was a huge line of men waiting to take this picture. 

Juliet's balcony

Kos professing his love!

The Arena

The Verona Arena is a Roman amphitheater in Piazza Bra in Verona, Italy built in the first century.  It is still in use today and is internationally famous for the large-scale opera performances given there.  It is one of the best preserved ancient structures of its kind.



Garda is breathtaking.  We boarded a boat (again) to continue our tour of the lake to Limone (think lemons), a quaint little village that I wished we had more time in.  

Sailing along the lake.

Citrus farming structures along the lake

The yellow boat pictured was our tour boat.

This little guy was looking for a handout!  

Enjoying the view

After spending some time here in Limone (not enough), we once again boarded our tour boat and traveled across the lake to Malcesine - another quaint village on the lake.  The boat docked at the bottom of the hill and we walked up into town.  We noticed a gentleman walking by wearing lederhosen which was our first clue that there must be a German restaurant in the village.  Sure enough, we found "Alpine".  Yes!  What we found that was interesting was that there were only Italian restaurants in most of the Italian cities that we visited.  So to find a German restaurant was unusual (Except in Bozano......more about that tomorrow).  Some of the Asian travelers asked where they could find traditional Asian food.......nope - not happening.   

One of the many castles along Lago Garda.

Dinner at Alpine ...mixed grill (the first meal with no pasta)

This evening we checked into the Mercure Hotel in Rovereto for 2 nights....beautiful first class hotel.  The best so far.   Breakfasts have been typical Italian......salami, cheese, pastries, ricotta, espresso, fruit and eggs of some sort.

June 13, 2019

Day 5

Free Day - or - optional tour to the Dolomite Mountains.  Of course we opted for the tour.
We now leave the lakes district behind and head for the mountains....The Dolomites.  The site of the Dolomites comprises a mountain range in the northern Italian Alps, numbering 18 peaks which rise to  almost 11,000  feet.  It features some of the most beautiful mountain landscapes anywhere, with vertical walls, sheer cliffs and a high density of narrow, deep and long valleys.

Our first stop.....Bolzano.  Bolzano is a city in the South Tyrol province of north Italy, set in a valley amid hilly vineyards.  It's the gateway to the Dolomites mountain range in the Italian Alps.  Bolzano (Bozen) formerly was a part of Austria who lost the war to the Italians during WWI.  So Bolzano became a province of Italy.  However, it still has an Austrian flair.  The architecture is clearly German/Austrian.  As we arrived, our local guide brought us to a cable car for a ride up to one of the mountain peaks.  The cable car takes 12 minutes for the gondolas to move up the mountain to where we then hopped on a train which brought us to another quaint village.  OMG - breathtaking.

Lunch in Bolzano - wursts and wine

Bolzano/Bozen

Cable car

views from the cable car - vineyards

Ahh. Cable car ascending to top of the mountain.  Quite a few of our fellow travelers were not at all happy about this!  The views were amazing.  

You can  see the Austrian/German influence in the homes.

Dolomites in the background.

Narrow gauge train takes us even higher up the mountain to Klobenstein

Our guide called these "earth pyramids" although they sure looked like hoodoo's to us!

Dolomites in the background 

Heidi, our guide, surprised us to a visit to a beautiful farmhouse for strudel and wine!  Now she's outdone herself!  We truly felt like we were in Austria instead of Italy.  We had beautiful weather today - cool at the top of the mountains and warm in the valley of Bolzano.  You can see the snow on top of the mountains.  Back at the hotel, another surprise.....happy hour.  It was nice to have a chance to mingle with our fellow travelers.

Our tour group with Heidi F. Trafalgar, an amazing tour director (pictured front with teal blouse).  Speaks 5 languages, very detailed oriented with a great sense of humor.

Restaurant in the farm house

Enjoying wine and strudel 

Quaint little church on the farmhouse property

We were even treated to some local entertainment!

The local Italian cocktail - Classic Aperol Spritz - Ingredients - Aperol, Prosecco, Club Soda, slice of fresh orange.     We couldn't spend a week in this area without having one.

June 14, 2019
Day 6
This is our last full day in Italy.  We left our hotel early enroute to Milan with a stop in Bergamo, where we once again boarded yet another funicular to the upper town.  Wonderful narrow lanes, shops and cafe's, especially pastry shops.

This trip is not for those who are afraid of heights!  

Italians take their dogs everywhere.  Check out my view while sitting at a cafe in Bergamo. :)

Bergamo snack

Lunch stop in Bergamo

 After lunch and pastries, we boarded our coach again for Milan.  They say that for every church in Rome, there's a bank in Milan.  Rick Steves wrote that the Milanesi say that the Romans are lazy.  Government jobs in Rome come with short hours....made even shorter by multiple coffee breaks, three hour lunches, chats with colleagues, and phone calls to friends and relatives.  Romans dismiss the Milanesi as uptight workaholics with nothing else to live for, but they do admit that job opportunities are better and based on merit.  And the Milanesi concede the Romans have a gift for enjoying life. When we arrived, a local guide brought us on a walking tour of the city.  First stop - LaScala Opera House, the most famous opera house in the world.  Our group actually had a ballet lesson, which was hilarious.

The men tried hard, but graceful.......they are not!

The ladies, on the other hand....nailed it!

After our lesson, we continued on our walking tour to The Duomo, the city's centerpiece and the third-largest church in Europe.  The church is huge....built to hold 40,000 worshippers.

Our guide gave us a beautiful and detailed tour of this magnificent structure.  Actually, some of the stained glass is original from 2000 years ago.  The cathedral was built not from ordinary stone, but from expensive marble, top to bottom.  Pink Candoglia marble was rafted in from a quarry about 60 miles away, across Lake Maggiore and down a canal to a port at the cathedral....a journey that took about a week.  Construction continued from 1386 to 1810, with final touches added as late as 1965.
The rest of our day we walked around the city and of course paid a visit to the Galleria, a breathtaking four story glass domed arcade, next to Piazza del Duomo.  This was the first building in town to have electric lighting, and has always been a popular meeting place.  Perfect spot for people watching.  We ended our day in Milan with a snack and glass of wine in one of the many cafe's.  Back at our hotel, we checked in just in time for our farewell dinner.  Tomorrow we fly home.  This was an amazing and exhausting week.

The Duomo

The Galleria

Glass ceiling in the Galeria

Lots of high end shopping in the Galleria

Day 7 - June 15, 2019

Our driver - Mirko!  Excellent

Heidi and Mirko - The dream team!

Shuttle to airport

Last night's hotel in Milan

The Swiss Alps taken from the plane

This flight home was challenging.  Newark Airport closed due to a plane that had a blowout on the runway.  Our United flight was diverted to Stewart Airforce Base in New York because we didn't have enough fuel to stay in a holding pattern.  We spent 2 1/2 hours on the ground fueling and  waiting for the OK to head to Newark.  Total 13 hours on the plane.   And then, for the first time in my travels, we had a very hard landing.  Plane bounced twice, swerved and finally regained control as we approached the gate.

Some final thoughts! -

We love the small villages as opposed to the bigger cities.

We've spent quite a lot of time in different parts of Italy and have come to the following conclusions.

1.   Time..... the Italians aren't interested in keeping schedules like the Swiss or Germans do.....but I love it.   It truly is La Dolce Vita!

2.   Italians are obsessed with food.  In Italy, the quality of the food is of utmost importance.   In the US, it's more about the quantity!

3.  Americans repress their emotions.  It's probably one of the only places in the world in which the people kill each other for driving too slow, or cutting you off.  The Italians cannot maintain any of their emotions inside.  If they feel something, everyone within hearing distance will know about it.  The dramatic use of hands while speaking is so fun to watch.  Most Americans speak quietly when in public.  In Italy, not so much.  You can easily hear a conversation in the restaurant next door.  Italians discuss politics openly (oftentimes shouting) and then they hug and kiss and go on with life.  Americans keep their political views to themselves and if they do discuss politics, they risk friends and/or family becoming angry.  But anger in Italy is expressed openly and then it's over.  Not so much here.

4.   In the US, we have a tendency to put career and finances first.  In Italy, family comes first.  Always.

5.  Recycling isn't optional in Italy.  It's mandatory and not at all a big deal.  In the US, there are places where recycling isn't even encouraged.  Thanks Italy for doing the right thing for the environment.

6.  Driving - Our coach driver was amazing and I never once felt anxious about his driving.  And honestly, in this part of Italy I didn't notice a lot of crazy drivers.  Rome and Florence is a different story.  I've seen cars parked on the sidewalk.  Not many rules of the road there.

7.  Wine - Wine is like water in Italy and enjoying it with meals is part of the culture.  The stigma about underage drinking doesn't really exist.  Children can have a sip of wine with meals and it's not a big deal.

8.  Meals are an experience to be enjoyed....not a race and dinner doesn't start till at least 7 and ends after 9.

9.  No big supermarkets, just local farm markets.  Italians enjoy going to the market and buying fresh items for that night's dinner.  No Costco's here!
.
To quote Heidi, our guide - "Heaven is a place where the police are British, the cooks are French, the lovers are Italian and it's all organized by the Swiss.  Hell is a place where the police are German, the cooks are British, the lovers are Swiss and it's all organized by.....yes, you guessed it...the Italians!!"

A sense of humor is mandatory!

Bring a backup electrical converter, just in case. (I learned this the hard way when our old standby converter burned out my hairdryer and began to spark!)

We love the guided tours.  Having a guide makes all the difference in the world when you have limited time.  This tour offered a nice amount of free time, however we chose to do all of the optional tours so it was a very busy week.

TD Bank Debit card works perfectly.  No extra fees at ATM's in Europe.

Wear support stockings for long flights and limit salt intake.

Arrivederci!