We All Go Cruising On Maggiore

Can anyone explain to me why a cuckoo needs to practise the only two notes in its repertoire at 5:22am?  Maybe it was trying to tell me it was going to be another very hazy morning?  Eating breakfast under Eileen’s awning just didn’t provide the same view on Saturday morning as we had enjoyed on the first day.  Ah well, time to go to another Italian lake and, hopefully, we’ll be able to see it clearly.  I might also check with the next campsite owner, if their cuckoos are early starters….

I picked and ate another twenty raspberries from the canes growing wild along the fence-line and then we packed everything away in Eileen.  Emilia daisy was losing her blooms and seemed a little sad, so we left her on a table in the campsite to enjoy the view after we left.  The road along the edge of Lago di Como was again very narrow and twisting and it passed through numerous small villages.  A lot of lycra-clad cyclists were out enjoying their Saturday morning ride and this added an extra level of anticipation at every bend in the road.

 

 

From Como we drove towards Varese and then along the edge of Lago di Varese up to Laveno Mombello.  The church bells were tolling midday when we pulled in to the ferry parking lines.  We could have driven down to the south end of Lago di Maggiore and then up the west side, but we fancied a cruise across the lake and this meant Eileen could come too.

 

 

When the ferry arrived, we drove forward following the cars, but a man in uniform stopped us and we weren’t quite sure what the problem was. Short panic!   It turned out we were too tall for that ferry, but the next one would take us.  So we backed in to line again and caught the 12:35pm ferry to Verbania.  The journey only took us about 15 minutes, but it was lovely being out on the water enjoying the views up and down Lago di Maggiore.

 

 

Camping Orchidea in Feriolo had spaces near the lake front, so we picked pitch 20B and Rodney set up camp, while I laid out lunch.  Then after one huge load of washing, we settled down outside in our chairs and listened to the waves lapping on the lake shores. A chappie from Stowbridge in England came over for a chat, he has the same campervan as us and was surprised to see another one.  There really is such a variety of campervans in Europe, they come in all shapes and sizes, some look so wide, or so long, or both; I don’t know how the bigger ones manage to get through smaller towns, or down some of the roads we have travelled.  We even saw one the other day that would suit Geoff Wilson, it was so high!  They have some fanciful names too: Autosleeper, Calypso, Sunseeker, Autoroller, Mein Hobby, Challenger, Apache, Suntraveller.  The most worrying name so far has been one at Mestre which was called a Weltbummler, no comment!!!

A storm with plenty of rain hit us around 5pm and everyone sat under their awnings or moved inside, but by the time we had finished dinner, the rain had stopped and the air had cleared a little.  This campsite is right next to the tiny village of Feriolo, so we shuffled along the promenade, checking out the numerous pizzerias and watched the sun set behind the hills.

 

 

We’re travelling with the A.C.S.I. book this year and we love it!!!  Everyone we chat to seems to be using it and we wish we’d bought one last year.  They have a website that lists and reports on thousands of campsites all across Europe and the book lists over a thousand sites that will give you huge discounts outside of peak season.  We’ve paid €16 per night, including electricity, at most sites, including the Feriolo one right on the banks of Lake Maggiore.  We first tried one further along the lake, but they were just stopping the discount and thus wanted €30 per night and it didn’t look as nice as this one.  We’ll be disappointed when we get to July and the discounts are no longer available, then again the book is so useful anyway, listing everything you need to know about each campsite, right down to things like how many dogs you can have, how close the bus stop is and whether the swimming pool has a waterslide……..

 

 

Not much happened on Sunday.  It was a hot sticky day, too hot to cycle anywhere in the middle of the day, so we flopped around and lay by the lake for a while.  At 4pm I fell asleep and Rodney cycled off on his own to Baveno.  But not finding much of interest there, and not having me there to slow him down, he continued on to Stresa.  On arriving back only an hour and a half later, he informed me that we would be catching a bus to Stresa on Monday and taking a boat trip out to the Isola Borromee.

Dinner was a slow affair that evening.  We promenaded, as one does, along the lakeside and ordered pastas at one of the restaurants in Feriolo.  The bread was slow to arrive, the pastas even slower and then we foolishly ordered desserts.  The desserts were good, but it meant another hour before we left the table!  The promenade back to Eileen was also slow, just to match the pace of the whole day

 

 

On Monday morning the 9:28am bus arrived at 9:28am (gosh) and it had curtains and comfy seats, brilliant!  It even arrived in Stresa in time for us to catch the 10am boat out to the Isola Madre.  We spent a wonderful two hours meandering through the beautiful English style botanic garden, full of rare and exotic plants, that covers the island.  For some relief from the heat we then wandered through the lovely 18^th C Borromeo villa.  It felt quite different being able to roam around all the rooms inside, which were full of old paintings, glassware and furniture, with absolutely no staff keeping an eye on you; in fact it felt very relaxed and wonderfully calm.  One room had some fabulous old marionettes and stage sets from the 18^th C; one of which represented Hell, which somehow seemed rather inappropriate in such a beautiful setting.

 

 

 

 

We boarded the next boat going to Isola Superiore (Isola dei Pescatori) and walked straight into the Trattoria Embarcadero on the quayside, to eat yet more pasta and bread with a jug of frizzante rose wine.  Il conto por favour?  We then wandered around the tiny island and I was hit by bird poo, I have nothing more to say about the matter and I really don’t believe it is good luck!

 

 

 

The next boat took us across to Isola Bella, where we ambled through the tiny streets up to the entry gate for the huge 17^th C  palace and gardens which cover most of the island.  This time we dawdled through the palace first, each room drawing a little gasp as we entered. It was an architect’s playground with so much variety of colours and styles; Murano glass chandeliers, English & Flemish tapestries and Venetian marble floors.  The octagonal Sala dei Concerti was stunning with views out over Lago di Maggiore and there were numerous more rooms equally fabulous.  You could even visit the bizarre grottoes on the ground level below.

 

 

 

At the far end of the garden stands a huge, terraced, grotto style, Baroque, monolith covered in cherubs, gods, shells and crowning it all, a unicorn (of the Borromeo family crest).  I’m not sure it would look right in our garden at home, but it sure is a stunner where it stands.

 

 

The rest of the gardens are terraced with numerous roses and a huge variety of other plants and amongst it all stroll more noisy, white peacocks.  Napoleon Bonaparte apparently stayed in the palace with Josephine in 1797.  I asked Rodney if we could stay there, but he said “not tonight Laura”…. boom, boom.

 

 

Back in Stresa, after out last boat cruise of the day, we strolled about a bit before slumping down on the seat at the bus stop.  We were feeling completely beaten by the incredibly high humidity and, like us, everybody else looked red in the face and dripping with sweat.  We dreamed of a light breeze to move the heat and clear the haze hanging in the air.  We decided that it’s definitely time to head to the mountains, away from the lakes to see if we can find some less humid weather.