Bristol (Lake View) Stresa

... good for what you pay!! And awesome for a backpacker!!
Went for drinks at Frank's Bar which Patrick who owns the hotel recommended. Turned out to be a pretty trendy cocktail joint
where you pay for your drink at 1 place then get it at another. 10 Euro for a beverage no matter what you had so naturally I ordered a long island ice tea!!!

... but it was nice to be able to relax and have a quiet walk around the villages. I needed to take a lot of ferries as this is the quickest way to get between each town as they are all placed at different points around the lake. A very nice place that I would love to visit again in the Summertime.

Next stop is Venice, Italy!

... instantly, even though the sleeping arrangements were pretty strange. They have this huge house, with 3 kitchens total, but only 2 bedrooms in the main part (there's a summer house for the grandparents-I did say they were rich right?). So that means that in one bedroom there are two twin beds on the main floor and a loft. The boy sleeps in the loft, and Meghan and I were in the downstairs area. Normally I think that would have weirded me out since I had only ...

John

From Venice we drove across Italy to Lake Como which is close to the Swiss border. On the way we stopped at the town of Verona which was developed by the Romans and has its own smaller version of the Colosseum which is still used for opera and musical events. However Verona is most famous for being the hometown of Romeo and Juliet whose love is thwarted by a fued between their respective families the Capulets and the ...

... featuring some very pretty gardens and fountains. We enjoyed some gelato as we walked along the lakeside gardens. After an hour break here, we took the short drive to Como. Como is also another beautiful lakeside town. We shared dinner and enjoyed a nice conversation with Stan and Johanna from Colorado. We are now in Italy and we are looking forward to the next seven days in this country.

Took the train from Milan to Lake Como - short 1.5 hour trip. The lake is beautiful and there was a speed boat race going on when we arrived. We took the funicular (tram) which has a charming little town at the top and a great view of the lake. We stayed on the south side of the lake (where George lives) and then took a boat north to Bellagio. Quaint town with steep streets filled with great shops. Can understand why George bought a house there!

... churches, castles, bridges, and historic buildings.

San Salvatore is one of the mountains on Lake Lugano. You can ride to the top in a funnicular, or hike up the steep path. We went the lazy route and saved our energy for walking around on top. From the funnicular station you can walk up a bit further to a small chapel sitting on the peak of the mountain. The chapel has a rooftop terrace with a stunning 360 degree panorama view.
Lugano, Swiss Alps, Switzerland travelingdiva

... in Italy. On the way from place to place, our guide, Karen, gives us history or geography or background of the places and things we are seeing. She told the story of Whymper’s expedition, but added that he was an illustrator for a magazine and had already attempted 8 times to climb the Matterhorn on the Italian side. He decided to give the Swiss side a try, but his Italian guide wouldn’t go, so it became a ...

... to pay my first ever speeding fine in twelve years of driving with an attitude of taking it on the chin (actually, it turned out to be the second – in the post soon after I got a far less serious fine from the day before. One of the new permanent speed cameras on the autoroute somewhere around Lausanne had snapped me for presumably not having slowed down fast enough in a 100km/h zone in an area where the speed limits change constantly between 120km/h and 100km/h), and I ...

... Today we decided on seeing the sites of Stresa and beyond. Lago Maggiore spills into a basin surrounded by mountains connected to the Alpine Range in Italy and the towns all sit at the edge of the lake at the base of the mountains. So to take advantage of the views from above, Stresa offers an aerial cable car ride up to the top with a stop in the middle. We decided to go to the top and on the way down stop off at the middle to see ...