Northern Italy
Trip Start
Apr 17, 2009
1
22
42
Trip End
Ongoing
Baveno,
Piedmont,
Italy
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
On May 25 we flew from Cagliari in Sardinia to Milan in the northern part of Italy where we planned to spend two nights. We flew to Milan because it was the only way we could ultimately get to Greece from Sardinia. When we arrived in Milan, it was a record 95 degrees HOT HOT HOT. Fortunately, we had already decided to rent a car and drive 40 miles north of Milan to Lake Maggiore which is in the much cooler Italian Alps.
Lake Maggiore is a very long and very large lake that straddles the border of Italy and Switzerland. We stayed in a beautiful village called Baveno, and our hotel (Hotel Rigoli) was right on the lakeshore. In our planning stages we were not sure what to expect from the area, but we were really surprised at just how beautiful the area was with its lake islands, immaculate villages, snow capped peaks, and lush forests.
The villages along the lake are all connected hourly by large passenger boats that run up and down the length of the lake and make it very easy to go from town to town. The boats also connect the lake's three inhabited islands: Isola Madre, Isola Superiore, and Isola Bella to the "mainland". The islands are small and very beautiful. We visited all three islands during our stay.
Isola Madre is an island that is privately owned by an enormously wealthy Italian family. It has been in their family since the 1500s, but they open it to the public for visits. The island has a large manor house surrounded by amazing gardens. From all over the island you have tremendous views the lake and of the snow capped Alps.
Estate on Isola Bella
The island's gardens were started in the early 1800s and are truly stunning with incredible varieties of trees and flowers. There are also numerous types of peacocks (traditional and white ones) wandering the island. We spent two hours walking the gardens and admiring the 200 year old trees and rhododendrons that had been planted throughout. The main feature of the gardens was an enormous Himalayan Cyprus that had been planted in the 1850s directly in front of the manor house. This tree was HUGE, and there are many photos of it from over the years. Sadly, a rare tornado hit the island in 2005 and blew the cyprus tree over. The family who owns the island immediately brought in rescue teams to lift the tree back up (using cranes and helicopters) and replanted the tree. The tree has survived, but much of the enormous canopy was destroyed so that it is nothing like it once appeared.
We also visited Isola Superiore which is an island completely built up with small and charming village. Isola Bella, is the third island and has a large estate as well as a small village on it. Isola Superiore and Isola Bella were very nice but Isola Madre was definitely our favorite.
After our two nights at Lake Maggiore we drove back to Milan where we boarded our flight bound for Greece.
Good News Special Note- TravelPod, the website that hosts this travel blog, is taking two of the photos we took in France and plans to use them on their home page to promote the website. Who knew we were such good photographers?! J
