Alps from the other side
Trip Start
Jun 27, 2009
1
5
17
Trip End
Jul 13, 2009
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Stresa,
Piedmont,
Italy
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
The destination today wasn’t in Switzerland, but on the other side of the Alps –Lake Maggiore, 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 competition with the Italian as to who could reach the top first. Today, 150 people per day make the climb,during the climbing season, at a price of 998 Swiss Francs per person.
Our route to Italy took us over the Alps via the Simplon Pass. Those who know Agatha Christie’s, Murder on the Orient Express, will recognize the Pass. The Swiss love to dig tunnels and the Simplon Pass has both an auto pass and a train pass. The train pass is at about 2000’ in elevation, dug through the Alps for a distance of 19.8 km. The auto pass crosses the Alps at the 2005’ meter elevation. Along the way, the Swiss have made a terraced road, which protects the road from snow in the winter and snow melt in the spring.
Stresa Conference Room
Parts are exposed to the elements, but by terracing the road, it makes snow removal easier and also allows cows to graze over the road in the summer! At the top of the pass, a rock eagle stands guard looking for invaders. We stopped for a coffee break and then crossed into Italy.We stopped in Stresa on the shores of Lake Maggiore. Stresa is the home of the Borremeo Family’s summer palace. It is located on an island in Lake Maggiore called Isola Bella. We had lunch at a trattoria before boarding water taxis for the island.
The Borremeo family today consists of 10 people and they only reside in the palace during August and September. Their family flag hangs on the pole at the end of the island when they are in residence. Since they have turned their palace into a museum, they live in a measly 40 rooms on the second and third floors when they are there. This palace was also the location of a conference between France, Italy and Great Britain in 1935 in which they tried to stop WWII.
One interesting thing about the Borremeo family crest is the crown with the Latin word for humility on it. I found this rather ironic seeing as we were walking through this palace that obviously screams wealth and societal importance.
After our tour of the palace, we walked through the grounds. We then boarded the water taxis back to Stresa and the bus. We drove back to Switzerland on an Italian toll road, and if it wasn’t for the fact that everything was in Italian, it could have been North Jersey.
We arrived back in Switzerland and Lake Lugano around 5:20. We have a lovely room with a view of the lake. The Internet isn’t free here in the room (10 Swiss Franc for 24 hours), so I am going to attempt to use the public computer and upload this.
There is someone waiting for the public computer, so pictures will have to wait.
