Postcard from Italy July 2013

Early on Thursday morning, 11th July,  I left my London flat and met my friend Sue at Heathrow.  Soon after 10.30am we were on our way to Milan, and there we shuttled across the City to the station to take a train to Stresa.  We arrived around 4pm to find a lovely room overlooking the Lake with a small balcony.  After unpacking we walked into the Town and found a bar for our first Aperol Spritzer. Then back to the hotel to change and we took ourselves out for a nice dinner although we got well bitten by the mosies!

On day two we relaxed by the pool all day – it was a beautiful day with a few white fluffs in the sky which made the temperature perfect to lie out and enjoy numerous swims!  In the late afternoon we found a local café for our Aperol Spritzer that had free WiFi so we were able to catch up with life!  In the evening we found another good restaurant where we were able to eat in the garden, this time without mosies!

On Saturday it was a little hazy so we walked up to visit the Park of Villa Pallavicinio and walked around there for an hour before returning to the quayside to pick up a little boat to Isla Pescatori where we walked around for half an hour and also had an Aperol Spritzer in a delightful little restaurant, then we took the boat on to Isla Bella for another walk-around and another Aperol Spritzer!  After that it was back to the mainland, and on to Daniel’s our WiFi-free restaurant for an ice cream before heading back to the hotel for a swim and a couple of hours of sunshine.  We had walked over 6

miles that day!

On Sunday we spent the day relaxing by our pool, and in the evening had another excellent dinner in the Town.  On Monday we set off bright and early to take the funicular up to Mottarone and spent a wonderful morning walking around up the top of the mountain.  We returned down by lunchtime and had a drink and a bite on our way back to the hotel where we relaxed by the pool.  In the evening we had a wonderful meal at the Two Pigeons!  The best meal of the holiday. 

Our final day was spent by the pool and visiting some of our favourite bars in the evening!  The last day was spent quietly in the hotel before taking a train/bus to the airport for our evening flight home.