Lake Maggiore

Our last full day together, we were woken up by a huge clap of thunder followed by a big electrical storm during the night but by morning it was fine if a little foggy. We had breakfast in the kitchen which felt very authentic (photo).We took a drive to a shopping centre to buy some last minute gifts and then went to Laverno to walk around the town and possibly do a boat trip but we found a cute hardware shop that Jim loved so much so that he said he could now live in Italy! We got some lunch and had a picnic by a stream. we got home early so we could do some packing and sorting and have a rest before tea.
We both have a better appreciation of Italian drivers as they are excellent judges of whether cars will fit through tight spaces, though there seem to be quite a few scrape marks on the walls.
We walked to tea and had pasta .then home for an early night in readiness for getting Jim off to the airport tomorrow

To Lake Maggiore

After three and a half weeks of glorious sunshine, last night poured rain and today was our first wet day, with rain on and off, some quite heavy. We had a leisurely morning enjoying a sleep in and then travelled to Lake Maggiore via the beautiful Lake Lugano. We arrived after lunch, which consisted of fresh figs and greek yoghurt with honey and nuts.
Our final b and b together is Antico Borgo Sando which is a renovated 14th century convent, and is very cute with a great view. Our older hosts have been very helpful and funny already and this is more like experiencing Italy than the last place. Our room is done with old antiques and the garden terrace for breakfast is quaint .My kind of place and the roads to get here are not too bad compared with the last place.
We went for a drive to the lake and went in to Saint Catarina, an old monestry set into the base of a cliff. On the way home it poured down rain but fined up in time to walk down for tea. We sampled a number of fish dishes in a degustation menu but were too full by the end and it cost too much so won't do that again.

Schignano day hike

There are lots of people staying here. 10 cars, but in 3 separate, rustic stone dwellings. Breakfast was typical Italian with salamis and cheeses and cake, also some cereal and fruit. Today we did a walk in the mountains above lake como. Through beech forest, alpine pastures and past many old ruins of stone shacks....renovators delights!!. We lost the path a couple of times and stopped for lunch and a rest but made our way back after about 4 hours.
After a rest, we drove down to the lake to celebrate Queensland's origin win. We planned on going into Villa Balberinello, but it was closed, so we bought some antipasto from a supermarket and had a picnic dinner in the park outside the villa overlooking the lake. A feature was the fresh anchovies and the mozzerella which combined well with our salad. We planned to return and buy a big container of gelato but were too full.

To Schignano near Lake Como

We had breakfast with another Australian couple(though they were both born in Italy not far from here) who are also staying at the b and b and then said our goodbyes and headed back toward Lake Como, this time going around the other side of the lake and taking a detour across to Lake Lugano stopping for a picnic by the road before heading back to our next b and b at Schignano. It is up the hill a bit from the lake on a long windy road, but the view from our balcony is over the valley, somewhat reminiscent of Maleny. We spent the afternoon relaxing and enjoying the natural beauty of the location. We decided to eat dinner at the restaurant here rather than take the trip down. The food is all organic home grown and like home food rather than restaurant food.

Bernina Railway

We went into Tirano to catch the Bernina train but missed one by 1 minute so wandered around town for an hour to catch the next one. I managed to find a nice black evening jumper that I bought. The train up to the Bernina pass took one and a half hours passing spectacular views and over the famous Brusio circular viaduct where the track goes through a full 360' on a 70 m radius curve rising 30 m in the process. We got off at Bernina Ospizio station, where we found a rubbish skip full of lovely timber furniture. Jim also found a couple of small metal railway markers in and old sleeper beside the track. Bernina Ospizio is the highest point on this line at 2253 m and we walked the hiking trail back to the next station stopping off for a touch of snow and a picinc etc in the alpine forest. We got to the station and the next train wasn't due for 30 minutes so we decided to keep on heading down the quite steep trail to the next station, catching the train just in time. The Swiss scenery brought back lots of wonderful memories as it is a very beautiful country and the colour of the alpine lakes is also amazing.
Our hostess at the b and b was very accomodating making it a real pleasure to experience a little of Italy in her home. We took her recommendations for the best local food and restaurants which worked out well. She warned us twice about a winding 3 km road up to one restaurant with a beautiful view and no tourists, and we saw why after driving there. No offence to Italian drivers but they go anywhere and are crazy. The food and view were worth the hairy drive. Italians also eat much later than us and also eat much larger meals as we saw at the restaurants we have eaten at.

To Bianzone

Lovely breakfast again with even more cakes and also figs to eat. We checked out and drove to Bellagio to catch the car ferry to Varenna and then followed the lake up to Colico. Then we drove to Bianzone and Il Grappolo, our next bed and breakfast, arriving just after lunch. We then did some washing and headed out for an afternoon drive into Switzerland, about 10 minutes away. We stopped at Miralago to walk by Lake Prese which is very beautiful. We then drove on to Poschiavo where we stopped and rested in a green paddock looking up at the snowcapped mountains and remembered our time in Switzerland. We marvelled at the majesty of God's creation of such mountains.
We went to tea near our b and b and had the local dish 'pizzoccheri' which is a dark pasta with cheese, spinich and potatoes and finished off with a decadent berry tart. Ivana, our hostess at the b and b has been wonderful to us and we have had some interesting conversations.

Lake Como

We had a lovely breakfast at the b and b. We bought a day pass on the ferrys and caught the morning ferry to Tremezzo passing Villa Balbianello where Star Wars 2 film had a wedding scene of Anakin and Padme also used in Casino Royale. At Tremezzo, we visited Villa Carlotta with its impressive tropical gardens. It was like walking in a Queensland National Park. We then wandered around Bellagio(saw a dog like Zeb), Varenna and Menaggio catching the ferries between each, with one being a paddle steamer. We bought a few gifts and caught the last ferry back to Lezzano. We lucked out with a restaurant for tea as it seems Saturday night is a busy night and you have to book if you want a table. We came back to our room and ate what we had - dry cereal, followed by a nice cup of tea. We weren't that hungry as our bodies are probably still in overload from the cruise! All in all, the scenery was stunning everywhere around the lake and we had a great and fairly relaxing day, compared to some of our port excursion days with lots of walking.