Monday 19th, Stresa and the Borromean Islands

Monday dawned bright and sunny and we had decided to drive down the lake to Verbania and then possibly on to the Borromean Islands. It was easy going and in spite of the normal Italian drivers who would seem to regard any speed limit as an affront to their freedom to drive like madmen, we drove on to Stresa and caught a boat to the Borromean islands stopping first at Isola dei Pescatori

None of the islands are large and it did not take long to walk all around Pescatori and we stopped for a coffee at a small bar where the LLW joined the proprietor in encouraging a relunctant duck to return to the lake.

On then to Isola Bella which, I had assumed was named so since it is a beautiful island, but apparently in 1630,  Carlo III Borromeo decided to name the island after his wife Isabella D'Adda. So it became Isola Isabella later shortened to Isola Bella!

The palace is extraordinary and well quite palatial! The gardens replete with white peacocks and very disinterested pea hens are even more extraordinary and OTT but lovely.

We stopped for lunch at a really good and surprisingly inexpensive restaurant on the island where the owner was very keen to discuss the merits of the local wines. Back then to Stresa for a wander around the old town and time to marvel at the numerous palace hotels that were built when Stresa was a must visit location on the Grand Tour. Oh and the first shoes of the holiday were purchased!!

More provisions were needed on our way home and for the first time ever we visited a Lidl supermarket, In spite of the LLW's protestations that it simply was not like Waitrose, we came away with some excellent food and wine at unbelievably low prices.

A great day and we are wondering why it has taken us so long to revisit the Italian Lakes.

Sunday 18th around Cannero Riviera

In true Swiss fashion the Hapimag site is very well organised and has an underground garage, a restaurant, a mini market and, most important of all from the LLW's perspective, a Gelateria!!

We spent the morning walking around Cannero Riviera and quickly discovered a number of attractive hotels and restaurants with terraces overlooking the lake. Being Sunday, the LLW decreed that lunch by the lake was definitely required and we had a very good meal with stunning views.

More walks around the village in the afternoon and evening and having discovered a camp site at the southern end, Ray decided that it looked like the very one that we had stayed at some 30+ years ago!

Saturday 17th. A ferry trip to the city of Lugano and then on to Lake Maggiore

We planned to leave the car at Gandria and to catch the ferry to Lugano city for the morning.

The lake was spectacularly beautiful and clearly all was right with the world. Glorious views all around as we sailed to Lugano and disembarked around 10:30.  We did not venture very far but the lakeside promenade and the old town close to the lake are very attractive and clearly its a very prosperous city. There was even an open air car show to keep Ray interested, although the LLW was not very impressed with his interest in the Porsche Cayman!

After a very pleasant light lunch in one of the squares, we set off to catch the 13:30 ferry back to Gandria and climbed the numerous steps and steep alleyways back up to the car park close to the main road. A really lovely stay in Gandria and we enjoyed every minute. Time to head off around Lugano city and then north to Locarno at the head of Lake Maggiore. Lots of traffic around Lugano but once out of the city it was an easy drive to Locarno. Once at Locarno we rounded the northern end of Maggiore and headed south along the western side. In 20 mins or so we arrived at Cannero Riviera the site of Hapimag and our base for the next week. A very attractive site built around a small marina with great views over the lake.

Friday 16th Around Lake Como and on to Gandria

A lovely morning and we set off after breakfast for our drive around Lake Como. Initially we headed south east to the southern tip of the lake at Lecco.

All very beautiful with hundreds of elegant period villas. Lake Como is surround by very steep, completely wooded. hillsides with high mountains behind and this all adds to the dramatic setting. There was brief stop at Colico near the top of the lake for a quick coffee (the cheapest ever!)

before rounding the head of the lake and heading south again toward Menaggio where we planned to stop for lunch. Menaggio is delightful!

Brilliant sunshine and clear views across Lake Como helped but it really is a very pretty small town with a lovely situation and we enjoyed a light lunch in the Piazza close by the lake.

Time to head off and to leave Lake Como. We drove almost directly west over the hills and down towards Lake Lugano, leaving Italy and crossing into Switzerland. Some 30+ years ago we had enjoyed a memorable stop at Gandria on the northern side of Lake Lugano and we were delighted to discover that Gandria had hardly changed.

One of the main reasons for this is that it is built on a very steep hillside right down to the lake and there is not much room for any development. Our overnight stay was at the Hotel Moosman and we had a room with a lake view, including a small balcony almost overhanging the lake. Just lovely!

For dinner we found a small restaurant with a wonderful view and we are pretty sure that it is the same one that we visited all of those years ago. We enjoyed an absolutely delicious meal of Rabbit with Tagliatelli followed by some calorie free puddings (??)

Thursday 15th May Off to Lake Como

In spite of the French air traffic controllers flight our easyJet flight from Gatwick took off only 30 mins late and flying over Belgium and Germany, caught up time to be only 10 mins late at Milan Malpensa. Ray went straight through customs to collect the Europcar hire car whilst the LLW waited for the solitary bag! A good move as this saved about 20 mins and the queques at  the car hire desks grew rapidly. We were delighted to be allocated a very smart Fiat 500 and off we went trying to follow an awful photocopied map which was all that was on offer from Europcar. This was soon suplemented by the excellent map on Ray's iPhone and we successfully found the exit from the Milan autostrada and were soon on our way to Como.

Once we came off the main roads at Como town it was a very scenic, windy but not difficult drive to our first overnight stop at Bellagio which is delightful. Very sunny but windy as the temperature cooled down quite rapidly as the sun disappeared behing the high mountains around the lake. The LLW was soon fortified with a glass of Pinot Grigio and we enjoyed a very pleasant dinner close to the lake. Our hotel was up a very narrow and steep cobbled street so there was plenty of exercise for the quads!

Parking is tricky in Bellagio and we were lucky to find a space right by the lake which is chageable from 08:00 to 20:00 so the LLW delegated responsibility of recharging the meter to Ray the next morning! We planned to travel the full length of Lake Como before heading of to Lugano so we set off straight after Breakfast. Sad to leave Bellagio after such a short stay but delighted to have seen it.

Friday 11th our last full day on Majorca

We decided to have a quieter day for our last day and other than pottering off to Sant Elm for lunch we stayed around the Hapimag site and walked to Paguera and back.

We have been surprised and delighted with Majorca; for many years we have been put off visiting by stories of noisy drunken tourists but certainly at this time of year the island is delightful! We will definitely return and the Hapimag site at Paguera would take some beating as a base. As you can see from the photos below, "our" beach was very crowded (!) and the site has direct access to the beach. We swam most days and whilst it was certainly not warm, once in it was great.

Thursday 10th Around the island trip

We had booked on the whole day around the island trip in spite of the fact that commentary was in German, we were delighted we did as it was excellent. Not quite true to say around the island since the trip focused upon the very picturesque north western part. We departed by coach at 09:00 and headed north firstly along a motorway but soon taking minor roads through some small towns in a very flat plain before heading for the hills ( the Serra de Tramuntana) and some very scary roads. The narrow, very steep and very wind roads were difficult enough to negotiate in a large coach but it was made doubly difficult by having to wait behind the hundreds of cyclist braving the climbs. Our coach driver Rafa was excellent but he certainly could not go anywhere quickly!

First stop was the monastery of Lluc which was beautifully situated on a small hill surrounded by high mountains. We wandered around, climbed the small hill overlooking the monastery, were distinctly underwhelmed by the black Madonna (we seemed to be in a minority here), enjoyed a coffee and after an hour were on our way over the mountains to Port de Sa Calobra.

The roads down to the port were extraordinarily steep, precipitous and windy and the port was delightful. None of this deterred the cyclists who were everywhere!

Time for a short lunch overlooking the bay and then off on a boat ride to the port of Soller. Lovely views and very interesting cliff geology all along the coast.

At the port of Soller we boarded a tram (or Strassenbahn as our guide described it) for a few miles up to the old town of Soller where we had an hour before boarding the train to Palma. Very lively and attractive town which at this time of year is certainly not crowded.

The train back to Palma is famous on the island and has been running daily on the 27Km route from Soller to Palma since 1912.

The trip back was much quicker that via a coach since the railway uses several tunnels to avoid the scary hairpins of the road.

Our driver met us at a station just outside Palma and we were driven back to Hapimag, Paguera. An excellent day and a great way of seeing the most beautiful part of the island without having to drive.