seattlerachel:
Bellinzona, Svizzera for lunch!
seattlerachel:
I see what you did there. (In Stresa.)
seattlerachel:
Decaying Stresa.
seattlerachel:
The walk home from dinner.
seattlerachel:
Isola San Giulio, in Lago di Orta, from the church at Sacro Monte.
seattlerachel:
Make way for peacock...lings?
seattlerachel:
Another European show-off.
seattlerachel:
Highlights from dinner at the agriturismo to r from upper left: pork salami with fezzetto (?) & cantaloupe, salmon w/tomatoes on toast, risotto with local mushrooms, pasta ragù bolognese, the main house, salad, chicken w/pancetta, beef carpaccio, dessert.
seattlerachel:
Leaving Isola Bella, of the Borromean islands, on Lago Maggiore.
seattlerachel:
Sunset!
seattlerachel:
Special thanks to @mayaphotog & @janetmkincaid (aka Jammet) for watching Little Miss so @tibadoh and I could go out for dinner together tonight! Delicioso.
seattlerachel:
Ferrying, Italian-style.
seattlerachel:
We caught the 1st ferry to another Borromean Island (Isola Madre) this morning to avert melt-downs. The guy who unlocks the villa & gardens takes that ferry too! We basically shared the island with one other family for the first hour+.
seattlerachel:
Down to Lago Maggiore.
seattlerachel:
Isola Madre's villa--also home to a marionette museum.
seattlerachel:
High-tailed it from Isola Madre to Isola Superiore around lunchtime. Found a place that did takeaway pizzas -- Ristorante Unione. Ordered Regina Siciliana pictured here. Buffalo mozzarella, spicy salami, olives, ancho. So good.
seattlerachel:
Isola Superiore. Tiny place. A few restaurants, a shopping street, a beach, a park for grown men playing soccer.
seattlerachel:
Final dinner with @mayaphotog & @janetmkincaid with the whole gang, including Mozey & Charlie the Dog. Tomorrow their half of our contingent goes back to where they live in France, Across the Street from Switzerland.
seattlerachel:
"My Dad don't let me tear the petals off these flowers." 😒
seattlerachel:
Villa Taranto was a gardening labor of love, created & left behind by a Scotsman. This is the stellar lily pond section of Giardino Taranto, with flowers bigger than human heads.
seattlerachel:
Charlie, or Carlo, as we've taken to calling him here in Italy. Taken right before he & the SwitzerFrance folks caught their train home this AM. I'm currently in the bummer stage that always happens after saying goodbye to pals for an indeterminate amt of
seattlerachel:
AMERICA! HECK YEAH!
seattlerachel:
Getting ready for pizza!! (Yesterday.)
seattlerachel:
If I ever return to Lago Maggiore, I'm staying in Cannobio & hopefully at this Hotel Pironi. In the lovely pedestrian area, with a fountain outside, feels about 20F cooler than Stresa on the same morning.
seattlerachel:
One final pizza.
seattlerachel:
Ciao ciao, Italia. You're alright after all.