The September 2015 trip has begun.  First to London on American Airlines just because it seems to make an easier trip if you stop and take a day in London and then continue on to the Continent the next day.  That means you get one day at the National Gallery and this visit did not disappoint.  What did we love in our hours at the National Gallery?  Well I would say for myself I am always stunned by the perfect beauty of Piero della Francesca's "Baptism of Jesus" painted about 1450.

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No matter how many times I walk in to see this again, it never disappoints me. In fact, often it surprises and seems better than I remember.
Anyway, London and the National Gallery are worth a little extra work.
Then on to Milan. British Airways, London-Milan. And although British is the busiest airline in Europe and way over-booked and stressed, I have to say that yesterday's flight was as easy as it can get. Tight security yes, but follow the rules and you come out fine....except for me, waddling around the airport with no belt, no shoes, no cellphone, no nothing.

And another thing: British Airways Heathrow has the best Duty Free shops of any airport in the world. It is a shopping bonanza. So then after buying chocolates and other trifles we were out into the plane and a quick 90 min flight that was even early.

Now one travel hint.  At Malpensa Airport you may be tempted to take a TAXI!

You will think:  "This will get us to Milan Centro even faster."   But resist the temptation and walk over and get on the train.  I report all this from personal experience now only 24 hours old.  It seems so reasonable.  Get a taxi and then when you get to Milan you do not have to pay for another one from the train station to the hotel.  But you are wrong if you are thinking this.  First of all, the train can penetrate the traffic even when it is stopped dead in the streets.  Second the train never has a flat time. That's right: a flat tire.

Can you imagine our surprise when after a lightening fast trip into Milan on the autostrada, we heard a loud thud in the back left corner of our Mercedes Taxi.  The Taximan stopped and discovered he had a flat tire. Oh well, he said, this will be fixed in 2 minutes.  Some 30 minutes later, with sister Patricia and friend Judy and I stnding on the side of a frightening traffic-laden road, and no tire fixed, no substitute taxi anywhere in sight, no solution anywhere visible, the taxi idea seemed to grow less and less wise as the minutes ticked away.  Taxis went by and did not stop.  Our taximan seemed more worried about his wife and the delay than in finding us a ride. And so it went.  A few minutes became 30 minutes then 30 minutes became an hour and then it seemed we were heading into hour two as I tried to help and direct traffic around the stranded cab.  Now it was getting dark.  We were worried.  We had all cranked and kicked the wrench trying to dislodge the one bolt that would not give way. Finally, finally, a good Samaritan (a paid good Samaritan to be sure) Taximan stopped.  And loaded all our cargo from the crippled poor old taxi to a new shining one and back into the traffic we plunged.  And there were still many more minutes before we reached our dear Hotel Cavour.  Where our rooms were waiting for us.  Bedaggled, worn out, late, oh-so-very-late.  So the lesson is:  when you are at Malpensa and someone in your party (the one in my party will remain anonymous) says: "Let's take a taxi!"  say, "No!."

So once we completed our frantic ride into town where did we settle? Hotel Cavour.  I would not want to stay anywhere else in Milan.  We love it because it is sort of an anomaly; luxurious yes, but sort of wonderfully old fashioned.  It is family owned.   It has an extraordinary staff many of whom have been there for decades and who remember you if you are a returning client.  They offer you a spectacular breakfast included with the room price.  The rooms are comfortable and the location is the best: right at Porta Cavour just at the opening of the old walls through the Porta with Via Manzoni opening in front of you.   Straight down Via Manzoni you can walk to Scala Opera, Galleria, and the Cathedral.  Here i am in the Piazza della Scala standing in front of Leonardo da Vinci.

Lago Maggiore is not really a lake. It is a great big river that starts in Switzerland and then just rolls down south and opens up into the River Ticino in Italy.which then continues all the way down to the Po River south of Milan. Since Maggior is so close to Milan, it is the busiest lake for daytrippers from the city.  Especially in the summer, the south end of the lake is super busy with weekenders from Milan.  The negative of this is that those places on the south of the lake are the busiest, but the positive is that those are the places that are easiest to reach if you are starting in Milan.The south end of the lake is very close to Malpensa Airport.  Therefore, if you want to spend the night before your flight from Malpensa on the lake you will choose Arona, which is the closest lakeside town within easy reach of Malpensa.  We  love Arona because it is very simple, not too fancy, not too expensive.  It is very much a family type lakeside town.  Lots of pensioners here for  a weekend out of the city.  Lots of young couples enjoying a day at the lake.  And it has a really great shopping street, Via Cavour, running parallel to the lake front.  And a beautiful, very long lakeside promenade along Corso Guglielmo Marconi  which in the busy times is packed with walkers, runners, dogs taking their owners out for a stroll, boats waiting for clients.  Here is a great shot of the waterfront at Arona.

You can see that the town runs all along the waterfront with the huge promenade running for miles.  Restaurants line the waterfront.  There are piers out into the lake with restaurants.  There are huge comfortable lakeside lounges all outdoors with tables and sofas and waiters running around with food and drink. If you want to stay overnight in Arona, one possible choice is Hotel Giardino.  The Giardino is an old hotel.  It is in exactly the right place if you want to walk out the front door of your hotel and walk right along the lake.  It is not a fancy place, and therefore the prices are a real bargain. (maybe100$) So if you can overlook some worn carpets and the like, then you will have a pleasant stay.  Since it is right in the middle of everything, parking is a bit of a challenge.  With some jockeying around you usually can get a place out in front of the hotel, that is, free street parking. Now that you are settled into the Hotel Giardino, it is time for dinner.  And i have a gem for you all:  Ristoro Antico.  Ristoro Antico sits up high above the shopping district on a tiny little pedestrian street called Via Botelli (Ristoro Antico, Via Botelli 46, TEL: +39 0322 46482.) Call for reservations since it is a small place, and very well known as maybe the best restaurant in Arona.  The family that runs the place is magical and totally devoted to serving the best food for a fair price.  Because it is up the hill a bit (not far, just a good hike to discourage the weaklings) it is sort of special and not part of the tourist hustle down on the waterfront.  You will love Ristoro Antico.

LAGO DI COMO: BELLAGIO. So today this is where we are going , but first I have to tell you how we got there.....because the getting is quite a story.

So the nature of the trip into Milan had been somewhat unexpected. The trip to Como was much anticipated. We were all packed up at the Cavour and very excited to be off to the gorgeous Como. Of all the lakes, there is no question that Como has the most dramatic scenery. Huge high mountains plunge all the way down into the lake creating tiny cliff-side locations for picture-perfect towns. And the best of all is Bellagio. So that was the destination this morning.

We were just a bit apprehensive when the first big drops hit our Ford Focus station wagon as we exited Milan along 25 different wrong streets.....finally onto the major highway. More drops. Bigger drops. Then massive waterfalls of rain. Yup we were about to drive into a huge Italian rainstorm, our first away from California. Since the news this morning is of California on fire with no water and everything ablaze, you can imagine that we thought rain was wonderful. And we did--at first. But since we were out on a highway traveling at high speed in a unfamiliar car, well it wasn't all that much fun for me, the driver. On and on we went, searching in maps, scanning the sky for light. We decided to get off. Stopped at a tiny little bar, all new, beautiful all white called "PLEASE! CAFE" very sweet. And it was packed. Can you imagine. Early mornng tiny little town with everyone within 50 miles in this one bar? OK. Fine. So we got our cappucino, our bathroom stop, ready and back to the car. More rain. Bigger rain.

Now we came into Como. Como is a big busy very old town sitting at the bottom of the lake at a very important junction for both east-west traffic and north-south. We just passed through on our way to the road to Bellagio. That road runs along the west side of the long peninsula that projects up into the Lago di Como. Bellagio sits right at the tip of the mountainous projection into the lake.

Here is a map. You can see that Bellagio sits right out there on the end of the peninsula and hugs the hill at the very end of the land. All of the city sits along the hill, thus all the streets and shops go up and down the hill. So we were on our way to Bellagio on the tiny coast road.  I knew it was going to be a challenge, but I had not counted on the rain. So now the road narrowed as it left Como and soon we were on a tiny narrow road with houses carved into the rock, so that they could enjoy the spectacular view of the lake that appeared and disappeared to our frightened eyes. We tried to enjoy the beauty and tried not to think about the fact that we were threading our way along a narrow road at reasonable speed with just inches on either side of the car, and with huge rocks projecting out into our faces and with almost NO -- the rain was pouring down on us,.  Sound like fun?  It was so much fun for me...driving. Twist twist twist.  Turn, turn, turn. Here is the road.

Fortunately none of us are carsick types, so we were safe as long as the car did not plunge down into the lake.  But I must say to all of you instituters reading this (all the millions of my fans) that this is not a trip for the carsick types.  Fortunately, there is another way.  That line reminds me of one of my favorite details in medieval painting: the picture of the Three Wise Men going home in a boat.  The artist read: "they went home by another way," so he misread it to mean another kind of conveyance so he put them in a boat--across the Arabian desert,.  Isn't that hilarious.  Well in this case we were not in a boat yet, but at times I expected our Ford Focus to be transformed into the S.S. Ford Fredlund Lines Cruiser.

BUT WE MADE IT! Yup...slowly we climbed up and down and then followed signs to Hotel Florence our destination in Bellagio.  There it is sitting right on the waterfront of Bellagio with lake views from many rooms (some face the beautiful garden in the back) and a ground floor restaurant bar and a long lovely loggia where you can sit and talk and enjoy.

So here we are in Bellagio. First, why the Hotel Florence. Well, one reason is that it is a very good deal. It is a grand old hotel. Three floors, so not too big. Huge high-celinged rooms, wonderful old-fashioned bathrooms. Here is mine and you can see me taking the picture reflected in the mirror.. Look at the old  tile and the lovely antique sink.   I love it. I have been here before, and just the name would cause me to come back. But a few caveats. Because it is a grand old building, it of course has noises. Both from inside and outside. So if any noise at all distracts you then pay more and upgrade. Also the rooms are not air conditioned. So IF you are coming in the high heat of summer then maybe someplace else is better. Now it is September so you don't need it. In fact of course we are here on a rainy day. So we have on jackets. Windows open.

So what to do in Bellagio? Walk, walk, walk, climb, hike, and shop, shop, shop. Here is just one street. Every one of them is a perfect, little picture. There is no place else like it. Nothing. Not Carmel, not Sausalito, not Portofino, not Amalfi. . Bellagio is totally unique.  Every little street has its own special shops, most of which have been here for maybe a 100 years or more.  Jewelry, clothing, paintings, lamps, glassware.  We loved the shop of the Ferrario sisters who have been running their clothing shop for decades.  One sister who is a great artist paints scarves-- hand-painted scarves, each of which is a work of art. As you can see, you just climb up the hillside on stone steps with all the shops opening out onto the street, or with their own little terraces sometimes with chairs and tables and drinks and nibbles-- sort of an outdoor salon.

Here is one shopper making her way up the hill. Yes it was still raining, but we didn't mind. And some clearing was promised for the next morning. Shop after shop. And then perched at the top of the town is their gorgeous Romanesque parish church that is almost a thousand years old. Beautiful smooth old stone walls; a fine carved stone pulpit; and a beautiful fresco of San Giacomo, the patron saint of the church.

Then the rainstorm moved on and Bellagio looked like this.

LAGO ISEA IS A HIDDEN GEM.  I write that in all caps because it is such a huge surprise.  Such a complete unexpected wonderful surprise.  I knew about it because of its location near Bergamo and we wanted a stop after our day in Bergamo.  So I searched and read and found this wonderful hotel on this lesser-known Italian lake called Iseo. Sister Patty and friend Judy said OK let's go.  So we had all booked a night at the Hotel Rivalago on Lake Iseo.  But we did not know much.  We knew it was one of the smallest of the lakes.  And we knew it had a very famous island in the middle with the highest mountain on an island in Europe.  But that was about it.  

Here is a map. You can see that it runs mostly morth-south.  And the sweet little town of Iseo is at the bottom of the lake(Green mark).  Our hotel, Hotel Rivalago, was up the east lake coast about one-third of a way up, just opposite the island of Monte Isola.  So the little town of Sulzano where we stayed, flourishes because it is a natural overnight location for someone who plans to visit the island.  And everyone wants to visit the island.  It is a pedestrian paradise with no cars and an endless choice of sweet shops to buy things and charming restaurants in which to eat things: especially things from the lake.  The one big treat at the Rivalago is to settle in to your air-conditioned room and then head down to the lake for a ferry over to the island where you enjoy a great dinner with the sun going down and then you ferry back to the Rivalago, all without ever steooing into a car.

Here is a view of Monte Isola.
The Rivalago Hotel sits right on the lakeshore with the pool and garden running right along the water of the lake. Here is my view from my window of my room

Here is the pool at Rivalago overlooking the lake.

We all agreed that the Rivalago is almost a perfect small hotel. It is gorgeous iside, it is immaculate, the staff and manager Antonella are charming and helpful, and the breakfast that is included was spectacular. The dining room is large and comfortable with most people breakfasting out on the terrace, the food was unbelievable. Coffee great. Everything perfect. It is a small hotel (30+ rooms) so it is not offering all of the services of a great big urban hotel. But for a small resort hotel it was just really I have to say it: perfect. Here is one detail that shows you their approach. They had a restaurant. And they have an excellent location. But they found that the restaurant created too much late night noise out o the terrace so they closed it down. How about that for putting guest comfort ahead of profit. We loved it.

BUT...in addition to Rivalago, we also discovered Iseo itself. The town of Iseo is a total delight and total surprise to me. It is charming and up to date and full of activities but NOT full of tourists. They are all over at Como or Garda and they seem not to know that there is the wonderful lakeside town right here in the Lake district of Italy.

One thing they have every morning is a wonderful market that runs along a loggia-sided piazza with no cars and running down to the water. Full of everything: cheese, fresh fish, clothes, shoes, scarves, everything at great street sale prices. Here are some market shots and you may spot an occasional Instituter shopper in the picture.

We loved Iseo. We just loved it. Put it on your list for a trip among the Italian lakes.

LAGO DI GARDA AND VERONA.
This is where we stayed: VILLA ACQUARONE.

One of the most incredibly beautiful places that I have ever stayed. The main villa building is the one with the church.  Out in front is the swimming pool and the Aviary.  The gate to the villa compund is at the far left corner of page.

For the visit to Lago di Garda with so many towns to see and Verona itself, I wanted to find a country hotel where we could spread out and take walks and the like. So I searched the internet and read articles about this incredible 400-year-old villa just outside of Verona that has only recently begun to accept guests. So it is  just becoming known, and we were able to book rooms for the good part of a week while we explored Lago di Garda and Verona. What we found was so much more than a hotel. It is a wonderful story of a family, and their history, and their quest to keep the villa property together. The current owners are two brothers of the distinguished Acquarone family. They are working to restore it and at the same time to open it up to guests who can enjoy the huge number of acres of vineyards and olive orchards and forest. All of this sits right on the easter edge of Verona. In a car, you can go to Verona in 20 minutes. You can do it in less, once you know all the turns. We found it relatively easy to park in Verona. Especially easy is the carpark at San Zeno. I would now always go there to park (underground in a clean new garage.)

So let me show you some of the Villa. The main building was constructed in the 17th Century. And has had additions and changes. The great Baroque main facade sports a whole gallery of Roman Emperors.

Here is my sister's room ( I should say rooms, since there was the main bedroom, a dressing room, and a huge bathroom with balcony. Here it is:

Here is the entrance portico with our Ford Focus station wagon and the staircase up to the main floor with the rooms.

NO ELEVATORS!

Outside the portico across the north lawn stands a 500 year old Plane tree.

So Villa Acquarone was just the beginning of our visit.
More to come. Come back tomorrow....have to go to bed.