Thursday, May 31, 2018

Italy - Day 9 - Friends in High Places

Did I mention how beautiful Lake Maggiore is? The lake is dotted by what is known as the Borromean Islands. Today we took a short boat ride to one of those islands, Isola Bella and toured the Borromean Prince Palace.
Members of the Borromean family still reside in parts of the castle. The remainder of the castle has been turned into a museum. I am noticing that rich families in Italy go all the way to impress visitors with opulence and grandeur. This castle was no exception. Every turn was a wow moment.

As spectacular as the inside was, the real "wow" happen when we ventured outside. The palace gardens were worth the visit by themselves.

Not sure I have ever seen a pure white peacock. And this one played to the crowds. He would belt out a loud, heart pounding call. Once he had your attention, he would spread his plume for all to admire.

What looked like a castle itself, was a terraced garden, complete with stairs to the top. Once at the top, it offered 360 degree views of the entire island and lake. Wow!

After the castle tour, we skirted back to the mainland and took a bus ride to Lake Cumo. All of the lakes in this area compete to be the best. Lake Cumo is a man made lake. We toured the lake by boat, passing magnificent villas along the way.

Some of the rich and famous call Lake Cumo home. We passed by George Clooney's home. He could have popped out to at least say "hi". We also passed the outdoor garden where John Legend had his wedding reception.
After all of these lake cruises, we were needing to get ready for dinner. So it was back on the bus and back to the hotel.


Everyone got gussied up for dinner. By the way, that's not easy to do when you're living out of your suitcase and there are no irons. Did you know that irons in hotel rooms is illegal? Pat got good at ironing with the hair dryer in the bathroom. Fortunately, everyone was inundated with wrinkles so we didn't stand out. How do you think we got to dinner? You guessed it. We hopped on another boat and ventured to another island.

This is what as known as our, "Be my guest" dinner. We dined at a nice little restaurant on the lake that stayed open just for a tour group. The host seemed genuinely honored to have us over for dinner. I guess it pays to have friends in high places.

This was the perfect end to another busy, adventurous day. 


6 comments:

Unknown said...

Stan/Pat so enjoying your trip. Stan you have the gift of writing. I love history and geography. Italy is amazing, hope we can go Sicily. Their Mediterranean diet is wonderful. I had no acid reflux while there and still dont now. We've use a lot of olive oil and roast our veggies in a airfryer. George Clooney didnt come out when we passed by back in September. Lol. Look like the weather is good too! Enjoy!!!

Unknown said...

I just love all your updates. Stan I am going to get you to be the ghost writer for my new book! The weather looks just beautiful. So happy that you all decided to “roll down the windows and turn the music up” and take this trip. You both looked so relaxed and happy. Stan is even smiling in many of the photos. :-). Continue to enjoy....can’t wait to see you both!

Mr. Jones said...

Has anybody asked you if you are a rapper or ball player yet?.....

Stan said...

Also, there is something about the wine. We are drinking so much wine, but no headaches, hangover, etc.

Stan said...

Ha. Pat has been on me about smiling. I'm having a ball, but she says she can't tell. The tour director keeps asking me if I'm doing good. I guess I gotta do better.

Stan said...

Not yet. The only questions I get are: 1) You paying with Euro or credit? 2) You want cheese on that? 3) Can you help the poor sir?