Italy by Bus

Saturday, June 9, 2001 - Isola Bella, Pizza for lunch, Lugano Switzerland

Italian Lakes and Lugano Switzerland

Today we tour a palace on an island in the lake, and then take a trip over the border to Switzerland.

Early wake up

We were supposed to be able to sleep a little later today, but at about 05:30AM, we were awakened by water coming from the ceiling! I called the front desk, and the person who answered seemed to have problems understanding me. Once I got my point across, he told me that it wasn't water! (I was afraid to ask what it was!) Obviously it was water, and I think I finally got my point across.
Finally they sent someone up to check it out, and he cleaned it up and put down a rug and a bucket. He said that someone would come back at 07:00AM.
We tried to go back to sleep, but couldn't, so we took our showers and got ready for breakfast.

No one showed up at 07:00AM, so when we went down to breakfast, I asked at the front desk, and they said that no one would be available until 08:00AM. (By the time we got back to our rooms later in the day, everything had been cleaned up. The rug was still there, but not the bucket.)

Rain!

Today we woke up to rain! As it turned out, this was the only day on the tour where we had a hard rain. There were other times when we had some sprinkles, and a little overcast, but this was the only real rainy day.

The water in our room did not come from the rain, as we were not on the top floor.

Isola Bella

In the morning, we went on the optional excursion to the Borromean Islands, mainly Isola Bella (Beautiful Island) and the Palazzo Borromeo.

We walked from the hotel to the boat landing, just a few yards away. Then we boarded two boats for the trip to Isola Bella. On the way, we passed another of the Borromean Islands where the same families have lived for generations.

Then we went around Isola Bella to see it from the water, and landed near the front of the palazzo.

The entrance to the Palazzo Borromeo on Isola Bella in
Lake Maggiore. You can see raindrops on the tree branches.

A statue at the entrance to the gardens of the
Palazzo Borromeo on Isola Bella in Lake Maggiore.

The area to the right of the entrance to the Palazzo Borromeo on Isola Bella in Lake Maggiore

We toured the palace, and then went out the back, to the beautiful gardens.

A stairway near the entrance to the gardens of the Pallazzo Boromeo

From the courtyard, we walked out to the gardens. As it was raining pretty hard at this point, we didn't linger there too long. The photo below was taken just as you leave the courtyard and enter the gardens. You can see raindrops on the lens, and see how dreary and overcast it was.

A structure in the gardens of the Pallazzo Boromeo

We walked up the steps to the right of that structure, and took the next photo from behind it. If you look closely in the photo below, you can see a white peacock in the lower left part of the photo.

The gardens of the Pallazzo Boromeo

As you leave the gardens, there are many shops you pass on your way back to the boat landing. As we had only one umbrella with us, we bought another one here. We were not the only ones to do that. After a short while at the shops, we got back on the boats for the ride back to the mainland.

Lunch in Baveno

Once back to Baveno, we went to a little pizzeria and had some very good pizza. Randy and Lynda and Jasmine and Lee sat with us, and Marco showed us how to eat pizza with olive oil. It was great that way! This lunch was not included in the price of the optional, so we had to buy our lunch today.

Lugano, Switzerland

At 12:30PM, we boarded the bus for the included trip to Lugano, Switzerland. The police were still all over the place, and we could not take the normal route that we would have taken along the lake, because it was being used for the Tour of Italy bicycle race.

Lugano is in a part of Switzerland that was once part of Italy, so the dominant language is Italian, but they use Swiss Francs, of course.

When we reached the border, the Italian border guards came over and boarded the bus, but just asked Marco a few questions, and then let us on our way.
On the Swiss side, they boarded the bus, and each of us had to have our passports out for them to see. They did not check them closely, just walked up the aisle of the bus and glanced at them as they passed.

After that, we drove on to Lugano to an area by a lake with many stores.

The lake at Lugano, Switzerland

The lake at Lugano, Switzerland

The main establishment was Bucherer, and their main product was watches, although they had many other products as well. Karen bought a watch, and we bought a Swiss Army Knife for her son, who collects knives, along with a few other things that we bought.

A fountain in a small piazza in Lugano

As it got close to time to return to the bus, we happened to pass this Ferrari, (in the photo below) and I just had to get a photo of it. This is not the only Ferrari we saw during our trip, of course, but it was the best chance I had to get a photo.

A Ferrari in front of the Bucherer store

At 4:15PM we were back on the bus for the return trip to the hotel.

At the border crossing, we stopped so that people who had spent a lot of money could have their papers taken care of to get their VAT refund. However, there was no visit from any border guards. Other vehicles crossing the border didn't even stop! It seemed very unusual to me.

Back in Baveno for an Included Dinner

We got back to the hotel and had about one and a half hours before dinner. We took a walk with Jasmine and Lee but there was not much to see in the area around the hotel.

Dinner tonight was similar to the previous night: choice of soup (pasta and bean soup Veneto style) or pasta (penne with creme, peas and mushrooms), veal (escalops hunter's style) or fish (sole Miller's style), potatoes boulanger, buttered peas and carrots, cake or pudding and coffee. For wine, we had Soave Bolla.

Randy and Lynda at dinner in Baveno

Hal and Patt at dinner in Baveno

Marilyn and Beth

Commentary from Marilyn and her daughter Beth about their Best of Italy tour, September 7-20, 2001, reproduced here with their permission.

Day 10, Sunday, 16 September, 2001 - Lugano Excursion - Not!!!

Since today was Sunday [and the shops are closed] we went to Lugano yesterday. Therefore for those who wanted a nice break today was it. You could sleep in, lay around the pool, go down to the lake, etc.
After breakfast we took the optional tour, "Lake cruise to Isola Bella Borromean Palace & Gardens" $26 pp. This included a guided tour of the Palace and then you were on your own to wander the gardens and/or shop for a few hours. We then took another boat around 1:00 pm to meet the rest of our tour members who didn't take the optional.
For the life of me I can't remember the name of the little town, but there we had enough time for lunch and more time to shop. We were back to our hotel around 4. At 5:30 a few of us walked the few blocks into town and went to the Catholic Mass (we are not Catholic, but we went with our new friends who are, it was kind of neat to hear a mass in Italian).
Dinner that night was included at the hotel. Again the same type of hotel food, pasta, entree dessert.