[2025]
[Friday 25
July 2025]
Signature Tour: Lake Maggiore, Orta and the Matterhorn: Free day
Illustration from Riviera Travel “My account”
Illustration from the Flipbook
Flipbook:
- Today, as part of our signature experience, we will discover the secrets of Isola Madre, the biggest of the Borromean Islands.
The rest of the day you will have at leisure to explore Stresa’s many delights.
After dinner, as part of our signature tour experience, you’ll absorb the magical ambience of the beautiful Borromean Islands on a unique and atmospheric evening cruise around this trio of stunning
isles.[i]
[i] The “evening cruise” was rearranged to take place
yesterday evening.
…Janet wrote: “I had a pretty good sleep but awoke not long after 6am and dozed: the cock was at it again.… I got up
ca.7.15am. There were lots of those big swifts flying around. We’d seen them since we arrived.”
Her “OK…!” (07:45) was my signal to get up. Before ablutions, though, I copied 15 photos from the camera’s
SD card to the computer (06:53–06:54 BST).[ii] Connected the phone to the computer with a USB cable, and copied 41 photos (06:59–07:00
BST).[iii] Shut down the computer (08:02–08:03). Shaved, showered,
etc.
- [ii] 06:53–06:54: Those were the times shown in
File Explorer on the computer. As I’ve mentioned before, I was unable to change the time zone on it.
[iii] 06:59–07:00: See the above note.
We left the room (08:38) and went down for breakfast. I had a bowl of cornflakes, then some fruit: the nectarine proved to be hard; but a green plum was very juicy.
We returned to the room.… I took medications (to 09:39)…. I looked up on the
Maps app where I was last night.
Kate’s posted itinerary said “Depart 09:45” for today, but yesterday she’d given us a later time to meet, 10:15; but when we went down (10:05), we were told by people of our party who weren’t going on the trip that they’d set off and that we should join them. So we left to do just that. “It was raining,”
Janet recalled, “but this stopped quite quickly.”
We caught up with them just beyond the strange war memorial — which still intrigued me. I looked in more detail than before. The larger of the two figures was bollock-and-bum naked, whereas the more effeminate one had some sort of mantle covering his back, and his private parts at the front had the sculpted equivalent of a convenient wisp of gauze covering them.
Saturday 26 July 2025 10:21:00
War memorial, Stresa
Saturday 26 July 2025 10:21:00 (detail)
War memorial, Stresa
Saturday 26 July 2025 10:21:40
War memorial, Stresa
In the above photo, incidentally, visible to the right, is Villa Marina, one of three old mansions, formerly guesting the likes of Hemingway and Mussolini, then abandoned for decades and overgrown with trees, now cleared and awaiting approval of plans to restore them.
Saturday 26 July 2025 10:21:40 (detail)
War memorial, Stresa
Saturday 26 July 2025 10:23:16
View from Stresa across Lake Maggiore; (bottom right:) Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 10:28:36
Stresa: boarding the boat to Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 10:31:18
Aboard the boat, just leaving Stresa
Kate handed out maps of Isola Madre; and at some point she gave out the tickets we’d need, to enter the Isola Madre estate. Also, she issued “CMA” tickets to each of us for the voyage home, telling us that boats would arrive every hour at a quarter to the hour.
[Click on the image for a larger view.]
Isola Madre: map and one of the entrance tickets
Saturday 26 July 2025 10:42:38
About to go ashore at Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 10:44:26
Tower at the south-west corner of Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 10:44:46
Entrance to the Isola Madre estate
Saturday 26 July 2025 10:46:08
Proceeding eastwards along the south side of Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 10:49:02
Ticket office on the south side of Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 10:51:54
Ticket check before entering the Isola Madre estate proper
Our path eastwards along the south side of Isola Madre led us, after a left turn, into the Piazzale della Cappella. Within there, to the left was the Palazzo Borromeo; ahead was a water-lily pond and beyond it an alcove with a statue in an arched recess, similar to but less ornate than that in the Atrium of Diana, Isola Bella. Both had a staircase either side of it. To the right was the eponymous chapel (“cappella”); to its right, adjoining it, was a cafeteria, and to its left an arch giving access to steps down to a toilet block.
Saturday 26 July 2025 10:55:56
Piazzale della Cappella on the east side of the Palazzo, Isola Madre (looking north)
It was to the cafeteria that Janet and I first went for refreshments. “We both had a
Lemon Soda,” Janet wrote. “It’s as good as I remembered! Wish we could get it in the UK!”
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:00:02
Refreshments at the cafeteria adjoining the chapel in Piazzale della Cappella, Isola Madre
Receipt, shown in the above photo, issued “26-07-2025 10:57”
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:03:18
The cafeteria adjoining the chapel in Piazzale della Cappella, Isola Madre
In the photo below is the chapel, with doorways symmetrically on either side: the right one is the entrance to the cafeteria, where we’d been; the left one leads down steps to the toilet block. When I took the photo, I’d just visited that; and, indeed,
Janet can be seen emerging from that direction.
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:24:08
Piazzale della Cappella on the east side of the Palazzo, Isola Madre (looking east)
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:26:14
Water-lily pond in Piazzale della Cappella, Isola Madre
In the photo below, the visitors’ entrance to the Palazzo Borromeo can be seen on the first floor [US: second floor]
to the right, partly concealed by a bush. In front of it is a retaining wall, on top of which is a path leading to the door. A figure can be seen, standing atop the wall. Access to the path was by one of the stairways either side of the alcove with the statue.
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:28:16
Palazzo Borromeo, on the west side of Piazzale della Cappella, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:29:20
Ascending from Piazzale della Cappella to enter the Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Within the Palazzo, flights of stairs took us to the top floor. I can’t remember the exact layout here,—
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:31:32
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:32:10
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:33:12
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
—but the photo “11:33:36”, below, was taken in the upper portico at the north-east corner of the building. The people are looking out to the north, and the window ahead faces east.
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:33:36
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:33:56
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:34:50
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Similarly, this view from a window is to the east.
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:35:38
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre: view out over Piazzale della Cappella, and the “Cappella” itself
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:36:14
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:37:54
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
I was confused by this marble relief, below, wondering why the woman to the left had a man’s chest. I wondered whether the smaller figure in the Stresa war memorial might similarly be a male-chested woman. (On further scrutiny of “10:21:00 (detail)”, though, I conclude that the body shape and musculature are masculine; and, what’s more, the “convenient wisp of gauze” has a “man bump” in it.) (The caption below the photo gives the correct interpretation of the marble relief.)
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:38:28
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre: Abraham restrained from offering his son Isaac by a rather effeminate angel of the Lord
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:39:24
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre: the resurrection of the Lord Jesus
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:40:34
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre: the baptism of the Lord Jesus
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:41:44
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:41:54
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:42:26
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:43:02
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:43:22
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:44:08
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:44:50
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:45:16
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
The Italian passion for puppets was again evident here—
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:45:36
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:46:18
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:47:56
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:48:16
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:49:04
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:49:38
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:49:54
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:50:12
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:50:38
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
The Italian passion for puppets was again evident here: for puppets, and for fantastical creatures.
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:50:38 (detail)
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:50:58
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:51:28
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:52:48
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:53:18
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:53:56
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:54:52
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:55:34
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:56:00
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:56:44
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:57:34
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:58:10
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:58:42
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:58:52
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:59:26
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 11:59:50
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 12:00:10
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 12:00:34
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 12:00:44
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 12:01:10
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre: looking to the exit on the north side
The door in the above photo led into the portico on the north side
(cf. “11:33:36” and “12:34:42”), and a right turn there took us back onto the raised path by which we’d entered. “Raised”, that is, relative to the Piazzale della Cappella; the terrain to the north of the Palazzo is at that “raised” level.
Saturday 26 July 2025 12:02:44
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre: view east through the further exit onto the raised pathway
Saturday 26 July 2025 12:03:46
Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre: east side, seen from the raised pathway
Saturday 26 July 2025 12:11:14
Two lizards by the water-lily pond, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 12:11:14 (detail)
Two lizards by the water-lily pond, Isola Madre
We proceeded westwards along Viale delle Palme just to the south of the Palazzo. (The map is misleading, because it shows the north side of the building here, not the south.)
Saturday 26 July 2025 12:18:34
South side of Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 12:20:32
The gardens, Isola Madre
When we could go no further in that direction, we right into a path that led us northwards then north-east.
Saturday 26 July 2025 12:21:50
The gardens, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 12:23:58
The gardens, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 12:25:50
The gardens, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 12:26:06
The gardens, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 12:26:50
The gardens, Isola Madre: gnarled roots
Saturday 26 July 2025 12:28:34
The gardens, Isola Madre
Then, wanting to get back to the landing stage in time for a 12.45pm boat back to Stresa, we took a sharp turn to the right, up flights of steps and then along a broad, gently upward-sloping path with widely spaced shallow steps. About the house and this part of the gardens,
Janet wrote, with pride of accomplishment: “Again, lots of flights of steps and stairs!”
Saturday 26 July 2025 12:30:24
The gardens, Isola Madre: returning southwards
Saturday 26 July 2025 12:31:16
The gardens, Isola Madre: returning southwards
Saturday 26 July 2025 12:33:30
The gardens, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 12:34:42
North side of the Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Madre
From Piazzale della Cappella (to the left of the Palazzo in the above photo, but concealed by trees), we attempted to retrace our steps of earlier when we arrived.
Saturday 26 July 2025 12:36:16
Trying to find the way out, Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 12:37:02
Turnstile on the south side of Isola Madre
We arrived at a landing stage, but I immediately suspected that it was not the one from which the “CMA” boat would depart.
Saturday 26 July 2025 12:40:08
Landing stage on the south side of Isola Madre, unfortunately not the one we needed
We quickly retraced our steps, then turned left to resume our march westward, hurrying to catch the 12.45 boat.
Saturday 26 July 2025 12:44:28
Continuing westwards on the south side of Isola Madre
“We caught this by the skin of our teeth!” Janet wrote. We arrived at the landing stage just as the boat was about to depart. The captain held up a paddle in the form of a red disc with an oblique blue cross “X” on it, and white letters “C”, “M”, “A” in the left, upper, and right quadrants of the cross. That indicated that this was indeed the boat for which we had tickets.
Saturday 26 July 2025 12:47:36
About to board the boat back to Stresa at the landing stage at the south-west corner of Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 12:48:38
Aboard the boat back to Stresa
Saturday 26 July 2025 12:50:08
Looking back at Isola Madre
Saturday 26 July 2025 12:56:30
Regina Palace Hotel, Stresa, seen from the boat
We went ashore some 350 yards to the east of where we had earlier boarded the outward boat.
Saturday 26 July 2025 12:58:58
Going ashore at Stresa
Saturday 26 July 2025 12:59:52
Looking back at our boat
We walked through the public gardens that were there, and crossed Corso Umberto I at the nearest pedestrian crossing. We turned left, then beyond the red building (to the left in the photo below), we turned right into Via Principe Tomaso, where we found a restaurant for lunch.
Saturday 26 July 2025 13:03:38
Crossing Corso Umberto I, Stresa; (ahead:) Parish Church of Saints Ambrose and Theodule, Stresa
“[John] had Tuscan bean soup and bread, and [an] Aperol [Spritz] and a beer,”
Janet recalled. “I had Ravioli alla Norma — just the right amount. Authentic and delicious. I enjoyed. I also had two
Lemon Sodas.”
When I saw that they had Forst beer on tap, I asked for it, but it wasn’t the “red” Forst beer I’d had at
Il Centrale yesterday evening; that was “Forst Sixtus”.
Saturday 26 July 2025 13:18:52
Lunch at Ristorante Pizzeria Mamma Mia, Via Principe Tomaso 11–13, Stresa
Saturday 26 July 2025 13:27:14
Lunch at Ristorante Pizzeria Mamma Mia, Via Principe Tomaso 11–13, Stresa
Saturday 26 July 2025 13:51:02
Lunch at Ristorante Pizzeria Mamma Mia, Via Principe Tomaso 11–13, Stresa: the bill
“We went for gelato then went on the ‘little train’ around Stresa,”
Janet added. The gelateria was in the block just visible to the right of the church in the photo taken at “13:03:38”.
Saturday 26 July 2025 14:06:00
Gelato pistacchio at Agri Gelateria, Corso Umberto I, 1, Stresa
The “little train” was parked across the road from the gelateria, a few yards to the left (west). Set back from there, at the edge of the public gardens, was a little kiosk with a sign over it,
“TICKET OFFICE”; which was where we bought tickets for the “little train” ride.
With the tickets we were given a map showing the route.
Information on the Trenino Turistico di Stresa
[Click on the map for an enlarged view.]
A young woman, with a little girl who, I assumed, was her daughter, boarded in the compartment in front of us. They spoke to each other in English, but I judged by mother’s accent that English wasn’t her birth language; I guessed that she was a Hispanic American. “When are we going?” daughter asked; and when mother didn’t immediately respond, I offered, “In three minutes.” (It was 14:27.) There were a few words exchanged with the young woman.
Saturday 26 July 2025 14:32:42
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: starting on Corso Umberto I
The first part of the route was familiar from our first exploration of Stresa when we sought but initially failed to find the restaurant district: we turned left along Via Pietro Canonica, passing our hotel on the right, and along its continuation Via Alfonso Cigala Fulgosi. Indeed, the “little train” then went exactly the same way that
Janet and I had done; it turned left at the end of Via Alfonso Cigala Fulgosi, where the
Conad supermarket was, and went along Via Giosuè Carducci.
Saturday 26 July 2025 14:33:05
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: turning left into Via Pietro Canonica
Saturday 26 July 2025 14:34:39
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: turning left from Via Alfonso Cigala Fulgosi into Via Giosuè Carducci
When it got to the end of Via Giosuè Carducci, where on that day we’d found the
Red Baron bar, it turned left along Via Eugenio Gignous—
Saturday 26 July 2025 14:35:21
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: turning left from Via Giosuè Carducci into Via Eugenio Gignous
—then took the second left turn along Via Principe Tomaso.
Saturday 26 July 2025 14:35:44
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: turning left from Via Eugenio Gignous into Via Principe Tomaso
The fork between Via Principe Tomaso and Via Roma was also familiar to us from our dining at
Il Centrale there.
Saturday 26 July 2025 14:37:22
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: turning left from Via Principe Tomaso into Via Roma
Saturday 26 July 2025 14:37:30
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: turning left from Via Principe Tomaso into Via Roma
Saturday 26 July 2025 14:37:35
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: completing the turn into Via Roma
At the end of Via Roma, it turned right into Via Eugenio Gignous and right again, back into Via Giosuè Carducci. (In the photo below, the end of the
Red Baron bar can just be seen to the left.)
Saturday 26 July 2025 14:39:24
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: turning right from Via Eugenio Gignous into Via Giosuè Carducci
It turned left at the Conad supermarket (out of shot to the right in the photo below) — and here our familiarity with the route ended — went under the railway bridge, and then along Via Dante Alighieri.
Saturday 26 July 2025 14:40:00
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: about to turn left from Via Giosuè Carducci into Via Dante Alighieri
Saturday 26 July 2025 14:40:07
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: turning left from Via Giosuè Carducci into Via Dante Alighieri
Saturday 26 July 2025 14:41:31
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: view to the left along Via Dante Alighieri
The name of Via Dante Alighieri changed, some way along, into Viale Siemens.
Saturday 26 July 2025 14:42:28
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: turning left from Viale Siemens into Via Selvalunga
Saturday 26 July 2025 14:42:55
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: view to the left along Via Selvalunga
Saturday 26 July 2025 14:43:09
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: view to the left along Via Selvalunga
Saturday 26 July 2025 14:43:59
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: going along Via Selvalunga, leaving Stresa
Saturday 26 July 2025 14:44:50
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: bearing right from Via Selvalunga into Via Raffaello Sanzio
Saturday 26 July 2025 14:45:03
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: sharp right bend in Via Raffaello Sanzio; about to enter Carciano
Saturday 26 July 2025 14:45:14
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: proceeding along Via Raffaello Sanzio
Saturday 26 July 2025 14:45:44
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: proceeding along Via Raffaello Sanzio
Saturday 26 July 2025 14:46:56
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: a bend to the right in Via Raffaello Sanzio…
Saturday 26 July 2025 14:47:01
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: …followed by a curve to the right leading into Via Alessandro Volta
Saturday 26 July 2025 14:48:17
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: on Via Alessandro Volta, passing over the railway
Saturday 26 July 2025 14:48:34
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: view left towards Lake Maggiore from Via Alessandro Volta
Out of shot to the right of the of the above photo, was a sign with
“CARCIANO” crossed out in red,
i.e. in effect saying, “You are leaving Carciano.”
Saturday 26 July 2025 14:49:11
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: traffic lights at the crossroads at the end of Via Alessandro Volta
Saturday 26 July 2025 14:50:01
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: proceeding straight ahead over the crossroads into Viale Lido; (left:) Hotel Royal
Saturday 26 July 2025 14:51:54
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: Piazzale Lido at the end of Viale Lido
Saturday 26 July 2025 14:52:15
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: turning left into Piazzale Lido
Saturday 26 July 2025 14:52:56
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: Piazzale Lido
Saturday 26 July 2025 14:53:09
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: turning left to leave Piazzale Lido
Saturday 26 July 2025 14:53:49
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: turning right, back into Viale Lido
Saturday 26 July 2025 14:55:21
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: turning left from Viale Lido into Via Sempione Nord
We were now on the main road SS33, which with a gentle right curve would become Corso Umberto I. (The address of our hotel was Corso Umberto I, 29.) The “little train” did an about turn in Piazza Guglielmo Marconi and stopped where it had started, to let us off.
Saturday 26 July 2025 15:00:18
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: on Corso Umberto I, about to turn left into Piazza Guglielmo Marconi
Saturday 26 July 2025 15:00:32
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: turning left from Corso Umberto I into Piazza Guglielmo Marconi
Saturday 26 July 2025 15:00:43
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: turning left within Piazza Guglielmo Marconi
Saturday 26 July 2025 15:01:18
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: approaching Corso Umberto I from Piazza Guglielmo Marconi
Saturday 26 July 2025 15:01:36
Trenino Turistico di Stresa: turning right into Corso Umberto I from Piazza Guglielmo Marconi
“The journey lasts 25–30 minutes, offering visitors a comfortable seat to admire the local sights,” the information on the map of the route said. “Hideously uncomfortable when we went up and down cobbled streets,”
Janet wrote in complete contrast, adding, “It was good fun, though.”
We crossed by the same pedestrian crossing that we’d used when we came ashore from Isola Madre, and continued more or less straight ahead along Via Principessa Margherita; we went for refreshments to a bistro,
Al Buscion, near the end of the first block, on the right side. Janet
had a Lemon Soda-like drink (not branded “Lemon Soda”, though), and I had a bottle of “red” beer, a Belgian-style ale. In the men’s toilet there was a sign in Spanish:
Mea Feliz
Mea contento
Pero sobretodo
Mea
(This, I gathered after I got home, was word-play, because “mea” can mean “my” or it can be the imperative of “to pee”: “My happiness, my contentment”; or, “Pee happily, pee contentedly”. So the last two lines mean, “But above all, pee”, or, “But above all, mine.”)
Saturday 26 July 2025 15:10:20
Sign in the toilet at Al Buscion, Via Principessa Margherita 18, Stresa
Saturday 26 July 2025 15:20:56
Refreshments at Al Buscion, Via Principessa Margherita 18, Stresa
Saturday 26 July 2025 15:34:26
Refreshments at Al Buscion, Via Principessa Margherita 18, Stresa
Saturday 26 July 2025 15:47:10
Al Buscion, Via Principessa Margherita 18, Stresa
Going back the way we’d come along Via Principessa Margherita (ahead, on the photo above), on the wall to the right we saw something we recognised from one of our visits to Rome.
Saturday 26 July 2025 15:48:56
“La Bocca della Verità…[iv] Stresiana” (replica of the one in Rome), on the west wall of the Parish Church of Saints Ambrose and Theodule, Via Principessa Margherita 1, Stresa
- [iv] I have transcribed “La Bocca della Verità… Stresiana” exactly as it appears on the plaque; i.e. I have not used the ellipsis “…” to indicate words that I’ve missed out.
This was next door to the entrance to the church.
Saturday 26 July 2025 15:49:44
Entrance to the Parish Church of Saints Ambrose and Theodule, Via Principessa Margherita 1, Stresa
The door was in the west side of the church; after one entered, to the left (“liturgical west”, but actually north) was the neat organ loft; to the right (“liturgical east”, but actually south) was the altar and apse.
Saturday 26 July 2025 15:50:50
Parish Church of Saints Ambrose and Theodule, Via Principessa Margherita 1, Stresa
Saturday 26 July 2025 15:51:59
Parish Church of Saints Ambrose and Theodule, Stresa
Saturday 26 July 2025 15:52:11
Parish Church of Saints Ambrose and Theodule, Stresa
Saturday 26 July 2025 15:53:12
Parish Church of Saints Ambrose and Theodule, Stresa
Saturday 26 July 2025 15:53:25
Parish Church of Saints Ambrose and Theodule, Stresa
Saturday 26 July 2025 15:53:30
Parish Church of Saints Ambrose and Theodule, Stresa
Saturday 26 July 2025 15:54:45
Parish Church of Saints Ambrose and Theodule, Stresa
Saturday 26 July 2025 15:58:21
Parish Church of Saints Ambrose and Theodule, Stresa
“We went in the church,” Janet wrote, “then headed back to the hotel. When home, I hope I don’t lose the confidence I’ve gained as I stride about with my stick.” We were back in the hotel room,
ca.16:10. I lay on the bed; but a knock on the door (16:35) woke me up. There were two men at the door, who had come to look at the faulty socket that I’d reported, above the desk/dressing table. They said they’d come back later.
We left (16:57), to go to Il Centrale. We sat at the same table outside that we’d previously occupied.
Janet had a “real” Lemon Soda and I my new favourite aperitivo Aperol Spritz. I had a
Forst beer, a “red” Forst Sixtus this time. We both had Caesar Salad. (“I had… Caesar Salad with the dressing,”
Janet wrote: “[I’d] never had that before. It was good, but I couldn’t eat it all.” We both had coffee, and I in addition had two glasses of
grappa di moscato.
Saturday 26 July 2025 17:19:17
Il Centrale, Via Principe Tomaso 27, Stresa
To the adjacent table (left in the above photo), came a family: a young woman, her husband (I assume), and young son, along with an elderly couple. They surprised me by speaking to the waiting staff in English, though this was evidently not their first language, judging by the accent with which they spoke. It sounded European — though obviously not Italian or they’d have been speaking to the staff in Italian! We got into conversation with the young woman, and found out that they were Greek, from Athens. “My dentist is from Athens,” I said. One or other of them had pizza; and I ventured to suggest that in Greek that would be “πίζζα”, showing her my memo pad.
She said that, no, this would be pronounced /piːza/; and she wrote “пίτσα”—
—adding for good measure the medial (“σ”) and final (“ς”) forms of sigma:
This privately came as a surprise to me, for I’d had the notion that “ζ” was pronounced /ʦ/. Till then, I’d,
e.g., pronounced the Cypriot pomace brandy ζιβανία as /ˌʦivanˈia/, not /ˌzivanˈia/.
There was occasion to thank her for something, so I said, “Ευχαριστώ!”, and she replied, “Παρακαλώ!”
Saturday 26 July 2025 18:41:24
Il Centrale, Via Principe Tomaso 27, Stresa: the bill
We left there (18:45), then as Janet recalled, “We withdrew cash and returned to the hotel.” Her journal entry continued, “I was so tired. I had a shower, did my teeth, sorted ‘my bits’, and was in bed,
ca.8.30pm. At last! Another good day. Enjoyed.”
The electrical socket above the desk had been fixed, so I was able to move my computer to a position more comfortable for me on there. Till then I’d set it up on the drawer-box/shelf beside my side of the bed. I copied 116 photos from the camera’s
SD card to the computer (18:16–18:18 BST),[v] but somehow some were from
yesterday; I identified 15 of these, and deleted them. I connected the phone to the computer with a USB cable, and copied 48 photos (18:24–18:25
BST).[vi] Looked at today’s photos with
Photo Viewer. Shut down the computer (19:57 CEST). Did this and that while
Janet was getting ready for bed; entered the bathroom when she vacated it (20:13); took medications; cleaned teeth; and went to bed (20:23).
What was our plan for tomorrow? For Kate’s posted itinerary said “Depart 07:45”. I made a note:
05:30 Janet getting up
06:45 breakfast
07:45 departure
[v] 18:16–18:18: Those were the times shown in File Explorer
on the computer. As I’ve mentioned before, I was unable to change the time zone on it.
[vi] 18:24–18:25: See the above note.
[Sunday 27
July 2025]
|
