John Edward Cooper’s Notes

22 Jul 2025 - Arrival in Stresa
Welcome! Today you will make your way to your first destination, upon arrival at the airport, collect your luggage and proceed to the arrivals hall. Your Riviera representative will be holding a Riviera sign and will be ready to greet you. Your Tour Manager may be on the same flight as you, if this is the case, we request that you remain in the arrivals hall for them to meet you.

Once you are met by your representative, you will be transferred to your hotel, where you will stay for 7 nights on a half board basis.

This evening is at your leisure to enjoy the hotel facilities or the local area.

Please note: The order of your itinerary is subject to change, however the overall content will remain the same.

Additional information from Riviera Travel “My account”:

Hotel Regina Palace
Stresa, Italy
★★★★

About the hotel
The Hotel Regina Palace is four-star Superior rated and one of the best properties on the lake. Dating from the turn of the last century, this recently restored classic hotel truly reflects the ‘belle époque’ era having chandeliers, brass and wrought iron fittings so typical of this period. The hotel faces the lake and is set in extensive landscaped gardens to the front and rear with terraces, tennis court and swimming pool. In addition there is an indoor pool in the relaxing spa (local charges may be applicable) and an elegant restaurant. All the rooms are air-conditioned and luxuriously decorated and furnished.

Please note the use of air conditioning and outdoor pool opening is at the discretion of the hotel.

Location
Hotel Regina Palace is facing the Borromean Islands on the shores of Lake Maggiore.


This view of the Regina Palace Hotel became very familiar to us during the week.


The dining room assigned to Riviera guests, off the main dining area, was somewhat like this, though there were no lamps on the tables.


Our room didn’t have a canopied bed, such as this one, above.


It more resembled this one, with bedside drawers in wall-mounted boxes with marble tops. The room pictured, though, looks more spacious than ours was.

… It was quite dark (03:39); there was only a pre-dawn glow in the sky.… The alarm was set for “4:15”; when it went off, I got out of bed, and started the computer (04:17). (Janet got up at 04:30.)… Broke [from my activity on the computer], because Janet had said, “Right, OK, dear!” (05:09) as my cue to use the bathroom.… Sat downstairs (05:33)… returned upstairs (05:43).… Shut down the computer (06:13–06:14). Disconnected it from the power supply and peripherals, and put it and the power supply in the rucksack. Put my camera in there as well, and other bits and pieces (e.g. the hospital headphones that I usually keep downstairs for private TV listening, and the USB earphones). Put the WD Elements HDD and the Iomega USB-connected HDD in their usual hiding places. Put on the off-white coloured “holiday” jacket…; put phone and passport in the inner pocket. Janet had unplugged the TV aerial. I switched off things she hadn’t, including the phone downstairs, and the alarm clocks upstairs. And I switched off the internet hub. Obviously, the refrigerator/freezer had to be kept switched on, but everything else, I think, was disconnected. I was a bit anxious that my ca.¾-hour margin for getting ready might not be sufficient, but I found myself sitting and waiting for several minutes.


Our route, plotted using Google Maps “Directions”
[Click for an enlarged view]

 G— B— arrived a few minutes early. He put cases, rucksacks etc. in the back. Janet sat in the front seat, and I sat in the row behind. I had my memo pad and pen on which to scribble notes. We set off (06:58). We’d been on our way nearly ½-hour (07:26) when I realised that I hadn’t packed the Sonnics SSD in my rucksack; I’d left it with the other peripherals when I’d disconnected them from the computer. We’d by now come to end of the A180 and were continuing along the M180. On the slip-road to the northbound M18 we experienced a slight hold-up from the queue of traffic ahead of us (07:47). We followed the sign “M62 The North” onto the M62 (07:54). I needed to pee before we would get to Manchester Airport, so we stopped at the Hartshead Moor services (08:32). For fear of a repeat-incident of break-in and theft of luggage, G— stayed with the vehicle while Janet and I went, then he went on our return. As we passed over Scammonden Dam (west of Huddersfield, in the environs of Saddleworth Moor) — just before the “iconic” single concrete arch of Scammonden Bridge — the water in the reservoir, to the left below us, was not as low as I thought it would be (08:58). And the moors themselves were remarkably green. There was a slow queue of traffic from the Moto Birch services (09:11) for the junction with the M60 (E) (to 09:17). I was following the route using Maps on my phone; and it was a bit disconcerting to see (09:23) that we were headed eastwards, when Manchester Airport was south of us.[i] The road did turn south-southeast, though, then south-west (09:27), then south (09:29). To the left, according to the map, was Audenshaw Reservoir, but I couldn’t see it from the vehicle: all I saw was a line of bushes and trees. There was a slow queue of traffic then, continuing through Junction 24. Our speed recovered after that. Janet’s journal remarked on the “wall to wall sunshine” when Graham picked us up. But now (09:37) there was very heavy rain, with visibility reduced by spray from vehicles. The road headed in a more westerly direction. I used the word “iconic” for Scammonden Bridge; also “iconic” for me is the tall, brick viaduct at Stockport, over which I’ve passed many times by train, and under which we passed now (09:40). We left the M60 and went more or less southwards along the M56 (09:44). The rain had stopped. And so we arrived at Terminal 1, Manchester Airport (09:52).

[i] We were on the “Manchester Outer Ring Road” (M60). Mostly, plotting the route on Maps gives a route from the M62 to Manchester Airport going “anticlockwise” (as one looks at the map) around the Manchester Outer Ring Road; but G— always goes “clockwise”, i.e. initially eastwards.

 We found the easyJet baggage drop desks, reported to a member of staff, and showed him our boarding passes (“easyJet Plus Bag Drop”); he removed the tape-barrier between two stanchions, giving us access to the self-service kiosks.


I placed one suitcase on its weighing platform, and presented my boarding pass with its QR code to its scanner. It printed a long tag with barcodes on it, which was to go around the suitcase handle. When we’ve checked in at a staffed desk in the past, the clerk has peeled the tag at one end to reveal an adhesive layer with which to join the two ends together; but I couldn’t find such a thing on this tag. It took me some time to realise that the two ends would stick just by pressing them together. I did the same with the other suitcase, scanning Janet’s boarding pass. Then I put the cases on a nearby conveyor, and away they went (10:06).
 We had difficulty finding Security. The way there was clearly enough signed; but we gained the impression that Security with a “FastTrack” option was reached by a lift. However, when we got to the lifts we couldn’t find directions to any such place. Anyway, somehow — things are a bit of a blur at this point — we did find a row of Security barriers with a “FastTrack” lane to the right of the others, and were able to scan our “FastTrack” tickets’ QR codes to gain access to it.


It led to a security station where only a few people were waiting. Before we got there, I removed belt, coat, wallet etc. and put them in my rucksack. One no longer had to remove from one’s bag liquids and electrical/electronic equipment. So after putting my bag in a tray on the conveyor to be scanned, I stepped into the tall scanner. One had to stand, arms and legs apart. Taking a walking stick through didn’t present a problem.[ii] I put belt and jacket back on, and put wallet etc. back in the trouser pocket. And so we got through Security (10:32), and entered the spacious area with shops.

[ii] I think that was the case at Manchester Airport; at Linate Airport on the way back, a member of the security staff took my stick off me for me to go through the scanner and handed it back to me on the other side of it.

 I sat while Janet went in W. H. Smith. I logged in to the airport Wi-Fi using the phone, and checked our flight “EJU1985”[iii] in the browser (10:38): take-off, “13:05”; arrival, “16:10” — just as had been stated in our documentation; i.e. there were no anticipated problems or delays. We then went through the “Father Ted Lingerie Department” (10:47).[iv]

[iii] The prefixing of “1985” differently in various places confused me: Riviera had it as “EZY1985”; the easyJet boarding passes had it as “EJU1985”; a couple of aircraft-tracking websites had “U21985” and “EC1985”. The reason for “U2” and “EC” is still unknown to me; but, according to the easyJet website:

When you book your flight with us, your flight booking is issued by easyJet Airline Company Limited. There are three operating airlines in the easyJet group all of which offer the same service on board and throughout your journey. Your flight will normally be operated by:

• easyJet UK Limited if your flight number begins EZY
• easyJet Europe Airline GmbH if your flight number begins EJU
• easyJet Switzerland S.A. if your flight number begins EZS

[iv] This refers to the maze of duty-free sales counters and displays, through which one must pass to get to the boarding gates; it always reminds us of the episode of 1990’s sitcom Father Ted, “A Christmassy Ted”, in which priests Ted and Dougal find themselves unable to escape from the largest department-store lingerie section in Ireland.

 We went for liquid refreshment to the Upper Crust counter. Janet had diet cola; but after thinking of having some similar soft drink, I went into “Damn it, I’m on holiday!”-mode and had a little bottle of prosecco. The staff were very helpful; because the items we wanted on the refrigerated shelves weren’t adequately chilled, they fetched some that were chilled.


Tuesday 22 July 2025 10:57:50
Refreshments at Upper Crust, Manchester Airport

 …The departure gate number hadn’t yet come up on the monitor screens; but I typed “EJU1985” in the browser on the phone (11:41): according to a table that came up at the top of the screen before any website listings, it was “Gate 5”. Then the gate number disappeared (11:46); then “Gate 5” reappeared (11:47).
 We went to Boots to buy something for lunch. They did a “meal deal” for something like £4.99: “main” + “snack” + “drink”. For “main”, I selected a “ploughman’s” sandwich (cheese and pickle); for “snack”, a canister of “paprika” Pringles; for “drink”, a 500ml bottle of water. Janet made her selection, but accidentally picked up two “ploughman’s” sandwiches instead of one of them being of her choice.
 Then we headed to Gate 5. There was no clearly defined “Speedy Boarding” queue. We asked the clerk at the barrier, and he pointed ahead of him. But all we found, following his direction, was a seemingly interminable queue of people. “This can’t be it!” we thought, so went back to the clerk. He then designated this as “Speedy Boarding” and, just next to this, that as not; then, checking our passports and scanning our boarding passes (reproduced above), he let us through.


Tuesday 22 July 2025 12:32:30
Heading for the Airbus A319, easyJet flight EJU1985

 We boarded (ca.12:35). We were in the second row, aisle seats (2C, 2D). My boarding pass had me assigned to “2C”, but I sat in “2D”, and Janet vice versa. There seemed to be adequate legroom in Row 2 (in the past, we’ve booked extra-legroom seats); and an advantage of not being in the first row was that I could push my rucksack under the seat in front of me: I didn’t have to use the overhead storage compartments. I didn’t immediately buckle up, because the occupants of “2E” and “2F” were still to board. The crew members were Italian.[v]

[v] This surprised me, because I thought easyJet was a British airline. But see my post hoc comments, above, about the flight-number prefixes “EZY” and “EJU”.

Tuesday 22 July 2025 12:43:44
Member of the cabin crew in “casual” mode


Tuesday 22 July 2025 12:51:21
Glimpse of “Pontius”, my name for the pilot, whose actual name, apparently, was “Life Vest”

 The aircraft began to move in reverse (13:04), then was taxiing forwards, then stopped for some eight minutes (13:17–13:25). It was at the start of the runway, turned round into it, then stopped again (13:26). It started its acceleration (13:28), then took off (13:29). Unlike on Air India Flight 171, the engines didn’t fail, and we didn’t crash back to earth.
 I ate my “ploughman’s” sandwich and Pringles, and in addition Janet gave me a packet of mixed nuts from her “meal deal” (13:40–14:10). She ate her mistakenly acquired “ploughman’s” with no adverse effect, given that the pickle contained garlic, presumably only a trace.
 I sensed that we were descending (14:43), but thought I was perhaps wrong because the “Fasten seat belts” signs were off and the toilet ahead of me was still in use; not long afterwards (14:52), in fact, our descent was announced. Although we passed over snow-capped mountains, we were then flying over fields which looked exactly like those near Manchester that I saw shortly after takeoff. It seemed a bit uncanny, till I noticed a road with vehicles driving on the right.
 We landed (15:13), were taxiing (15:14), then stopped (15:16).[vi] We were taken to the terminal by shuttle bus.

[vi] 15:13… 15:14… 15:16: BST: I hadn’t yet adjusted my watch to CEST.

Tuesday 22 July 2025 15:21:41[vii]
Aboard the shuttle bus at Milan Linate airport

[vii] 15:21:41: BST: My phone, with which I took this photo, hadn’t yet adjusted itself to local time.

 We had to go through electronic passport gates, then have our passport stamped by a policeman in a booth. Then we found the baggage reclaim carousel for our flight. One of our cases appeared, and I removed it without undue difficulty and wheeled it to Janet; and the other one appeared, and I did the same (to 15:40 BST).… In the “Arrivals” hall, there was a woman…, carrying a “Riviera” sign. When she had ticked all our names off her list, she led the way, across the pedestrian crossing, to where a coach with a “Riviera” sign was waiting. Our cases were stowed in its hold, and we seated ourselves on the coach (17:04 CEST).[viii] I’d forgotten till just then that touring coaches in Europe have seat belts. The woman introduced herself… as “Pauline”. She’d be Tour Manager for those staying at the Astoria; it would be “Kate” at the Regina Palace. As we proceeded, and she told us what tours and visits there’d be day by day etc., she mentioned that she was Welsh. That wasn’t immediately obvious from her near-“RP” accent.

[viii] 15:40 BST… 17:04 CEST: I have copied the timings as I wrote them in my notes. I can’t remember, though, when I adjusted my watch to the local time.

 The ca. 1 hour 40 minute journey along the autostrada took us through at least two toll plazas. We weren’t slowed unduly by the heavy traffic as we passed through Milan. The coach arrived at the Hotel Astoria (18:48 CEST); half of the passengers alighted, as did Pauline; and the aforementioned Kate boarded, and introduced herself. Had Pauline mentioned that Kate was Irish when she said that she herself was Welsh, or was it self-evident from her accent?…
 The coach passed the next-door Hotel Regina Palace, turned right up the side street just beyond it, and right again into the open space at the rear of the hotel, where it stopped (18:53). We waited for the driver to unload our luggage, then wheeled it, following others and being followed, into the hotel. Kate pointed out the room just in front of the main large dining room that had been assigned to the Riviera guests, and asked that we come down to it as soon as possible after 7.30pm. She showed us the glass cabinet opposite the reception counter, where she had posted our itinerary.


Tuesday 22 July 2025 19:02:09
The week’s itinerary, posted by our tour manager Kate de Witt

 Key cards were handed out at the reception counter (we didn’t have to show or hand over passports). I made a note of the Wi-Fi password, “stresa2025”, while I was there.






Hotel Regina Palace: key wallet for Room №235

There were only two small lifts, so there was a slight delay getting to the second floor (numbered as in British practice: ground, first, second,…). The pile of the carpet did not make for easily wheeling the suitcases. We found our room, and I managed to unlock the door on the second presentation of the key card. (Subsequently, it would always work first time.) The room was decorated more or less in the style of the last illustration in “Additional information from Riviera Travel ‘My account’”, above, but it wasn’t as spacious as that one appears to be; it was rather small and cramped. It did have a walk-in shower, though, as we’d requested. And also as requested, it had a balcony, though not one affording a lake view. We deposited our cases and other baggage. We found the safe behind the left sliding door of the fitted wardrobe, sited (as they always are) too low for someone with varifocal lenses to see clearly; anyway, I managed to operate it and lock money, passports, etc., in it. Then we went back down for dinner.
 We sat at a large, round table at the far end of the room assigned to Riviera, with three other couples: the two to my left were from Yorkshire; the two next to them sounded like “Brummies”; and the origin of the two next to them, and next to Janet, I didn’t determine. There was a printed menu card, A4, folded, with “Riviera Travel” printed on the front and the menu itself on the third page: a couple of choices each for what I’m calling “starter”, “main”, and “dessert”. There was also a salad buffet nearby from which one helped oneself, so I guess that was really the “starter”. (I went over to look at this, but I didn’t fancy any of the several items in bowls on the table.) The rest was by waiter service; he noted the women’s requests first, then the men’s. I selected barley soup, veal, and pistachio mousse.
 “What a palaver!” Janet wrote in her journal. “I was tired and couldn’t be bothered, and simply wanted to unpack, shower, and get in bed. I waited an hour: I sat through the first course… before I was served veal loin. I scraped off the ‘jus’, courgettes and cheese, and [ate it with the] ‘help yourself’ salad.… I said ‘Good night’ to everyone at 9pm and went to unpack.”
 I stayed behind, because I’d ordered pistachio mousse; it was served in a small, conical dessert glass. Indeed, I enjoyed it so much that the waiter proposed another one, which I accepted. Janet was concerned about whether I’d be OK if she left me, but I did manage. With well travelled older people there are two principal topics of conversation: one’s travels, and one’s health issues. The Yorkshire chap next to me had restricted vision in his left eye, with things like retinal bleeds for which laser surgery was ineffective because of their randomly occurring nature; and he had no sight in his right eye, for in an accident the optic nerve had been severed.
 If Janet’s “9pm” is accurate, then I wasn’t alone all that long, for I noted: “Returned to room, 21:28. Janet was still unpacking.” She wanted a rubber mat for the shower cubicle, but I pointed out that it wouldn’t be feasible to have one because the shower drain was in the centre. So when she showered, I supervised because she was afraid of falling. She gained confidence, however, and showered alone subsequently. I cleaned my teeth meanwhile. I lay on the bed, and logged on to the hotel Wi-Fi on my phone.…
 Janet reminded me, “What about your medications?”, so I took them (22:32). I lay down on the bed and closed my eyes (22:40). Janet was still unpacking. According to her journal, “We were both in bed, ca.11pm.”

[Wednesday 23 July 2025]