#49 Day Tripping to Italy

After leaving the Zermatt area, the motor coach traveled south to the Italian border. You don’t get to say too many times in your life that you took a day trip to Italy. We drove to the shore of Lake Maggiore to visit the town of Stresa. After a light lunch and a stroll through the city center, we boarded small launch boats to visit the rocky island of Isola Bella.

In the 1600’s, Carlo III, of the influential House of Borromeo began the construction of a palazzo dedicated to his wife, Isabella D'Adda. The ornate estate and its gardens were completed over the following three centuries. The home was reputed to house several celebrity guests such as Napoleon and his wife Josephine. It is ornately decorated in the Baroque style. The grottoes of the palace were designed to transport one into the marine world and are composed of intricate mosaics of rocks and shells over every surface. I can’t recall seeing anything quite like it.

The gardens are about as ornate as one can imagine. The Teatro Massimo is the most important monument in the garden of Isola Bella. Statues, obelisks and fountains are integrated together with the plantings of the ten scenic terraces, at the top of which rises the statue of the Unicorn, the symbol of the Borromeo family. The visit is well worth the effort of the boat ride from Stresa.

After our day trip to Italy, we got back on the coach and traveled to Lugano, Switzerland.

This town feels different with the mom-and-pop shop on the corner replaced with a massive Louis Vuitton boutique. Our lakeside hotel room provided us with spectacular views of Lake Lugano and the forested mountains in the distance.

The following morning, our walking tour of Lugano brought us through the town and to this provocative piece of public art. The bronze sculpture is by the Polish artist Igor Mitoraj, called Eros Bendato or Eros Bound and was created in 1999.

Eros Bendato by Igor Mitoraj
photo by Joan Naidorf

By far, the most unique experience was provided in the public washrooms. Some designer with a “vision” brings the user to stainless steel marvel of fold down seats, spraying water spigots and a catchall commode. The WC experience made a huge impression on our group of travelers. After our tour, we loaded into boats and got a wine tasting experience on our way across the lake to another restaurant. We spent two pleasant days in Lugano before our next dip back into Italy.

For our next day trip, we drove to another dock on Lake Como and travelled across to the scenic town of Bellagio. There was ample opportunity to stroll and shop here. I got to replace an Italian cashmere scarf that I had lost around Alexandria. The Italian leather goods beckoned in the many shops and stands. The last call for Italian shopping came before a boat ride across Como and back to Switzerland.

Street in Bellagio
photo by Joan Naidorf

Somehow our skilled motorcoach driver navigated the precarious switchbacks of the mountain pass to St Moritz, Switzerland. After checking into our swanky hotel, we walked towards the town and had a lovely turn around the lake there. It would be hard to beat the setting of a little pop-up beer garden looking up at the town. We joined many locals kicking back and enjoying the scenery.

Besides its reputation as a winter sports capitol, St. Moritz is the endpoint or start point of the scenic Glacier Express train route through the Swiss Alps. We boarded in the early morning to enjoy the iconic views through the domed train cars. The rail line, constructed in the 1920’s represents quite an achievement of engineering and construction across multiple valleys, aqueducts, and tunneled sections. The mountain views are truly stunning and come close to these fabulous pictures.

We reached the end of the line town of Andermatt., boarded our coach, and drove the last leg of our day to Interlaken. Interlaken is a delightful little town that serves as a base to the surrounding mountains and ski areas. On our first evening, we walked to the Harder Kulm funicular and headed to the apex of the local hilltop. After a few pics, we enjoyed one of the best dinners of the trip. We saw the clouds waft by the restaurant windows as we savored our meal. We needed to settle in for the next day’s visit to the Jungfrau, the “top” of Europe. Stay tuned

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