A Few Nice Pics

View from dinner.

The hotel pool.

 

A Wonderful Wine Tasting

I had signed us up for a wine tasting at our hotel for Monday night before dinner at 7pm.  The hotel seemed to have forgotten we were doing it (just the two of us).  But they whipped into action and quickly put it together.

The wine tasting featured one white and two reds.  Our sommelier was so taken by our interest that he poured us a glass of Rose to try as well.  All were local wines, starting with the Arneis, a white grape.  Then we had a 2019 Nebbiolo from Agamium, and finally a 2017 Barolo Nebbiolo produced by Boroli. 

They also provided us with a large charcuterie board, with excellent meats and cheeses.  It also was enough for a meal.  And the wine “tastings” were full-on pours; none of the minuscule wimpy one-twelfth of a glass pour at a U.S. wine tasting, this was the real deal.  In all we enjoyed five glasses of wine – doubles of the white, the rose, and then the two reds. 

Our sommelier, whose first name escapes us alas, was a young, enthusiastic fellow originally from Tuscany.  He was quite enjoyable to talk with and he knew his wines.  

Needless to say, we did not have any wine with an abbreviated first course dinner!

Wine Room.

Charcuterie board.

Our sommelier.

Three of the four wines.

 

A Palace Fit For The Prince of Northern Italy

Okay, so I’m a bit vague on the actual name of the title of the Borromeo family.  I think it was Prince, but of what?  I suppose over the years, as the borders changed, the title changed constantly.  I also saw references to Duke, and maybe something else I don't even remember now.

The family still owns Isola Bella and Isola Madre.  I’m not sure about Pescatori, but we ended up not going there because of the heat, so it doesn’t matter much.

Max took us to the north end of the Isola Bella, which turned out perfect because it was right near the entrance to the palace and far away from the souvenir stands and likely crappy restaurants.  

Oddly, we didn’t go into the Palace right away, as we were both enjoying the northern tip of the island and trying to rehydrate.

Carol on the Northern end of Isola Bella

Isola Madre from Isola Bella.

A villa on the Western shore of the Lake,

photo taken from Isola Belle.

The decorations really go for Baroque.  The family still uses the palace a couple of weeks during the summer, but I saw no evidence that they were in residence during the five days we stayed nearby.

The palace is huge and impressive.  After going up the stairs past the stucco crests of Italy’s top families, including the Medici (balls) and the Barberini (bees), we spotted the Borromeo’s crest featuring a unicorn (a theme repeated at spots throughout the palace and gardens).

A heavy hitter family crest.

The Borromeo family crest.

The family symbol -- a unicorn.

Then we wandered through the picture gallery, which has 130 restored 16th-century paintings from the family’s private collection, which even outnumbers our paintings.  

Most family portraits are larger than this one.

But I was quite struck by this, because it

is completely different than the average

Borromeo family portrait painting.

Chandelier, plus part of the picture gallery.  Impressive ceiling.

The Borromeo throne.

The throne room is stunning, the Queen’s double room is impressive (maybe they were called Kings?), and the dining room is surprisingly understated.  The most incredible room in the Palace is the stuccoed grand hall boasting an 80 foot high dome.

This guy is intense.

Queen's double room.

I gotta hand it to the sculptor.

A cheerful cherub.

The family symbol.

Elton John once coveted this piano, which

is in the room of the failed 1935

Stresa Conference, which sought

to stop World War II.  It didn't work.

Next came the music room, which was the site of the 1935 Stresa Conference, where Mussolini met with British and French diplomats in an attempt to keep Germany from starting WWII.  Spoiler alert, the attempt failed to stop the war, largely because shortly afterwards, Mussolini invaded Ethiopia and joined the Axis, um, axis.

(Editor: And to think that at one point in your youth, you wanted to a historian.  Blogger: How did you know that. . .do you have insider information or something?)

We also saw Napoleon’s bedroom when he visited for one night in 1797.  Then, back down stairs to see more of the family’s creepy marionettes.  (Think of the Von Tropp family puppet show, but half of the puppets looking like Chucky.)

Cool view from a window.

Napoleon's bed.  He had zero 

chance of hitting his head

on the canopy.

Carol and I sped through the creepy marionettes.  (Editor: Why do you always include “creepy” in front of “marionettes.”  Blogger: Have you seen some of these things?)

Next comes a multi-room grotto, designed to provide relief on hot days.  (The grotto didn’t beat this heat, he writes from personal experience.)  Then there is a hall with 16th-century Flemish tapestries. 

A full tapestry.

An ostrich eating grapes.

A battle royale between a unicorn

and a couple of big cats!

Perhaps lions?

We went out into the gardens, which are beautiful and they went for Baroque.  (Editor: You don’t have to make that joke EVERY time you mention Baroque.  Blogger: Hey, if it ain’t Baroque, don’t fix it!  Editor: Certainly you are the first person to ever use that joke!)

Carol sat on a shaded bench while I went off to explore the sumptuous gardens.  Although these are fancier gardens, I still prefer the variety found on Isole Madra.

The center-piece of the gardens.

These fish were playing it coy.

Okay, so that's a cool shot.

I like the trees in the foreground serving

as a frame for the escarpment.

And then it was time meet Max and the boat.  We ended up having to go past the souvenir stands, but weren’t the least bit tempted.

Our man Max and his boat.

The Palace.

The Island with the

mountain behind it.

We drove into Stresa for a late lunch, and then came back to the hotel. That afternoon I worked upstairs in our suite, while Carol napped to recover from her losing battle from the heat.  

Carol's Turn To Be Hammered By The Heat

After the birds and the cypress tree, we headed into the 16th century villa, which was kind of a starter mansion for the Borromeo family.  They lived there for about 100 years before building the massive palace on Isola Bella.

Carol was starting to have a rough time from the heat.  I suppose it was her turn on Monday after my bad go on Saturday in Milan.  She didn't get hit as hard as I did, but she decided she had to blow through the villa quickly, because the air is quite still inside.  For some reason they didn't think to open many windows to let some modest air flow happen.  It's never good on a hot day when indoors is hotter than outdoors.

The villa was interesting, to a point.  And that point was when I got to room after room of creepy marionettes.  I suppose if you are interested in that kind of thing, it would be interesting, but it's not to me.

Before that point, however, the various rooms -- reception room, seasons room, Venetian lounge, the Library, and more are beautifully decorated.  The bedrooms feature canopy beds.

The Borromeos were bankers in Milan after 1370.  Vitaliano de' Vitaliani became count of Arona in 1445 and really got the family influence going.  There is a document from 1501 that transferred the islands to the Borromeo family, but they transferred the island to another family in 1520.  In 1563, Renato Borromeo reacquired the property, and they have owned it ever since.  That's when the villa was built. 

Gustave Flaubert called Isola Madre "The most voluptuous place I've seen in the world," primarily for the gardens and trees, not for the villa, but it was a quick walk-through of interest.  

Old clocks interest me.

View from a window.

One of the many portraits

of dead Borromeo

family members.

Canopy bed of amazing height.

Fabulous fresco.

Tapestry.

I was well above the lily pond when I

took this photo.  I had no idea the

little froggy was there!

A view of the villa as we left.

Note the flowering bushes.

Carol was not feeling any better from the heat as we departed the island for Isola Bella, but I made the command decision to whack Isola Pescatori from our agenda.

One Of The Oldest Kashmir Cypress Trees

Just outside the villa on Isola Madre is an impressive Kashmir cypress tree that is 160 years old.  Knocked down by a tornado in 2006, it was saved by quick work paid for by the Borromeo family.  

The tree is still held up by cables.  There were a couple of white Chinese peacocks feeding beneath the tree.