The Islands Are Calling, And We Must Go

To get to Monday morning, we first have to go through Sunday late afternoon/night.  Okay, so I will cover that quickly. . .we went into Stresa and did laundry, then had gelato, walked down to the lake in town, and generally enjoyed ourselves, despite the heat.  (Heat motivates a person to eat their gelato quickly).

Dinner back at the hotel, because it's excellent food and it's easy. . .no concerns about drinking and driving, for example.  Then, a nightcap on the balcony watching the mountains and the lake.  It's a pretty good way to end the day.

(Editor: Hold on there cowboy.  You implied that you did laundry.  Blogger: Did I?  I don't remember.  Editor: It's right in the paragraph above this one!  Blogger: Okay, Carol did laundry, I drove her there/back and provided emotional support.  Editor: Emotional support?  Are you kidding me.  Blogger: Look, tbh, Carol doesn't want me doing laundry, because she believes I will screw it up.  And she believes that because I WOULD screw it up!  Editor: Mamma mia!  I need to find a different line of work than editing this blog!).

"Blogger: Can we get back to Iron Tourism?

Madison: Please?"

Through the hotel, I had booked a motorboat to take us to the islands.  There are shuttle boats from downtown Stresa, but I wanted the low Stresa way to go. In typical Iron Tourist fashion, I had asked for a 9 am start, but the islands don't open until 10 am, so we got to sleep in a bit.

Max picked us up in his boat right at the hotel's dock, which was across the street.  Easy peasy, we cruised across the lake to Isole Madre.

Our hotel from the water.

Wife on a boat.

Good view of the escarpment

Looking back to shore, Carol is choosing

which Italian lakeside villa to buy

if we ever strike it rich.

The clock tower of Pescatori.

We docked on the island and wound our way around the path to the ticket office. The path was lined with pretty flowers and bushes, affording nice views back toward Stresa and Mottarone.  There was a line for tickets, but with two people working, it moved pretty quickly.  I bought the three combination ticket, which would allow us to skip the lines both on Isole Bella and Rocca di Angera. 

The ticketseller was skeptical I would drive the 40 kilometers to go to the Rocca di Angera, but the combo ticket was good for one use through November, and I was planning to go the next day.  So, all good, saving time and money.

Carol on the island.

(Editor: Of course she's on the island.  She is clearly not on the boat.  Noting the obvious is NOT the standard of writing your readers are used to.  Blogger: Whimper.  Thanks a ton. If you hadn't pointed out the vacuous nature of the caption, people would have breezed right by it!)

The gardens on Isola Madre are stunning.  Isola Bella's gardens are more formal and more famous, but I preferred the simple beauty of Madre's gardens.  We walked the largest circle around the island (which is the largest of the three).