Stresa Day 11

The crew met for breakfast at 9 today. It was really good! They did offer some kind of bacon - that was a bit more crispy than usual and was  pretty tasty! I had yogurt with granola, bread with cherry jelly, half a pear and of course a piece of the "bacon". The coffee comes with hot milk and it was excellent. I did have a small glass of juice that was orange, lemon, carrot and peach juice. Hmmm..a bit tart but tasty.

After breakfast we met in the lobby and headed for the boat dock. The kids and I plotted the story line of our video today and shot our first scene by the boats. It was going to be a discovery trip where they found a new species of bird. Of course spoken in an Australian/British/Pirate accent. While we were doing this, boat captains came out from everywhere to try to get you to ride with them instead of the main big boat. They offered the same price as buying a ticket at the main counter, but you didn't have to pay any kind of taxes. It ran hour on the hour and he even had a credit card machine in his boat. It made no difference to us, so we opted for the smaller boat. We boarded and it held less than 40 people, but there were maybe only15 or so on it. It took us around Isola Bella and made the first stop at the little island next door (not much to see there) and then it docked on Bella. 

We decided to do the Palace/Garden tour. As many times as we've been here, we've never taken the time to look at the gardens. The palace was nice and Cara was narrating some of the story boards. We saw the room where Napoleon slept, but apparently he came unannounced with 60 of his people and they only stayed two nights, left a smelly mess and were quite rude. Funny. There are some other stories I've heard about the island, but will need to wiki them and add to the blog. (Found it...gardenvisit.com says: A small rocky island in Lake Maggiore is wholly occupied by the Borromeo villa and its garden extravaganza. Soil was shipped in. Like a flower-strewn barge, the island now drifts amongst the snow-capped mountains of the lake. Following the baroque taste for placing a villa at the centre of a layout and allowing avenues to draw the scenery into a garden, Isola Bella employs the lake and mountains as garden features. Local legend relates that the ladies of Borromeo's household asked the Count to build on the island so that they would not have to listen to prisoners screaming in the dungeons of his mainland castle. The stepped terraces remind one of painters' interpretations of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.) In the garden the kids and I finished up our short film and they are quite the little actors. There were actually some beautiful peacocks that were all white. They are oblivious to the people poking ad prodding at them, but there was apparently some territorial issues between the men peacocks and the one poor girl bird that wanted nothing to do with their affections. 

After the tour we did a bit of shopping (I bought a new red purse) and decided to have some lunch. We ate at the same place we eat at every time. It is good food, but because of the location on the water we don't seem to venture to a new eatery. Why change now? :) I ordered a caprese salad as I didn't really want hot food and the rest of the table shared pizzas and spaghetti. The pizzas were said to have been excellent and they certainly looked good! After lunch a few gelatos were purchased and Cara and the kids perused the gip joints. John got a type of sling shot and quickly acquired some rocks. He could shoot them pretty far out into the water. I could see he really wanted to aim at the nearby ducks, but I'm sure he feared the wrath of those around if he even pointed in their direction. 

When we were waiting for our boat, another taxi was backing out and bumped into a fast local guy that came in too hot. I think it was not the taxi guy's fault, but he certainly wasn't watching either. He leaned out of the boat to see if there was damage and a few words and gestures were exchanged...then they both went on about their business. The next boat that arrived was not our guy, but Guy showed him our tickets and he waved us on. We were back at the main boat dock within minutes and Cara and the girls stayed behind in the town to shop, while Guy and I, along with the two Johns headed for the hotel. We chose the rooftop pool, and the Johns went for the big pool by the lake. More room for the youngest John to jump around in. When we got to the top, there was only one other person up here, so it is nice and quiet. Guy and I took a quick dip and then sat in the sun to warm up. It certainly didn't take long! I sat in my chair and edited the "movie". It was a low budget short film, but I'm certain it will win some kind of award. (At least from the grand parents)

Guy and I talk about coming to Italy in retirement and living in Stresa for about 3 months. It is beautiful, but part of what makes it so fun is staying at the La Palma, overlooking the lake, and sipping drinks on the hipster rooftop by the pool. We obviously can't afford to stay here for 3 months, so we may re-think our plan. I think we need to apartment shop on Lake Como...but Stresa is certainly beautiful. It's fun to think about it anyway, even if it never really happens. ;)

We ate dinner again tonight at the Mamma Mia. The staff is so nice and they love Big John (I think he likes them, too!) Our food was great. Guy ordered calamari and they suggested two plates to make sure everyone got a bite. Good plan. Lots more fish dishes were ordered tonight and Cara and I got pizzas. Tasty! As we got ready to go, the staff had their photo taken with big John and they were cute. They also gave him a jar of their super spicy peppers (he better slide that over to Cara, she's the only one at the table that can handle it). After we said our goodbyes to the staff, the fam headed over for one last gelato. We hate it that it is their last night. I think this has been the best family trip ever. The kids are awesome and love trying new things. Food. Adventures. Boats. You name it. 

On the walk home we took a few more videos in slow mo and one in time lapse. I think there is a slight chance we may have worn the kids out. LOL. Back at the hotel Cara and I airdropped some last pics to each other (thanks for the one of Guy holding a cat purse...he'll love that when he sees it in the day's photos). We went outside the hotel and sat up the phone to take a family photo. We did several takes, but I think we got a pretty nice one. After that, big hugs all around to everyone. They have a breakfast awaiting them at 6:30 am...and Guy will make his way down there...I on the other hand, even tho I love them all dearly, am going to stay under the covers as they'll be on their car ride to the Milan airport by 7am. I'll see them all in about 10 days from now... 

Back in the room I uploaded today's photos and watched some of the videos of the kids. I sure do love those guys. Wow. And for the first time ever on a vacation I feel a little homesicky. I think it's just because everyone is leaving tomorrow and we've had such a good time it's hard to see them go. So to help ease the yucky feeling in my gut, I Vibered my mom and surfed Facebook to see what everyone at home was doing. Not sure any of that helped. :|  But one more day in Stresa (we've located a laundry mat - tomorrow's duty in the morning) and then a train ride down to catch our cruise. I'm sure all the excitement from that will ease my homesickness as it will be all new places and all new adventures. Homesick? I must have a fever!! 

Good night from Stresa.