High seas, family, adventures

марта - мая 2023
  • Ailsa G
Ten weeks, thirteen countries, come with us...... Читать далее
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  • Just paint, not marble or plaster on the walls and ceilingBeautiful organ'Cheap' golden altarA smooth ladyDoor for VERY short people

    Copenhagen Day Tour - part 1

    3 мая 2023 г., Дания ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    Copenhagen - 3/5
    We had arranged a day tour for the family – Pete and I had done this six years ago and really enjoyed it so ……https://hamlettours.com/grand-day-trip-around-c… - open the link and click on Tour Description then scroll down to each stop where it says ‘Read More’ – that saves me writing all about each place. It gives a brief description and history, worth having a look, it has a few photos as well.

    We were picked up at the door by driver/guide Benji, 15 people in a minibus, and the history lesson started straight away. He had a good sense of humour along with all the information so it was definitely not boring though quite a recitation of dates and names through around 12 or more centuries. By way of a change, on the way he pointed out a housing estate beside a golf course, they were designed by Jorn Utzon who was responsible for the Sydney Opera House. These 60 houses were so different, called the ‘Roman Houses’ apparently based on houses in Pompeii, all a browny yellow colour, very square, almost all the same – nothing like a Sydney ‘sail’ to be seen.

    Our first stop was at Roskilde Cathedral, Roskilde was the capital of Denmark around 960 and the cathedral built 12/13th centuries using brick which apparently meant it was lighter and easier to put windows in. You can see the different bricks from different ages in the walls, slightly different colours and sizes as it was added to over the years. Inside we saw the coffins of Danish monarchs for at least 500 years, lots of gold and black velvet. The current queen though is going the complete opposite and will have a crystal coffin. There were several side rooms including one with several coffins and two enormous paintings which looked like they were in marble frames with plaster or marble decorations but in fact it was all trompe l’oeil, so realistic.

    The organ is really beautiful and I loved the metal man dancing on the gate. I also noticed again that each arm rest on the seats near the altar was different, little faces, quite detailed but worn quite smooth over hundreds of years. The aisles had large stone carvings set into them, all sorts of 'people' mostly worn quite smooth by thousands of feet walking on them through the centuries.

    There was a great story about the beautiful altar – the king had created a barrier so that he could stop ships going up the channel and tax them on the value of their cargoes, but the king also had the right to check out the cargoes and ‘buy’ what took his fancy. One captain undervalued the cargo, which included the beautiful altar, and………you can guess the rest. And now it’s in the cathedral for all to see.

    Keep reading to see parts 2, 3 and 4 about today's tour
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  • Copenhagen Day Tour - part 2

    3 мая 2023 г., Дания ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    Copenhagen 3/5
    Second stop was the Viking Ship Museum where they have five ships which had been scuttled in the channel, by filling them with stones, to protect the town from attack – stop enemies getting to it. The displays detailed how they were found, then the process of raising them, preserving them piece by piece. I’ve copied this:

    The five ships displayed in the Viking Ship Museum were sunk around the year 1070. They were originally built between 1024 and 1040. This has been established by studying the rings of the wood from the ships. It has also been established that the ships were built in Ireland, Norway and Denmark. This underlines the size of the Viking empire. The largest of the five ships is a Viking war ship that could carry 60 warriors on the famous Viking raids where we conquered England, Paris, Normandy and many other regions and towns across Western Europe. The other ships were cargo and fishing ships. The ships were raised from the seabed in 1962. The local fishermen had known about the ship wrecks for a long time before that. One additional ship actually got lost because the fishermen caught part of it in their nets and used it as fire wood during the second world war.

    As you can see in the photos they are well set out, and there’s a replica ship built to scale by the looks of it where kids can dress up and pretend to be Vikings, sit on the boards to row the ship etc. Ellie loved it.

    They had gaming pieces found in the area, copies of tapestries depicting Vikings, and a good photo description of how the replica, now in the marina next to the museum, was built. There were some other ships outside, one with school kids all squished onto the rowing benches, and a small ship with its sail up out in the channel. Also there are workshops where they show how things were done. Another worthwhile place to see, and not enough time to see it all unfortunately.

    Benjie made a fair point about keeping to time – the tour takes roughly nine hours, they need to be on time for the pickup (we weren’t, had to wait several minutes for the last person to join us at the main departure place) and at each departure point because it’s timed for traffic, opening hours etc. We did have our time at Roskilde cut short a bit, and the last place was a rush because there’d been a traffic jam at one point. However, in the long run it was well worth doing the tour.

    Keep reading for parts 3 and 4
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  • Checking out what's going on in the church

    Copenhagen Day Tour - Part 3

    3 мая 2023 г., Дания ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    Copenhagen 3/5
    Fredericksborg Palace https://hamlettours.com/frederiksborg-palace/ was the third stop but we all had lunch first at a tour-recommended restaurant, very quick service, great food and a discount for the group. Had a short walk to the palace then wound out way through a couple of gatehouses, huge courtyard and to the palace itself, most of which was rebuilt in the mid-1800s following a disastrous fire. However, the beautiful church was intact, it dates back to the early 1600s and is still in use – what an amazing place to get married. There are hundreds of coats of arms around the walls, a little bit of stained glass, a really lovely silvery altar and the organ is a fairly well-worn wooden box built in 1610 but at the other end of the church are the 1001 wooden pipes made of different types of exotic woods and beautifully decorated.

    We went into the enormous ballroom where Ellie had a ‘ball’ dancing from one side to the other, and all the walls are covered in tapestries. One more room has a long entrance hall that’s Wedgewood blue and white plasterwork on the ceiling, windows on both sides and overlooks the gardens and lake. Y

    ou would need a day here to take it all in, and what a view the houses on the other side of the lake must have, looking back at the palace. We wound our way through room after room of paintings of people – don’t you love the harassed-looking man and the woman with the taped-up mouth? Another had a display of miniatures and various orders/decorations worn by the royal family, one recurring seems to be the Order of the Elephant though I couldn't see a full explanation of the significance but here's one example. There were a few rooms set up, all very luxurious, but the bedroom really took my fancy – small bed but lots of bling. You also had to look upwards because some of the ceilings were very detailed and had beautiful colours.

    The family had gone through more quickly than the grandparents, they had time for an icecream before our pick-up time. We strolled to the exit past a bunch of staff members about five meters from the ‘no smoking sign’ on the gatehouse. And we saw lots of ducks in the water and one on a nest, just like the one in Delft.
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  • Luxury renovationSee the slippers by the bed, poor Princess AnnaChapel pewEllie in the dungeon - 40 people could be squeezed in here, no room to sit down

    Copenhagen Day Tour - Part 4

    3 мая 2023 г., Дания ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    Copenhagen 3/5
    Last stop was Kronborg (Crown) Castle, 4km across the water from Sweden and of course very strategic in the protection of Denmark with its many cannons pointed seaward and a zigzag entryway so the enemy couldn’t shoot straight through the front gate. https://hamlettours.com/kronborg-castle/ We wound up and down stairs and into the high-up ballroom and down into the dungeons. Benjie was great with the kids and Ellie especially was following right behind him, hanging on his every word. We parked outside a big marina and ferry port and crossed over the old dry docks which have now been turned into a marine museum and café, then had a bit of a walk through the grounds to the old moat. There was a lot to see in a short time but we made the most of it. I really liked the chapel, one of the few parts of the castle not to have been burned down a few centuries ago. It was quite simple but looking carefully, all the carved pew ends were different and detailed. One room was being renovated, all the painted ceiling panels had been taken down, cleaned, and were in the process of being put back up, not sure if the room would stay white as you can see in the photo, but it certainly makes the colours of the panels stand out.

    A few stories:
    One of the kings got to mid-30’s, still unmarried, got desperate and asked the various kingdoms to send paintings of likely princesses. He checked them all out (like Tinder, one bright spark said, swipe left or right) and chose Princess Anna who turned up with an entourage of 40 and……..she didn’t look anything like the painting. So that was a no from him. However, she had her cousin with her, Sophie, she was only 14 and he fancied her. So Anna was put aside to wait for a ship to take her home, they had furnished her rather small room, it even had her slippers alongside the bed. The king waited until Sophie was 15 and married her, they had children and lived……..not very happily ever after because he died quite young.

    Story about the ballroom, HUGE room 62m long, with a turret room in one corner that was used as a toilet: it was filled with hay, people did what they needed to and the servants pushed the hay out through a door to outside the turret. The kids (and adults) liked that story.

    Bedwarmers – simple: put two or three servants in the bed until you were ready to turn in, out go the servants and in goes the king etc into a nice warm bed.

    And the castle attics, why did they have a whole lot of wheat stored up there? Because they made an enormous amount of beer, the soldiers had an allowance per day of 8 litres, it was stored in vats and barrels in the dungeons along with vast quantities of salted herrings. The soldiers had herrings and beer six days a week, meat only on one day a week, not a great diet. The soldiers lived down in the cellars and guarded the prisoners, low ceilings and very very dark, a very authentic feel when we were walking through over uneven ground.

    So that was our excellent tour, everyone was pretty tired afterwards and very happy to be dropped off at our door at the end.
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  • View into the churchOur apartment is bottom centre, a great locationNyhavn coloursThe (very) Little MermaidTightrope walkerGrass on the roof

    Surprise, surprise and Kiwi pies

    4 мая 2023 г., Дания ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Copenhagen 4/5 - Star Wars Day (May the fourth......)
    This was going to be a fairly lazy day after Wednesday’s big day out, so Pete and I decided to go over the road to have a look at the Round Tower which we didn’t think would take very long. We were very wrong, what a great place to visit. It’s about 35 meters high with an observation deck almost at the top, and an observatory in the dome. It was finished in 1642, was the centre of the Regensen University which still uses the attached space and still has very old student accommodation across the street. It has a hollow core but there’s no definite reason for it, and you get to the top via a ramp that spins 7 ½ times around and part of the reason for it was so a horse and cart could take up heavy equipment as well as books etc to the library. It’s also attached to the church next door and there’s a great view through a window looking right through into the church.

    The views continue as you walk up the very easy brick slope, we could even look down into the courtyard of our apartment as well as, from the very top, across to the port and a huge bridge. They have a great system allowing people up and down the short, narrow, winding staircase to the observation deck – three minutes each way controlled by red and green lights. We got stuck with a troop of jostling impatient school kids who had been having races round the spiral, who would get there first?

    There was an old privy with a wooden seat and apparently emptying into a huge holding tank down below, it wasn’t cleaned out for about 60 years hence the pipe-smoking habit of students to mask the smell. Just imagine it. The bell loft had massive beams as well as a display of small items found under floorboards during a recent renovation. The library was light and bright, used as a small concert hall or meeting room but also had very good displays highlighting parts of the history of the university.

    One story was about a choirboy about 150 years ago, he was playing hide and seek and fell 25 meters down the central core and lived to tell the tale. They had to dig into the wall to get him out and he only had some loosened teeth and bruises. These days they’ve put a thick glass cover on it and you can stand on it and look down the length of the core.

    Hans Christian Andersen was known to have used the university library and spent a lot of time at the tower and he references it in several of his stories, one being The Tinderbox where he says the biggest dog had eyes as large as the Round Tower
    https://andersen.sdu.dk/vaerk/hersholt/TheTinde…

    I left Pete reading and went ‘home’, got out of the lift to find the family laughing and looking a bit guilty, next thing from the kitchen walked Andy’s Singapore schoolmate, Jon, who had come across from London for a couple of days to see us, so lovely of him to do that, we were really pleased. The kids didn’t know he was coming (they’d never have kept the secret) and Pete had a great surprise too.

    So we had to celebrate the visitor’s arrival with our second attempt to find the Wild Kiwi Pie Shop, we made it this time (it helps to take the correct train), only a small place and they had a great menu, some had two pies, Ellie just had fries. Jon remembered the pies I kept in the freezer in Singapore, the boys used to heat them in the microwave, goodness knows how many we went through – they were an Aussie brand so the pies today were much better of course. They had a bowl of small nibbles of very more-ish ginger slice so I had to have dessert instead of a second pie, delicious. I was tempted by the lemon meringue pies too but resisted.

    Had a chat to the owner, ex Canterbury and Auckland, he’s been here around seven years and business has been doing well, even through Covid. He said that a lot of Danish businesses supply lunch for their staff and they’d been doing that pre-Covid, then when people were locked down they decided they didn’t want to make lunch so ordered pies, and now about 80% of their trade is in orders or takeaway pies, the rest in the café part. He’s put kiwiana around the walls, the toilet is labelled ‘wharepaku’, there are books to read such as Hairy Maclary, Footrot Flats, the Tui ‘Yeah Right’ book.

    Next stop was Nyhavn where we did the one hour tourist boat trip, had a very good guide who gave us lots of information about the pretty coloured houses by the wharf where we started, the various buildings we were seeing, the royal yacht was anchored in the bay and we had a great view of the Little Mermaid’s back, along with a number of tourists clambering around her looking for the best shot. He pointed out the new theatre which was built partly on big piles supposedly to mimic Venice, and noted that when it gets very hot they pipe sea water through the building to cool it down. Justyna and I liked the look of some new apartments, especially the ones with the grass roof, quite a contrast to the repurposed factory/warehouse next door.

    One thing out of the ordinary – there was some kind of contest going on and both sides of a wide channel were packed with people watching a man walking a tightrope from bank to bank, probably all hoping he’d fall in. I don’t know how many tried and made it, but it was an unusual site.

    We had a good evening reminiscing about the Singapore days and catching up on Jon and our family news. A great surprise.
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  • Today's cat
    1816 KFCSouvenirs - just to prove we did go to SwedenHow many open sandwiches can a person eat?Bad stock in this shop

    Sweden for lunch

    5 мая 2023 г., Швеция ⋅ 🌬 8 °C

    Copenhagen and Malmo 5/5
    Great excitement today, we went to Sweden for lunch – took the train across the water to Malmo just because we could. We’d been told to take our passports but not sure why, maybe in case we got stuck there, but there was no way a whole train-load of people was going to be checked. The trains run approximately every 15 minutes, a journey of around 45 minutes.

    We walked a short distance to a small square and Ellie spied KFC so that was lunch sorted, and I have to say they were an awful lot more efficient that KFC Tahuna. Upstairs where we ate there was a beautiful old fireplace/heater and a notice saying the building dated from 1816. A pretty posh KFC.

    Justyna had heard of a design museum (she is an interior designer) and was keen to have a look, it was very close by in an older part of town, lots of old buildings including one bright yellow with a very wonky floor, and another brick building with a lovely façade dated 1525. I found stone cats but they were too heavy to take home and too expensive at about $300 each. However I did find a nice blue glass cat which found its way into my bag so I was happy. On the exhibition floor one item stood out, a dress made in part from a lifejacket and two sleeping bags, it wouldn’t have been out of place at Wearable arts.

    So that was Sweden, and the 40th country on my list – 42 countries for Pete.

    We spent the rest of the afternoon chatting then saw Jon on his way to the station and airport, and I got on with catching up on my writing.

    Random stuff and photos around Copenhagen and Malmo
    Some observations:
    • I saw the word ‘Stenhuggeri’ next to a yard full of blank tombstones of all kinds, looked it up on line and yes, it’s a quarry with an emphasis on tombstones, but the word looked quite funny……
    • As did the word ‘BAD’ in a shop on a set of shelves full of rather nice towels and other household items
    • In another shop called ‘Normal’ which has a wide variety of household goods but mostly cosmetics, beaty aids, soap etc (Palmolive hand soap pump pack the equivalent of less than NZ$3) – here I saw baby dummies/pacifiers right next to a big stand of condoms. Is there a message in that?
    • In central Copenhagen there are wide cycleways, the bike is certainly king here with all sorts being seen such as cargo bikes and we’ve seen a few with a fairly big box on the front filled with six or seven little kids. The lanes are a bit like St Vincent Street – footpath, bike lane, parking and then the roads which can be quite narrow with all those extras
    • We’ve been woken at 7am by VERY noisy rubbish collectors dragging the big wheely bins over the cobbles in the yard and yelling at the top of their voices
    • The 8am church bells across the road sounded MUCH nicer
    • Along the railway sidings I saw workmen with big paint rollers covering over lots of tagging with plain grey paint, a very good idea but I wonder how long it will last before the next lot?
    • There are a lot of roundabouts on the roads, really well kept with flowers or well-trimmed shrubs. Also small green spaces at crossroads or grassed road dividers at this time of year with spring flowers, very pretty too with lots of daffodils. There doesn’t appear to be the nonsense we had in Nelson with the ‘dangerous’ tidying (or not tidying) of roundabouts.

    End of random stuff and time for bed.
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  • Last day in Copenhagen

    6 мая 2023 г., Дания ⋅ 🌬 11 °C

    Copenhagen 6/5
    Two weeks with the Polish family has gone past all too quickly and we’re packing up now, setting off for Italy first thing Sunday morning.

    This morning we headed for Tivoli Gardens in sporadic sunshine and the same bitter wind – we spent a fair amount of time waiting for the kids to have their rides but never mind, they had a pretty good time especially on the last one which was a 360 degree roller coaster. Both admitted to being a bit scared, and the photos taken bear that out, but they said it was a lot of fun.

    We had pizza for lunch, nice Italian restaurant, and that was my birthday treat (one day early). Unlike Legoland the adults didn’t go on any rides but we did a fair bit of people-watching. Tivoli was fairly busy but the entertainment stages were packed with young people singing, playing instruments etc so I think a lot of the people in the park were family supporters. There was one large group playing recorders………..I think many of us would think back to our own kids’ efforts when they were six or seven and smile/grimace?

    The gardens themselves are lovely, lots of tulips and daffodils out at the moment, hyacinths and there was a line of about ten small fig trees about five feet tall, all had quite a bit of fruit on which surprised me. Some of the rides were closed and there’s not a lot of them, it’s only about a quarter the size of Legoland I think, and there were two or three sideshow alleys where you tried to hit a target etc, so in that respect it was more commercial.

    It filled in a solid 4 ½ hours anyway, and we had a good walk there and back. A nice way to finish the holiday.

    A few more things I’ve noticed or that we’ve done:
    • We’ve had lovely fresh croissants every morning thanks to a great bakery around the corner and two men happy to take an early walk to get provisions, delicious.
    • The days are quite long here, it’s light around 5am and still fairly light to almost 9.30 – wish we had the temperatures to match, it’s been 10 or below with a bitter wind for a few days. Never mind, looking forward to 20+ in Italy.
    • I like knowing how old buildings are, and with New Zealand being so ‘young’ it’s quite exciting to see a building with a date on it from 16- or 17-something. And you see beautiful statues and wonder who they are or what they did. I’ve put a few random photos in this post.
    • In the shops I’ve seen a Nutella equivalent called ‘Crunchie Spread’ – chocolate with hokey pokey in it apparently, I love Crunchies but this doesn’t do it for me.
    • In Denmark cat treat Temptations are called ‘Catisfactions’ – same picture on the packet.
    • I love Werther’s Originals toffees – and found a packet of Werther’s caramel popcorn, it’s delicious.

    And that’s it from Denmark.
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  • Stolen photo but shows the poppies on the railway line
    The train driver was in a hurryHappy birthday to me - a cat and proseccoStresa waterfront and houses, so prettyLots of statues along the lakeTucked away behind our hotel, spied it while out walkingChimney pots next doorOutside a little BnB in the old townMini limoncello, Pete said 'no' to buying any (isn't the Italy 'boot' bottle very strange?)Across from our hotel, spooks ready to get you in the dusk - or is it ready for demo/reno?

    Italy here we come

    7 мая 2023 г., Италия ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    7/5 Copenhagen to Stresa – a long day
    My birthday – first present……wake up, wake up, time to go. So we were up at 4.30, left the family still sleeping at 5, walk to the station, train to the airport. I’d done on line check in so bag drop was easy, x-rays had a short line-up and fairly unsmiling staff, and then……..

    Did anyone want to see our passports? We had them ready but they weren’t checked at all at Copenhagen nor on arrival in Rome – not until we got to the hotel in Stresa. So I guess once in Europe you’re there and that’s it.

    Plenty of eating places in Copenhagen airport, it seems quite new, and we were happy with a large shared ham/cheese/tomato/mayo toasted roll and a shared Danish (of course) pastry. Uneventful flight to Rome where we walked for miles to get to the baggage collection, and another lengthy walk to get to the train station.

    Soooo……..a Eurail train pass using the app instead of a paper pass that we’ve had on an earlier trip. Hmmm, we’d be hesitant to do that again. Some legs of travel need a booked seat but this can’t be done on the app, you have to use the laptop. Once booked, the trips don’t show up on the app. Also, reserving seats is costly and we ended up paying an extra $200 to do this on top of buying the pass. In the long run probably cheaper with the pass but if there’s a next time I’d try to get a paper pass.

    Having got the pass and booked seats we couldn’t work out how to actually activate the pass, nor could our travel agent get that information from Eurail for us, so we thought ‘ok, just wing it’, got on the trains at the airport, Rome Termini and Milan thinking we’d get some sort of hassle but the only time we had to show a ticket was on the train near to Stresa, all we could do was show the guard our printed confirmation of purchase, and the app summary which said who we were and what kind of pass. The guard kind of rolled his eyes, said ‘OK’ and off he went. Still not terribly confident about how we’ll get on with the next legs, let’s see.

    We had time for McDonald’s which we ate standing against a wall watching the crowded Rome Termini station and anxiously watching the board waiting for a platform to Milan, along with several other people looking at their watches and more than one (me included) asked staff about it but the reply was along the lines of ‘watch the board, you have ten minutes, not a problem’ which didn’t inspire any of us. But once on board we were comfortable for the four hour trip. At times the driver really put his foot down and on the KPH information we got up to 298kph so he was really going for it, quite impressive to look out the window.

    I did notice that all along the tracks there are red poppies both at the stations and in the countryside. I read that the trains scatter the seeds which would explain it, they really looked pretty. The photo is stolen but it gives you some idea of what we saw. We saw plenty of vineyards, olive trees, big fields of gold and green, then as we got further north there were more trees, small towns. It was a pretty trip from start to finish.

    All that aside we finally got to Stresa on a packed train, obviously a real tourist destination on the shores of Lake Maggiore. Not sure if I explained that we’d originally booked a Tuscany tour from 7 – 15 May, then four nights in Amalfi BUT the tour was cancelled so, what to do? We were booked to fly to Rome from Copenhagen to pick up the tour on the 7th, and out to Sydney on the 19th so had almost two weeks to fill in. I remembered my friend Lorraine, ex-Hiroshima, had posted beautiful photos of northern Italy on Facebook last year so had another look at them, did a bit of research, promised Pete we could go to Tuscany after all and he was keen on Stresa too so we now have ‘Tour Italy with Ailsa’ all sorted.

    Hotel Boston is an older place and on questioning the receptionist next day found that they’ve just opened a new annex a month ago with 19 rooms and balconies, breakfast room and underground carpark are in that section too. The old part has 37 rooms, ours is quite small but adequate, freshly painted and bathroom done up, the bed is hard though and there’s no tea making facilities which is a pity.

    We were pleased to have a rest (both might have nodded off once or twice on the trains?) then a wander to find dinner – couldn’t go past El Gato Negro for a meal and glass of prosecco. The waterfront is pretty, several cafes overlooking the water, a few boat tour jetties, huge hotels overlooking the lake, old buildings ripe for reno or possibly demolition. Then when you turn to look inland the houses are scattered up the hill, gold and ochre walls in the midst of lots of greenery.

    Stresa really was a great find thanks to Lorraine, we’ll enjoy our three full days here.
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  • Check out the Akubra to the left of Pete's hatHow many Gillins in this photo?Napoleon's bedGrotto, very oddUnicorn winning against the lionOld faithful green backpack 'Wild Kiwi' joins us for lunch and bellinisWhy would I even think of resisting this?

    Beautiful Isola Bella

    8 мая 2023 г., Италия

    8/5 Stresa / Isola Bella
    We had no plans for the day, rain was predicted so we thought we’d just have a wander and decide later. Our first surprise was the breakfast room which we found in the new annex (hadn’t realised until then that it existed), it’s lovely and fresh, big windows leading to a tiled terrace with a plant-covered wall. The food was fine, fresh pastries and fruit amongst other things so we were happy enough.

    It was a mild morning so off we went about 100m down the street to the waterfront and walked to the jetty, took advantage of the weather and a hop on/hop off boat ticket to three islands which also gave us entry to the palace/museums on Isola Bella and Isola Madre. The boats go about every half hour from Stresa, hold maybe 25 people and are pretty fast, very easy. There are also bigger ferries that go beyond these islands, plus private speedboats or boats that take around 45 (a bus-load) and are part of organised tours of which there were several on the islands that we kept trying to dodge.

    I’m not going to describe everything we saw, just too much to see and it was all really well worth doing. Best thing is to link good old Wikipedia, do have a quick look at each because it’s not too wordy and gives a good easy history.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isola_Bella_(Lago… Isola Bella was our first stop, quite a scrum getting off the boat pushing through a crowd waiting to get on to go to the next island, first on/first served, limited space on the boats of course. The island is about two thirds palazzo and gardens, we went into the palazzo first and it’s huge with so much bling and more paintings of people and biblical characters, rich furniture and draperies, gold leaf…….. Napoleon visited the island and we saw the room he was given, and the alcove where his bed still stands, lovely views out the window looking across to Isola Madre.

    Then it was down to the lowest level which is room after room of very odd plasterwork also set with stones, apparently a nice cool place for the residents in summer. There’s a big display of papier maché puppets, a very popular means of entertainment. Then upstairs for more bling and beauty, and a room with one side covered in unicorn and lion-related tapestries with other fanciful creatures also featured including monkeys, parrots, people, and a fair amount of blood – must have looked pretty amazing when new, but now faded to blue tones. In one the lion is being gored by the unicorn’s horn, and in another the unicorn is getting attacked.

    We found a decoration that had an akubra on it - see it just to the left of Pete's hat in the photo. Als a hall of mirrors - how many of us can you see?

    At last we got to the gardens, well, they’re huge with a couple of main levels, terraces with roses growing, lots of trees, beautifully manicured shrubs, and of course views to the other islands and across to the shore. The lake is quite narrow so you see both sides, and there are boats coming and going all the time.

    There was a café at one end, and the main exit went by a couple of fairly tasteful souvenir stalls and continued down into the ‘village’ which really consists of a few houses and probably an equal number of cafes and souvenir stalls. I couldn’t resist the cat shawl, there were several colour combinations so it was hard to make a choice.

    It was lunchtime so we chose the Lemon Tree with a partial view of the main ferry jetty and the lake of course, had a tree growing in the middle of it and a very nice owner who asked where we were from then pulled out a greenstone pendant and proudly said his daughter was studying/working in Wanaka, he’d been to New Zealand five times (including Nelson) and had climbed Mt Cook three times! We had a good lunch, lovely surroundings, and the Bellinis were delicious. We weren't tempted to try the New Zealand Sundae for 12 Euro - iccream, kiwifruit and cream.

    Please read the next instalment for the second island.
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  • Palazzo Boromeo, see the ropes holding up the tree?My favourite roomIs this Mick Jagger?Boat house and ....don't walk on the grass'Death Stairway' but it has really beautiful wisteriaGinko tree dominating the houseMaster of the gardenCafe and chapel

    Isola Madre, garden and palazzo

    8 мая 2023 г., Италия ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    8/5 Stresa / Isola Madre
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isola_Madre Our second museum ticket was for the Palazzo Borromeo which, on the outside, looked a bit like so many old Italian buildings – dull yellow paint and a bit tired. Then you go inside and it’s more bling and gold and sometimes quite strange displays. But first came the gardens.

    This is the biggest of the three islands and at 220 x 330m it’s easy to get around though maybe a few more slopes and stairs than the other two. Like Isola Bella it has terraces and one of these has citrus trees lining the edge, it must be heaven when they’re flowering. There’s a big palm garden and all sorts of other exotic trees and plants, all beautifully kept, manicured hedges, swept paths. The azaleas were getting a bit past their best and the rhododendrons just coming out but there were other colours too. Every now and then you’d see a quick movement from the corner of your eye and it would be a gecko speeding past, then (as they do) stop until you could see it, then speed on again.

    Pete was a bit cross with me because I walked on the grass to take a photo of a beautiful orange bird, no idea what it was but it was gorgeous. There were lots of brown birds, maybe some kind of pheasant? And poor dull peahens with a few babies competing for attention – no contest when the master peacock is on the lawn strutting around, as well as two stunning white peacocks. One was on the lawn with his tail spread out like a bridal train, and the other was on the roof of the aviary, tail spread out behind him. Not so keen on the aviary though, the line-up of budgies looked pretty depressing as did the other birds.

    The wisteria was out on the very pretty ‘staircase of the dead’ and iris just coming out in a little pond by the café/shop. Walking past the old stone boat shed there was a very nice motorboat sitting inside, with a very old big boat strung up above, sort of like a big gondola, which I expect the lackeys rowed the Borromeos across to the mainland.

    Right by the house there’s a huge Kashmir cypress tree 160 years old which we found out had been uprooted in a storm in 2006 but the Borromeo family paid a fortune to have it sat up using ropes and a helicopter, roots carefully replanted, incredible care over the years and it’s still going strong though secured tightly by cables so it won’t happen again.

    The house (palazzo) is another museum to the Borromeo family, aristocrats through the ages, several popes (including the pope on the throne at the time of the Reformation, Pete tells me!), so many portraits and paintings, too much to describe. The rooms are beautiful, especially one with very delicate painted walls, very soft colours, big glass doors on two sides and, unfortunately, a fairly ugly Murano glass chandelier which really ‘shouted’ at the rest of the room. The notices in each room said a little about the displays, mainly that the china, furniture, ornaments etc were from the family collections and gave centuries-old dates. Models in some rooms had original period dress for servants, very smart too. There were some displays of puppets, similar to those on Isola Bella, and apparently the theatres still work with sound effects and scenery changes so they’ve had good care over the years. Some of the models were a bit odd – at first glance I thought the pirate looked a bit like Mick Jagger.

    Out of the house we went down the stairs to the pretty pond which had irises just coming out and quite a few goldfish swimming around. Didn't stop other than to peep into the small chapel which was very simply decorated, quite a contrast to the rest of the house. We walked back to the boat station having thoroughly enjoyed this island, very easy to spend more time there.

    Keep reading, more to come in the next entry about Isola Pescatori.
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