Beautiful weather again today, thankfully, as we’d planned to spend it at our favourite beach (or lawn!) on the lake. The weekend rush is over and this morning the spot we like was very peaceful. In fact we almost had it to ourselves for the first couple of hours. John took his fishing rod as... Continue Reading →
11th August: Little to report!
There really isn’t much to write about today. We have been just as lazy as we were yesterday, although we did manage a walk today. We got up late again. After breakfast we did a bit of housework… Washing pots and clothes, sweeping etc… And after lunch it was too hot to do anything so... Continue Reading →
10th August: Lazy day :-)
Today we got up, showered, had breakfast, made sandwiches and packed the rucksacks for a walk up the river to a gorge and pretty church, with places to swim in the river. We set off and walked along the prom and that was it, the walk ended! We found the perfect spot for sunbathing and... Continue Reading →
9th August: Cannobio
Today we had a nice lie in and then drove an hour up the lake to Cannobio. We have found a nice, quiet little campsite, which is more expensive than a stopover site but has more facilities. We were originally just thinking of staying for one night but the campsite owner has been really helpful... Continue Reading →
8th August: Lago Maggiore Express
The Lago Maggiore Express offers an unforgettable journey by train and ship, with travel the length of the lake, admiring the islands, castles and villages, and a trip on the scenic Centovalli narrow gauge railway through the wildest and most romantic landscape in the area. That’s what the brochure says. And apparently this is what... Continue Reading →
6th August: Relaxing in Orta
Orta is a small peninsula with rather a large hill in the middle, Sacre Monte di San Francisco, or the sacred mountain of St Francis of Assisi. Yesterday we walked around the peninsula, this morning we went up to the top of the hill to visit the twenty 17th and 18th century chapels dedicated to... Continue Reading →
7th August: Lake Maggiore and Isola Bella
Today we had a lie in and a leisurely breakfast before saying goodbye to our neighbours and driving a relatively short distance to Lake Maggiore. We had a bit of trouble finding the stopover site in Baveno but got there in the end. After lunch we got the ferry to Isola Bella, an island with... Continue Reading →
5th August: Orta San Guilio on Lake Orta
Last night was really hot and sticky. We slept with every window open as wide as possible and didn’t even need a sheet over us. We rose quite early and John collected some croissants for breakfast while I made a drink. After breakfast we packed and left to make our way up to the Italian... Continue Reading →
4th August: Not quite what we’d hoped for
We packed up and left Cogne at around 10.15. The journey to the Ligurian coast was uneventful… Well, apart from the toll machine shouting at me in Italian because I couldn’t work out where to put my payment card! The last part of the journey into Savona was a masterpiece of engineering. The two carriageways... Continue Reading →
3rd August: Punta Pousett 3046m
Fuelled by last night’s rather large pizza we set off early to make our ascent of Punta Pousett. It was a little cloudy to start with but the clouds soon disappeared and by 8.30 it was hot and sticky in the forest. We were glad to reach open meadows where there was a bit of... Continue Reading →