Next morning we drove to Genoa for a visit. We couldn’t find the
church at first following the printed map indication. We finally found it. We
walked in the old streets then went towards the sea on newer streets with banks
mostly. We had lunch there at one of the non memorable restaurants as it rained
a bit during the day.
By the end of our trip we were saying oh no, not another
church to visit. Personally I was saturated with all beautiful images in my
head.
It was time for us to stay on a lake and we were heading to
our final location in Italy,
Verbania Palanza on Lago Maggiore. What a relaxing place. We had a nice hotel
room even if it was 2 stars, it was very comfortable and clean, with big glass
doors, even in the bathroom from where we could admire the views on the lake.
It was so beautiful there and so quiet. For dinner we had walked to a
restaurant in the village and all our group was there already. Food wise I
found it rather disappointing in general in that area. After all we tried
elsewhere in Italy,
I found everything was plain and tasteless. Everything was just ok.
In the morning we took the ferry and went to visit Isola
Bella with Palazzo Boromeo and its very beautiful gardens. The hortensias were
spectacularly huge and in all possible colors. It was a nice place to visit. We
then took the boat to Stresa and walked to the cable car to get to the top. The
views were clear and we could see Lake
Como and Switzerland. It’s so beautiful
there. After a walk in Stresa, where I could buy classical blue and white shoes
finally, we had a pizza lunch. Pizzas were ok, but I found the ones purchased
at the markets more delicious. Then another boat stop at Isola Madre and its
gardens before coming back to our hotel for packing.
Another non memorable diner at our hotel and we went to bed.
Our last morning the bus drove us to Milan Malpenza airport
and we had to say good buy. We couldn’t
check in our luggage until 2 hours before the flight. When we arrived to
Gatwick we were supposed to get vouchers for a transfer to Heathrow. The woman
at the bus told me we had to go to BA counter. This was after we spent 30
minutes waiting in the line. So we went to BA, got our vouchers and as I approached the bus counter a French man
in the line was unhappy we passed him and others, but they let us, I explained
we waited already and now we were going to miss our flight from Heathrow. It
wasn’t very nice, but what a good move. On the bus we were told Heathrow is not
60 kms from Gatwick, but 60 miles, about 90 kms.
We actually had to run to catch our plane the boarding was
closing when we arrived.
We arrived home completely exhausted and I needed another
vacation afterwards just to absorb everything we have seen on this trip. Now
every time we remember this trip we say next time we will go on Hidden Treasures
trip with twice as much to see in same timeframe. It is true, we visited a lot,
and it was inexpensive if we consider every thing, but I can only recommend
others to slow down and see much less places for a longer time. I always was an
adept of slowtravel and after this trip will definitely remain so.
We definitely didn’t see every thing and we came back to Italy on a few
other occasions, with our son and enjoyed our stays tremendously.
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