Mottarone and the Borromean Islands (Sunday 25th August 2013)

The rain and storms had gone over night and we were greeted by a lovely sunny, warm morning. We headed down to the lake-shore to walk to the northern end of Stresa from where the cable-car to Mottarone departed. Along the way we passed a number of very large and elegant hotels. This is where one might find the well-to-do is Stresa, I reckon. There seemed to be a large proportion of “older” people amongst the clientèle. Old means, older than me. Denis from Tassie and and his wife were staying in one of them for a lazy 250 euros a night.

After a good twenty minutes we arrived at our destination, bought our tickets for 20 euros each and jumped in the next car. Mottarone is a 1491m peak directly behind Stresa. The journey to the village took twenty minutes. The village is nothing more than a few houses, a bar/restaurant/tabacchi, a small church and an abandoned, falling down stone building.
We were greeted in the village by the sound of cow-bells – a very authentic European alpine sound. No cows, but a shepherd has grazing his sheep, goats and donkeys on the grass near the small church. His dogs weren't earning their keep. Two were asleep in the sunshine and the other was schmoozing up to tourists looking for a scratch behind the ear. Of course Kerry couldn't resist.

We visited the small church then continued the ascent to the peak via the chairlift. After fifteen minutes we were at 1491m, right on the top of the mountain. The 360 degree panorama was brilliant. With a clear sky and the fluffy clouds sitting just above the peaks we had an uninterrupted view to the snowy Swiss Alps in the west, the plains around Milan to the east, the expansive waters of Lake Maggoire to the north and six other lakes all around. It was the sort of view it was difficult to look away from.

At the peak is a toboggan run on steel rails that winds its way down to the lower chairlift station. Kerry took a lot of convincing but eventually we found our bums planted on one and ready to speed down the 1.2kms track with its twists, turns and steep banks. I was in the back being the brake-man and going slowly for the first 75m when Kerry said, “You can go a little faster”. Of came the brake and we quickly gathered speed. Kerry began to scream, not with fear but with delight as we banked around the bends and and sped through the loops. We both had great fun, wishing we'd bought the three ride tickets instead. We were dragged back up the mountain to pickup our bags and caught the chairlift back down to the village.

The next cable-car was due to leave for the lake for 90 minutes (everything stops while Italians have lunch) so we walked to the restaurant, picked a seat in the sunshine on the balcony and dined in front of the best view you could ever wish to see.

The trip back down was just as spectacular as the one up. On the lower slopes the car passes directly over numerous houses in the villages that line the winding road to the top. Forget about privacy as 40 pairs of eyes stare down at you from on high while you enjoy a pleasant Sunday afternoon in your backyard! In a few instances the car passes just metres above the rooftops.

When we reached the bottom we sought a boat to take us over to two of the islands lying just a few hundred metres off the shore. These four islands are known collectively as the Borromean islands. Fast speed boats and slow ferries leave from many points around Stresa taking tourists to the islands. Across the waters between the islands and shore is constantly moving flotilla of vessels large and small. Boats are going every which way all day long. We chose an outfit called Lido 2000 to take us to Isola Pescatori. A chap sold us two tickets for 20 euros for transport to and between the islands then jumped in and drove the boat. I think his name was Captain Jack Sparrow. Both island are very small. One can completed a circumnavigation in about 20 minutes – at a slow and relaxed pace. The islands each have a small rise covered in stone buildings, separated by narrow lanes and housing restaurants, bars, stalls selling souvenirs and retail of quality merchandise. Isola Pescatori is crowned by a lovely little church built in 1848 while the other major island, Isola Bella, boasts a large museum/hotel with a fabulously ornate and ordered garden. We probably spent two hours on these two before one of Captain Jack's henchmen came by so we jumped on board bound for the main-land.

The stroll back to Stresa was very pleasant. Most of the town were our walking their dog, I think. We stopped for refreshments on the balcony of a bar that looked directly over the water of the lake before finding a place for dinner then home.
Stresa is a really nice town in a beautiful part of the world. I'd thoroughly recommend a visit if you're ever up that way.

Oh, just to freak you out a bit, I was on FB earlier when I stumbled across a post from Scotty. Kerry had just accepted him as a friend. He happened to be online and, to cut a long story short, he is in Glasgow training on the green to be used for next year's Commonwealth Games with the rest of the potential Comm Games squad. The team is not selected until later in the year but given he is the recently crowned Mens Singles World Champion he's probably a fair chance to wear the Green and Gold next July. We'll be close to Glasgow next week so we'll catch up for dinner. Anyway, the freaky bit is that we worked out we are on the same flight from Dubai to Melbourne and will be on the same train from Southern Cross to Bendigo and Swan Hill respectively. You couldn't have organised it if you tried!