Day 5

Ciao tutti!

Today I am now 20 years old, and the day trip we had was an amazing way to celebrate.

We got up early this morning because we had to meet at the train station at 8am to take the train to Stresa, a town on the edge of Lago Maggiore. The Lombardy region, where Milano is, has many lakes and is somewhat similar to Michigan in that regard. Anyways, the train ride was about an hour. We had second class tickets, but I think we may have sat in first class on the way over. Either way, the seats were nice and there was a tiny bit of AC (a rarity in Italy).

 After getting off and walking into Stresa from the station, we took a small boat to the first of the 3 islands we visited today. The three islands, in the order we visited them, were Isola Madre, Isola Pescatori, and Isola Bella. These islands are known as the Isole Borromee (Borromean Islands) because they were owned by the Borromeo family for centuries and still are owned and maintained by them. The Borromeo's are a famous Italian family of aristocrats in the same league as the Sforzas (Da Vinci's patrons) and Visconti's.

Isola Madre is most known for its botanical gardens, though the villa there is quite beautiful. The walkways were filled with beautiful flora and fauna, while in the distance you could see the Alps and on into Switzerland. The building seen above isn't the main house, but it's one of the main buildings there. It holds a cafe, gift shop, and offices, and it sits near the port.

In addition to the beautiful trees and flowers, the Borromeo family had exotic birds brought to Isola Madre. The most magnificent of these birds is the white peacock, which you can see here. While I never saw any of the many peacocks bring all their tail feathers up, they were beautiful. They wondered around freely, so I have pictures of them going near the cafe, the main villa, and over various walkways. 

After the wonderful stroll through the gardens of Isola Madre, many of us from the program were hungry. While we were going to have lunch next, it was hot, and gelato was only 2 EUR for the size you see above plus a few bites. I got the Lemon and Frutti di Bosco (fruits of the forest) flavors, and they were both absolutely amazing. This was literally the best gelato I have ever had. However, I didn't just get the gelato as a nice treat. For my Italian class, part of my homework was to record myself ordering from a cafe or gelateria 'solo in Italiano', or 'only in Italian'. I did just that and so I reaped my rewards twice, once for class and the other for my taste buds. 

The next island we went to was Isola Pescatori, where we had lunch. My friend Karen and I sat at a table together, shared a 1/2lt. of wine (we should have gotten 1/4lt.), and each got the 'Mixed Fried White Fish Plate' which you can see above. While I don't know exactly what the tiny fish are, they are similar to minnows. Regardless, they tasted good and not unlike fishy french fry style treats. Altogether, the meal was 16 EUR and with it I learned an important lesson about Italian food: first plates are tiny and second plates are huge.

The last place we visited was Isola Bella, a very aptly named island. The house was absolutely beautiful, though the Borromeo's had an odd obsession with puppet theaters (3 rooms!!!). In the back of the villa were a large garden and a massive fountain style structure that you can see here. There are pathways up the sides and in back, and there is a beautiful pond at the base near where the people are standing.

In the back was a patio type structure. And by patio? I mean massive stone space large enough to hold a HUGE reception or feast. Anyways, the view was beautiful, so some of us decided to sit on the ledge and take pictures. It was a lot of fun, though this picture makes me look like I may fall because my hands aren't actually on the ledge. I actually sort of felt like that at one point too, though I assure you I am in one piece.

Last but not least, the cafe past the exit to the gardens on Isola Madre is gorgeous. The peacocks were walking around, small potted lemon trees decorated the walls, and everything was made even better by the amazing view of the lake and surrounding hills. I took this picture there, loved it, and it's now actually the background of my phone. While it's not the most specific to my trip or activities, I loved it and wanted to share it with everyone.

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Last but not least, on my last post I asked y'all to guess the obsession of the architect. No one guessed, so I won't share it today. Once someone guesses, then I'll post. Please just guess something, because our guesses were hilarious, and the third guess was correct (surprisingly)!