DAY 18 - Milan

Saturday, 7 May 2005

Italy/Italia
We cross the Alps and descend into northern Italy's Lake District. The temps warm considerably and it feels like we progressed a month into spring...flowers blooming everywhere and the sun shining on a regular basis!

Stresa & Lake Maggiore/Lago Maggiore
Peaceful serenity on the shores of Lago Maggiore...

Villa Taranto
Villa Taranto is a really nice, BIG flower garden. It had a lot of different plants in bloom especially the azaleas and rhododendrons in a plethora of colors. This has already hit the tour bus circuit so we did have competition for the facility, but still really enjoyed ourselves.
Verbania – Levano Ferry

We took a ride across the lake to Levano. It was a beautiful day and Al & I were able to sit outside on the ferry's top deck and enjoy the Italian Alpine panorama.


Santa Caterina del Basso Monastery
This is a small monastery near Levano that is literally on the coast of Lago Maggiore. It is set in quite a spectacular setting with the lake and Alps in the background. Al was saying that if he were a nun and had to pick a monastery, this would have been his first choice!

Milan/Milano
What a disappointment. The one cathedral we wanted to see was wrapped in scaffolding. The city itself is also somewhat of a disappointment. Not very interesting nor attractive. Milan is supposed to be a fashion capital but all we've seen in bad hair and capri pants and that's on the MEN. On a contrasting note, Milan proved to have some interesting attractions – we stopped by some of the famous sites in downtown: La Scala Opera Theater, Leonardo Da Vinci's statue and the Galleria. Afterwards, we enjoyed a nice lunch in one of the cafes along the pedestrian zone.

A7, the Italian Raceway
Germany may have the Autobahn but Italian drivers use their Autostradas as racetracks. They were driving faster than the Germans and forming single lanes to cut in the curves. Al did love going round those curves though in his own racing mode!

Car Mileage: 3000 miles @ 20 east of San Remo, Italy

Old town/Vieux Nice
Nice is a tale of two cities. Part of the city right by the water has a booming restuarant area and charming old town you can make through. The other part of the city is pretty grimy. Not very well kept and very seedy looking. I wouldn't recommend staying here. You're better off spending a little extra money to stay in Cannes.

Things we missed
We had to drop items from our itinerary, so we could savor the events we were enjoying. Probably the one attraction that we regret not seeing is Leonardo da Vinci's "Last Supper" in Milan. We actually had a reservation, but opted to stay in Lago Maggiore to enjoy the serenic beauty the lake had to offer. Plus, Turin/Torino – the site of the upcoming 2006 Winter Olympics – was dropped as well. Oh, if we just had one more day to squeeze things in... :)

-- Al & Locke