Stressa and Como

May 2

We met with the rest of the group on Sat aft. We’re a large group with quite a few from New York, six folks from Pennsylvania, one couple from Florida, some from Illinios, one each from South Virginia and Tennessee. We have 17 from Texas, so all together we number about 45. Our tour guide is from Canada, has led groups into 18 countries. He is personable (Duh, otherwise why have this job), but doesn’t make himself really clear. Maybe I'm just tired and it is just me.

Saturday evening’s meal was 4 courses- choice between fish and pork roast. Service is good, seconds were offered, but in most cases refused. Sue from Brownwood was feeling puny last night and didn’t join us for supper, but she is feeling just fine this morning.
View from our room


More about the “security gate thing”. We push a button on the wall by the patio door and this metal louvered gate goes down. Light still comes through, unless you continue pushing the button after it is completely down and “as if my magic” the room darkens. The louvers close up to make the room dark as night- for daytime sleeping, I am sure. We have a really large balcony that overlooks the lake (Maggiore).


Haven’t spent much time out there, maybe today.

We’re lining up for a group picture this morning, taking a bus to Como to walk around and then will take a boat ride on the lake. There is an optional dinner trip tonite ( $80) that we decided against. We’ll do supper on our own here. We are figuring out that the cruise does NOT include any special side trips--those will all be at an extra charge. A little confusing from our brochure which states what is to be done at eacfh stop. I was assuming that each of those “what is to be done” was included in the tour. With all of our other trips w/ Collette, that has been the case. Live and learn.

[Nick says, “spend it now rather than givie it to the govt-”-the opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the writer]

I’ve mentioned the Hotel Bristol, which is lovely, but we were told today that it is featured in Hemingway’s A FAREWELL TO ARMS as the refuge hotel for the character who is in trouble. This is also one of the stops that Prince Charles and Lady Diana made on their honeymoon.

Breakfast today (Sunday) wasn’t particularly unusual for our other travels. Had the option of eggs, hot dogs (no not sausages, but weiners) lots of luscious breads, both sweet and hearty, various sliced meats and c heeses, cereal (dry- no oatmeal) fruit, juice, tea and coffee. There was also a dessert--sort of a cake filled with creme and topped w/ whipped cream.

We’ve seen some unusual trees called “Monkey Pine “ trees---so called because they have needles on the trunk and limbs and this is the only tree that monkeys won’t/can’t climb.


So many plants and flowers grow here, that you might think we are in a tropical area. Our tour guide tells us that drawing a line straight across from Lago Maggiore to the U.S., the line would go through Maine which is not tropical in any way. The climate here is caused by the lake and the mountains and creates a tropical atmosphere. This lake has 100 miles of coastline, so much of this part of Italy is affected.

We had our group picture made in the lovely garden behind the hotel, then loaded up for our trip to Como and Lake Como. Luigi is our driver and he has been driving tourists for 31 years. He seems to be able to get out of tight places and most of the streets here are tight. After the ride we walked around Como a bit, got on a boat for an hour tour of the lake. There are numerous villas of the rich and famous built on the mountainsides of Lago Como. A few examples that I had heard of (many were mentioned that meant nothing to me) were Sophia Loren and George Clooney. we only saw the houses, not the inhabitants.

We had a long silk worm lesson on the way to Como because this town is famous in Italy for it’s silk products. More than you might want to know about warming the little critters, baking cucoons and unwinding the silk thread. We did go to the SETA shop (means silk) and looked around. I bought nothing there--I’m not a scarf kinda person, so I wasn’t impressed by either quality or price. Several folks did make purchases.;

After the boat ride, which was very interesting, but difficult to understand--the guide’s accent was thick, we went to see the large church . It is called Il Duomo and contains Roman, Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque types of architecture.



We arrived after Mass had begun (it is Sunday, remember) and decided not to participate., so we didn’t go inside.

On the way here we saw quite a few “gas stations” whose name was AGIP (pronounce that “ A gip”- like you have been cheated). Their logo is a 6 legged fire breathing dog--something mythological or legendary there, not sure.



The fuel is sold by the liter and a liter was priced at 1.3 Euro per liter. Get out your calculator--that equals about 5.2 Euro per gallon, and the exchange rate makes that gallon of fuel cost about $6.50.

Also on the way to Como, we passed by a Mercedes dealership and YES, they had a large stock of Smart Cars- in lots of colors. My favorite was a peach one w/ gray trim. Speaking of Smarties, we have seen quite a few on the road, but most are boring. Completely black, completely white, no triton trim like ours and all the ones being brought to the US.

Another interesting car innovation here is a parking lot which tells you how many empty slots are available.. There is a digital (LED) sign which changes as cars park. Pretty clever if you ask me.

After the boat ride, we decided we needed to experience Italian pizza. I did not realize that Pizza pie is different from local bakery pizza. It’s the shape. A pie is round, this pizza was shaped like school cafeteria pizza, but that is where the similarity ends. This was GREAT. We ordered two pieces and got pretty large chunks of the rectangle. Then the lady cut each chunk into 15 pieces about 1.5 inches or so square and gave us each a fork.


We got our bottled drinks and went to the table outside to eat. I’m going to have to be more careful when I choose water to buy to read the label. I got FIZZY water again--I like my coke fizzy, but not my water. I really must take the time to read and not just grab for something.

We drove back from Como to Stressa with the tour guide giving us time to nap, before giving information about our next activity--a wine tasting. We tasted olive oil, with spices; balsamic vinegar which had been aged for 7 years; a 10 year old balsamic, and a glaze w/ raspberries. Nothing was particularly to my taste, but others really loved these offerings. Then we tasted the wine-dry and sweet. I don’t like the taste of wine, so I’m afraid I was unimpressed. Again, some in the group really loved them and bought several bottles.

While there at the wine place, I did buy something for my friends in the UPC choir to taste and it has no alcohol in it at all. It is sweet and really tasty. Think about what the men took with them to eat when they rode off to the Crusades. Should be fun.
(Thursday- May 14--I'm reporting that the Panforte was a hit, --my choir friends liked the story and seemed to enjoy tasting the dried fruit delicacy made by nuns that the Crusaders packed in their saddlebags. It is supposed to last a really long time without going bad and to be nutritious.)



The special dinner on the tiny island is tonite (which we declined) so Jeanie G and we will be finding a place to eat on our own.. N. is napping now, so we’ll go when he wakes up.

Sights we saw on our walk in Stresa



We did see a cool monument right across the street from our hotel to the victims of 9/11. An interesting depiction of the American flag.

We embark on our cruise tomorrow afternoon after about 5 hrs. on the bus. Should be fun and exciting.

More tomorrow.