Gallivanting Geismom: Lake Maggiore and the Invisible Alps

The plan was to spend our last day in Italy exploring Lake Maggiore and the magnificence that it had to offer.

Shortly after we finished our delightful dinner on Friday night, we walked along the park that borders the lake to enjoy the night views.

The reflection of the lights on the water from across the lake led to excitement regarding what would be in store for us in the morning........until it began to rain......so we headed back to our hotel and hoped for better weather to arrive.....soon!

In the morning, we headed down to the breakfast room which offered a lovely view regardless of the weather.

Saturday's food options were quite substantial, and we even got to play with that machine on the right.

Pop in an orange, push the on button, and out comes fresh squeezed orange juice!

How cool is that?

I found the chandelier to be unusual, and wanted to share a photo of it with you.

I loved the bunches of glass grapes hanging from the lights.

Despite the brilliance of the room, we had the sneaking suspicion that the day outdoors was not going to be so shiny.

We once again headed down to the park along the shores of Lake Maggiore. The boats lining the shore looked pretty cool, but you have to admit....you can't see much in the distance.

We passed the World War I memorial in the park

and we headed to the ferry terminal in the hopes of purchasing tickets for the day to see Santa Caterina and Isolo Bella.

I asked the young lady behind the counter if she spoke English and she did not. Upon analyzing the available routes on the board, it was obvious that Santa Caterina was considered a totally separate trip from the island-hopping ferry.

The young lady was more than happy to ring up separate trips.

We were attempting to decide the feasibility of spending so much money when it was obvious that the day wasn't going to be providing any spectacular views while we were on the boat.

And, of course, not understanding Italian, we must really have looked like lost souls.

Suddenly, we heard an intense conversation occurring between the teller and a man, and the next thing you know, we had a very affordable price that allowed us to see exactly what we had hoped: Isola Bella and Santa Caterina, as well as the town of Stresa where we would make the transfer.

I asked the man to write the times down for me, which he was happy to do. This way I had a list of arrivals and departures to be certain that we boarded the correct boat at the designated time. It was important for us to keep an eye on the time, but we managed it all without any difficulties.

The ferry took us across the lake to the town of Stresa

It was SO foggy that my camera had difficulty finding anything to focus on!

Once in Stresa, we had 15 minutes until the next ferry to Isolo Bella.

And that trip only took us about 10 minutes, as the island is located fairly close to Stresa.

Approaching the island was pretty awesome!

Once we landed onshore, we immediately set out to find the entrance to this spectacular Palace and Gardens. You'd think it would be easy to spot the entrance, but the narrow streets and tall buildings made finding it a bit tricky.

But once we did, we wasted no time in purchasing tickets so that we could tour the place.

No photographs were permitted inside (for those of us who chose to follow directions) so I have none to share with you, but I can tell you that it fit the Baroque decorating style accordingly.

We walked through the bedroom that Napoleon and his wife, Josephine, slept in in August 1797. I found it amusing to see such a large bed with an extremely tall canopy, considering the man was known for his small stature.

The Music room hosted the Conference of Stresa on April 11, 1935 where Mussolini, Pierre Laval of France and James Ramsey MacDonald of Great Britain met in an attempt to stave off World War II. We all know how well that worked out.

But the most spectacular part of this palace was its Italian Gardens.

Despite the dreariness of the day, we were able to explore this vast garden

Even the views from the terrace were pretty amazing.

Marty kind of got lost in all of the splendor.

Everywhere we looked there seemed to be a photo worth taking.

When it was time for us to leave, the sun popped out for a few seconds, giving me the opportunity to snap a better photo of Isola Bella with some foggy mountains in the background.

The ferry returned us to the town of Sestra, where we had a couple of free hours to explore, and the opportunity to have some lunch.

It seemed appropriate to be eating at a place called Mama Mia while in Italy, don't you think?

Marty got to enjoy a Birra.

and we both got to fill up on some delicious thin crusted pizza.

Mamma Mia! It was great!

After lunch and a very brief walk around town, we headed back to the ferry

to board a boat for Santa Catarina. This Hermitage can be reached via footpath down the cliff, but the view is far more spectacular when arriving via the lake.

as you can well see.

The history of the Hermitage stems from the 12th century when a wealthy merchant, Alberto Besozzi of Arolo, became shipwrecked here in 1170 and took refuge in a cave. He vowed devotion to St. Catherine of Alexandria if his life should be spared, and constructed a tiny church in her honor in 1195. Over the years, the hermitage was occupied by various religious communities, the latest being that of the Carmelite order. Today the Hermitage is run by a community of Oblate Benedictines.

The first building that we entered was the Chapter house, where we viewed the 17th century painting of the Crucifixion with Saints Catherine & Ambrose.

a fresco painted in 1439 of St. Eligius healing a horse

and fireplace frontal featuring a Carmelite symbol.

Walking from the Chapter house to the Chapels, we passed an olive and grape press from 1671

as well as an outdoor nativity nestled in a recess in a cliff.

Upon entering the chapel, we were immersed in the echo of gregorian chants playing somewhere in the background.

Behind the High altar is a work by Giovanni Battista De Advocatis from 1610-1612: The Mystical Marriage of St. Catherine of Alexandria with Jesus in the presence of St. Nicholas of Myra & Blessed Alberto.

Above the high altar were magnificent frescoes and stain glassed windows.

St. Nicholas Chapel features frescoes that were painted between 1300 and 1320.

Clearly, some of the original fresco has been lost, but what remains from that time period is amazing.

There was a small chapel in the back of the church which was adorned with frescoes from the 1600's of St. Catherine being carried off to heaven by the angels

and a preserved Adoration of the magi as well.

There was a chapel devoted to St. Catherine

and unbelievable preserved frescoes adorning the walls

Jesus and the fishermen

Jesus, the good shepherd

and unknown scenes of saints

and angels

Who could have guessed that so much beauty was on display in a little church that is perched upon a cliff?

At this point, we had an hour to burn until the ferry came for our return to Angera, so we walked up the cliff to check out the view. Unfortunately, due to the mist, it paled in comparison to what we had just seen.

The sun did pop out for a few minutes, but not long enough to break through the mist, so we never did get to see the alps that we knew were looming somewhere in the background.

On the way back to Angera, we did manage to view the Rocco Borromeo up on the hill with some blue in the background.

With a bit of daylight left, we decided to walk up the hill to view the castle from a closer vantage point, even though we did realize that it was closed for the day.