It is supposed to rain but it’s holding back. I wait on the ferry dock in Stresa for the boat to the Borromean islands. First is Isola Bella, with a palace and gardens built by Vitaliano Borromeo the 6th in the 1600s. The Borromeo family still owns the island and members sometimes stay in the …
Thunderstorms are predicted, but it manages only to sprinkle in Locarno. To head home, I have decided to take the Centovalli Express train, a very unique train that runs from Locarno in Switzerland to Domodossola. The ride has a startling beginning, in a tunnel outside Locarno with none of the natural beauty promised by the …
Today we visit the town of Soncino and learn more about the history of printing by the Soncino family. Bepe, the director of the Soncino print museum, holds up a copy of the first page of the first Hebrew Bible. It was printed by the Soncino family in 1488. The Soncino family had moved from …
I’m off to Brescia from the Porta Nuova train station, where a Banksy exhibit was being held. I opted for a quick look at the shop. On my tour in Tuscany, someone had wondered whether there were Starbucks in Italy because she hadn’t seen any and didn’t think it could compete with Italian coffee. Well, …
Today I visited the Musei Reali, the Royal Museums, which include a royal palace of the Savoies, the armory, the Chapel of the Holy Shroud, royal gardens, an art collection, an archaeological collection and more. The royal palace is quite sumptuous and shows little of the wear and tear often seen in palaces this old.
Today was the first chance I’ve had to wash some clothes, so I took it, despite wondering whether they would dry before I have to leave. The eco-washing machine’s spin cycle (or lack thereof) left the clothes dripping, but I squeezed them out and hung them without pins, as I saw the neighbors had done, …