Hi!
I am back from a trip to the second largest lake in Italy - Lake Maggiore.
Here are just a few of my favourite photos from the trip. I have loads more, but don't want to bore you!
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| My hotel - Hotel Europalace in Pallanza, taken as I returned from a day out on a boat | | | | |
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| First trip out (still quite pale) - Bottanical gardens, a nice walk from Pallanza |
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| Bottanical gardens |
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| Some of the millions of flowers at the Bottanical gardens |
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| Giant lillypads at the Bottanical Gardens |
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| I have never seen such a huge flower! |
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| Huge flower seed pod! |
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| Me and some of the group I went with having lunch at the Bottanical gardens |
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| Setting out on a boat trip from Pallanza to the town of Stresa, just accross the lake |
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| Isola Madre taken from the boat (Isola is the Italian for Island) |
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| Isola Bella (Beautiful Island) - Palace and gardens |
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| Queuing for the cable car that would take us a thousand feet up to Alpino |
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| Once in Alpino, a few of us decided to walk down the mountain, rather than taking the cable car, which enabled us to have some beautiful views. I love this one of the pears and flowers growing on the mountainside, looking down to the lake |
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| Mountain Village that we passed through on the walk back down to the lake |
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| Isola Bella seen from above as we walked down the mountain. |
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| Well deserved gelati after the walk in a lakeside bar |
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| The cable car that we took to get to Alpino before walking back down |
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| Chilled out in Stresa |
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| Day out to the alps on the Switzerland/Italy border - Yes, that is SNOW!!! |
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| Lovely Alpine view! |
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| The cable car that would take us 15000 feet up the second highest mountain in the Italian Alps - Mount Rossa |
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| Our Cable Car! |
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| View of the snow capped mountain from the cable car |
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| Lake near the top of the mountain |
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| Once out of the cable car we were able to walk to the summit. Its alot higher than it looks and the air was thin and the walk very, very steep! |
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| I made it! So did Lucy and many others in the group! |
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| A lake in the alps. Picture taken from the summit |
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| A bar 15000 feet up on the Italy/Switzerland border! |
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| This was the view we had from the cable car at 15000 feet as we started our descent! Clouds and bit of cable! I actually managed to send a text message from that point, so high up! |
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| Heading down the mountain - the trees look like small plants beneath us |
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| More trees beneath us! |
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| Time for my first Italian Pizza and in a great location! |
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| Pizza al Funghi (Mushroom Pizza!) |
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| It was delicious! |
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| Alpine village |
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| Alpine house |
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| Day out to Switzerland by Hydrafoil from Pallanza. This was our boat as it approached the pier where we boarded it |
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| We took a rail car up to this lakeside monastary in Locarno, Switzerland |
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| A few of us decided to walk down the mountainside, back to the town. It was a beautifully scenic walk |
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| Having just had a lovely americano coffee in this cafe, I posed beneath the Swiss flag! |
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| Locarno hosts a world famous International Film Festival and they were just packing away the day we were there |
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| Chilling on a Swiss lakeside bench. It was too expensive and too hot to do too much else! |
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| Masts and mountains - Locarno, Switzerland |
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| Some of our group playing cards lakeside, as they waited for the hydrafoil back to Pallanza |
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| A fellow group member relaxing with a book, lakeside in Pallanza |
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| Enjoying a free day, picnicing with friends by the lake, just down the road from the hotel |
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| Time for an afternoon gelati! This one was a tiramisu one and it was amazing. Sharon had a Nutella one I think! |
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| This is the hotel restaurant and it has fantastic views through those wide open windows on to the lake |
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| Having just enjoyed a fantastic 3 course meal at the hotel I crossed the road to watch the sun set over the lake |
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| On another boat trip - this time to Isola Bella |
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| A few others from the group who also came on the trip to Isola Bella |
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| View to Isola Madre from a palace window on Isola Bella! |
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| Isola Madre taken from Isola Bella |
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| Leggy Lou on the steps in the palace garden on Isola Bella ! |
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| One of the residents of Isola Bella - a white peacock |
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| One of the many statues in the palace gardens on Isola Bella |
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| Lake view from Isola Bella |
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| Lake view from Isola Bella |
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| White Peacock family |
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| View to the lake from the palace garden |
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| Another view to the lake from the palace garden |
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| One side of the tiered palace garden |
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| View accross the lake from the palace garden |
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| View accross the lake from Isola Madre |
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| Evening view of the lake from accross the road from the hotel |
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| Enjoying the evening fragrance of an Italian flower! |
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| Room mate Esther and I by the lake in Pallanza |
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| This was my last view of the lake, accross the road from the hotel. Beautiful! |
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| We all (33 of us!) went out to the local cafe/bar most evenings. This was a typical evening out |
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| A night out at one of our favourite lakeside bars |
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| AND FINALLY.......I had to have some Pizza at the airport on my way home!!! Goodbye Italy! Arrivederci Italia! I will be back! |
