Fanciful, fantastic Stresa

"Fanciful and fantastic."  That's what Charles Dickens said about Isola Bella, the small island off the coast of Stresa on Lake Maggiore.  Once a fisherman's village, the island was purchased in 1630 by the powerful Borromeo family and transformed into an over-the-top palatial playground for the Borromeos' close friends.  Like Napoleon and Josephine, who indeed slept there.

Well, fanciful and fantastic is how we'd describe all of Stresa.  After many days in the urban jungles of London, Prague and Milan, we were ready for a little rest and relaxation.  Stresa fit the bill exactly.  We woke up every morning to a beautiful view of the lake and Isola Bella, enjoying the Belle Époque surroundings at the Grand Hotel des Iles Borromees.  Hemingway stayed here several times and mentions the hotel in A Farewell to Arms.  It is, as he said, "very luxurious."

View from our balcony, including Isola Bella to the left.

We were joined by Nicole's childhood friend, Mimi, and her daughter, Avalon.  Yea!  Nicole and Mimi met when they were in pre-school, just about Avalon's age.  It's an amazing thing to keep a friendship for that long (we won't say exactly how long) and to pick up comfortably even after months or years of not seeing each other.  This visit was a treat!

We went in the pool every day, of course, because it was refreshing and because it had diving boards!!  We almost never see those in the states.  Here are a couple pics of the girls taking the leap:

Anna off the high dive!

Sophie perfecting the running jump.

In between swims, we walked around Stresa (it's not large), took a ferry to Isola Bella to see the grandeur for ourselves, rode a funivia (cable car + chair lift) to the top of Mottarone, and ate LOTS of gelato.

Along the way, we spotted this sign:

We are pretty sure that we're the pigeon on this trip, and that is a good thing.  More pics of the diving antics and other adventures are here.