Lago Maggiore - Isole di Pescatori e Madre

After Isola Bella, we took the ferry over to Isola Superiore also known as Isola di Pescatori.



There was a lot of mist coming down the mountains to the lakes. This was my first time on Pescatori, it was cool to get to go to the church on the Island, the one serious sight. As far as I could tell, these busts on the altar were of popes and bishops.



The area around Lago Maggiore is very German influenced. They even have these serious recycling receptacles!



We only spent a half hour or so on the island. It's tiny, that was enough time to walk around it and get the ferry over to Isola Madre. Madre is famous for its gardens. Despite it being fall, there were lots of things in late blooming glory.



These air plants caught my eye as soon as we entered the gardens.



The water lilies were just incredible. I couldn't believe how may lilies were going in October. A few different colors were represented, pink, white, yellow, purple, and besides the open blossoms a lot of the plants had buds sticking out of the water.



We did the full walking tour of the island. You can see the wet look from the rain. Here's the guys looking out at Pallanza.



And of course we saw lots of the fancy birds. Two kinds of pheasants, more peacocks, the caged parakeets and love birds, and some fancy chickens.



After Isola Madre, we made our long way home.

Lago Maggiore - Isola Bella

Saturday we trekked up to Lago Maggiore to visit the Borromeo Islands.



We took the ferry first to Isola Bella.



We toured the palace and the gardens. Since the last time I visited, there's been a big storm. The storm did serious damage. Several giant obelisks were toppled off the terraces. Walking up to the terrace, you don't notice at first, but up close it's clear that the damage was serious.



The rose gardens are blocked off because an obelisk fell through the walls. You can just see the one hole in the wall from the falling rocks in this pic.



We could still head to the citrus area, at least. Most of the citrus is ornamental. While the rain that day was a bit of a pain when walking in the gardens, it did make the plants look awesome in the photos.



The peacocks were in the process of shedding their tails, so I haven't bothered highlighting any photos of them. But, we did see these cute fantail pigeons, just flying around the island!



We grabbed a quick lunch before heading on.

Ross Visit

Ross and his parents made it here on Friday! I let them get a nap in before we started sight seeing, as per my European Recovery Plan. We headed out to the Pinacoteca di Brera after grabbing a panzerotti at Luini's...



After we headed to La Rinascente to get aperitivo and dinner at Obika. Yummy! It's also one of the best places to browse. This bean flask caught my eye. It has instructions and marking levels for the beans.



After dinner, we walked over to Cioccolati Italiani for gelato... Yum!



We headed out past the Duomo on the way back to Mark and Mary's hotel.



I think everyone slept soundly that night...

Fresh Foods

I bought all this fresh food in anticipation of Ross's arrival for his vacation.



Mozzarella di Buffala, artichokes, chestnuts, fractal cauliflower, zucca squash, and a bag of minestrone fixings. All of this turned out to be delicious. For a lot of these veggies, the season is just beginning, so they were pricey! But I wanted Ross to get the good stuff...

The minestrone fixings were fascinating. The bag has chopped parsley and kale and other greens, bits of zucchini, asparagus, squash, carrots, and whole cherry tomatoes and fava beans. I cooked it up with a little broth, and then stuck in some couscous. So yummy...

More Street Sign People

I found the street sign for my street with the info on the guy! Turns out Antonio was a patriot.



My cross street guy was a pathologist.



And it turns out that my office street guy was a Garibaldi and unification supporter.



Maybe I will find some more cool guys on the street signs...

More Old Trams

As I mentioned in this post, I do love taking the old trams. Last week I hopped on the 33 to head to Porta Venezia from the Lambrate area. They individual trams are a little different from each other. This one had different light fixtures than the 23, more bowl-like.



And I noticed that the front step folds up below the accordioning doors!



Wait for it...



Cool, right? I love all the fussy details on these trams!

The End of Rome

On our way out of the Castel Sant'Angelo, we saw a really cool religious procession.



Most of the banners were from Latin American countries, and many of the people seemed to be too. These guys were carrying the icon, I love their ropes. There were lots of ladies wearing white lace shawls who walked backward, facing the icon. An Italian marching band followed them. We watched the procession cross a busy street, wafting incense the whole way.



We made it to Campo Fiori area, to see an exhibit on the machines of Leonardo da Vinci. There was an assortment of hand crank driven mechanisms.



There were also some display only models of flying machines and the like!



There were several peek throughs in the exhibit space, showing old bricks of the building, and this weird room showing some of da Vinci's swimming innovations above a pool surrounding original building foundations.



On our way back to the hotel, we passed by one last time to see the Spanish Steps. (Which turn out to be French, actually!)



The crowds are always going in Rome!

I took the train home to Milan that evening, and made it to my place without too much fuss.