Tag: restaurants

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Bad Gastein, Austria – Gasteiner Falls

We left Turin early in the morning on the 5:50AM train, in order to catch the FrecciaRossa from Turin to Milan. Of course, due to the early hour, we used the Wetaxi Application and ordered a taxi for 12€ to take us to Porta Nuovo, the main train station in this part of the city.

Our connecting FrecciaRossa, took us from Milan to Venice Maestre, where we picked up our Austrian ÖBB train to Villach, Austria. Luckily, all of our connections, and there were four, worked without issue.

An hour train north of Villach, Austria you can find the small health spa town of Bad Gastein. Though a shadow of its former self, when dignitaries and other luminaries used to visit for its waters and mountain air, it is still worth a visit, if not only for the aforementioned reasons.

Bad Gastein

The town runs at a slower pace than other mountains towns we have visited. Perhaps it is more difficult to capture tourist monies with a waterfall and health resort as the primary attractions, as opposed to say a very large mountain or a large ski resort complex.

There are parts of the town center that appear to be in eternal repair. Though there is work going on here and there, it does not appear to have progressed much in the last few years. The thermal water fountain building and the old Kurhotel of Austria appear permanently closed. Unfortunately, there are no signs posted explaining the reason, so we were just left to ponder what might have happened.

Hotels

Hotel Salzburger Hof

We stayed at the Salzburger Hof, a very large hotel close to the train station with all the amenities. It appears to be one of the better kept establishments in Bad Gastein, with two pools, three restaurants and a health spa. Apparently host to Count von Bismark and other dignitaries, including many American personalities.

The rooms are very spacious and well appointed. The hotel seems proud of its tradition of important guests, there are photographs of everyone who has visited hung throughout the hotel and in the rooms.

Gasteiner Falls

The main attraction in the center of town now are the falls. The great Gasteiner Waterfalls are indeed impressive, especially after the storm that has just passed through this region of Europe. Since a video is worth a thousand words, here are a few.

It is easy enough to get a glimpse of the waterfalls by walking the main road through town and stopping at the bridge.

After taking in their beauty from the bridge, there are also other vantage points from which the falls may be enjoyed. But, that requires a bit of climbing and some hiking, all of which can be done with modern sneakers, not equipment necessary.

There is a section above the falls where they were purposely redirected some years ago by a dam that was built by a member of the clergy. This forces all the current water down a single corridor within the rocks.

Hiking Trails

There are numerous trails for walking, hiking and biking around town. For our first day our we chose the one that visited the Upper Gastein Falls and then descended towards lower Bad Gastein.

Restaurants

La Pizzeria Napoletana

A very small Italian pizzeria stuck in the back of a another building right next to the Gasteiner Falls is the La Pizzeria Napoletana.

Their tomato and mozzarella pizza is thin and very tasty. This restaurant has a minimal menu of pizza, beer, soft drinks and some wine, there is little else to choose from if you are really hungry.

The pizza is authentic, right down to its crust. The prices are very reasonable and emblematic of what you would expect in a small town or city in Italy.

Orania Stueberl Restaurant

A restaurant that is almost always open, it is a good go-to place when you have few if any options. The food is good, but rather predictable, but that could be said for the rest of the cuisine in this small town.

The interior is adorned with numerous sacrificial animals that were ostensibly killed locally and now inhabit this restaurant’s walls. I guess I never understood if this practice was supposed to be in honor of the animal that was killed, or in spite of it. In any case, it appears a bit overdone.

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Malm̦, Sweden РViking Impressions

On a lighter and more promising day, weather-wise that is, we took a day trip from Copenhagen to its sister city across the Øresund, Malmö. This was actually quite easy to arrange using Omio, the phone application, and the cost was very reasonable.

It should be noted however that the trains between these two cities are quite active and full of passengers going in both directions, so plan accordingly. Off times are usually better than the earlier and later hours of the day, due to their fair share of commuter traffic.

Malmö

Malmö, a large city on the edge of Sweden was actually a Danish possession until the early 1700s. Its name was ostensibly obtained from a maiden that was ground up by a millstone in the town’s square. However, less violent sources have the eponym coming from a gravel pile or sand heap. Since there is a millstone in one of the squares, I am leaning toward the maiden tale.

Gamla Staden and the Södergaten

The center of the city, of Gamla Staden, is entered as soon as you walk over the bridge for the canal the separates the Central Train Station from the island. Within two blocks you are in the Stortorget Square and the Charles X Gustav monument, which to our dismay was decorated.

The main street of town is called Södergaten and is where most of the shopping is done. While we were here they were setting up for another day of the Malmö Festival, which apparently runs for a week in August.

The festival actually caused me to scale back on the number of photographs I took, only because you cannot get a real sense of the city with all the flags, banners and other paraphernalia hanging from monuments and lampposts.

Gustav Adolfs Torg

The Gustav Adolfs Torg or square, is where the end of Södergaten opens up. It is large and contains a few fountains and monuments.

The Rest

The city has some very good examples of the old style timber buildings and some that are a bit more modest. It also has a very old cemetery within its limits and a casino. We were informed that the library would be interesting to check out, but it actually does not compare with others that we have seen, so it might be something to drop from your itinerary.

The following slideshow displays some last interesting shots from other places within the city we visited.

Slottsparken

A very nice park to the west of the center of town. It is sparsely populated with trees, fountains and monuments. It has a canal and other waterways that divide it in many places, making it necessary to use on of the many bridges to navigate its interior.

Malmö Castle

The Malmö Castle was our destination as we walked through the park. It is surrounded by a huge mote and there is only one point of entry, for those interested in seeing yet another castle on their tour. Fortunately, we just enjoyed the view from outside and continued our journey toward the dock area.

Västra Hamnen and the Docks

As you leave the castle area and head north, you can enjoy what’s left of the city’s old fish market, which still appears to be in operation.

The island that makes up the Västra Hamnen area contains what was until recently, Sweden’s tallest skyscraper, the Twisted Tower. Again, owing to Swedish architecture, it stands out and is both elegant in its form as it is ugly in the way it fits in with its surrounding.

The docks do not have much to see, aside from the occasional piece of art. We wander through them on our way back to the train station and Copenhagen.

Restaurants

Since we only stayed for the day, we only had time to try one restaurant for lunch, which was chosen out of about three that we researched before leaving. One thing is for sure, the food is not as expensive in Sweden as it was in Denmark and Copenhagen. That is perhaps why most Danes like to visit Malmö on the weekends, if only for a decent inexpensive meal out.

Lilla Torg Steakhouse

We selected the Lilla Torg Steakhouse in Lilla Torg for lunch. Our impressions were, that it tended to serve trendy and fusion types of food. The menu for lunch was rather sparse, but they did have some daily specials.

The food was good, though a bit on the salty side. I also found the pasta to be overcooked and very mushy, which frankly I am not a fan. Patti’s salad also looked overly complicated, but she insisted, aside from the salt, that it was pretty good. Neither of us finished our dish and I guess after twenty minutes of us sitting there not touching our food they got the hint.

Finally, when they collected our dishes, they were interested in what we thought and we honestly told them – back off the salt a bit. We tried to explain, that we were just there for the day and they should probably worry more about what their Swedish and Danish customers say, but she was still apologetic and insisted they cared. Kudos, I guess.

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Copenhagen, Denmark – The City and More

Below are some final meanderings about the city, several other places that we ate and a few places that we saw, that just didn’t fit in any of the former entries.

Copenhagen

Some final thoughts on the city and its location. The weather when we were here was borderline terrible. So if you plan on visiting, you should check the extended forecast prior to packing. It was August and we dealt with temperatures in the 50-60°F range with rain. After the first few days, we just had to ask someone if this what the weather is always like. We were told that the weather is extremely variable and they have even seen snow in the middle of summer! Again, be prepared. We packed both long and short pants and shirts, along with raincoats and glad we did; but only because we knew the forecast had low temperatures and rain.

Our Canal Tour

Touring a city such as Copenhagen, which has plenty of canals and waterways, would not be complete without a canal or boat tour. There are plenty to choose from and you can visit the Information Center to find our more or the city’s website. Make sure you prepare properly for the weather, few boats on the canal tours are covered and those only leave at certain times of the day, so plan accordingly, they do go in the rain.

They also go in extraordinary high tides as well. Our tour was modified because the tides had come in extra high, leaving little space under the bridges. Therefore, we could not go down some canals and I think our tour ended up a bit longer that it probably should have been.

Trinitatis Kirke

Trinitatis Kirke, or Trinitatis church, is a church built in the seventeenth century that is connected to The Round Tower. It was initially built to support the university, since it was part of the overall Trinitatis Complex. The Library Hall, which is built over one of the church’s naves dictated the size of the church when it was originally constructed. In any event, the church has a baroque look and feel to it which may be of interest to some and the organ is certainly something you should see.

The Round Tower

The Round Tower is actually an odd building for several reasons. At first I thought it was a shot tower, where they used to make gunshot or ball bearings. It just did not make any sense to me to build such a structure with a central column and a ramp for horses, unless it had some manufacturing purpose. Moreover, the rebus on the building has been loosely interpreted as Lead, God and The Correct Teaching; which also initially reinforced my belief that it had some military purpose; the telescope and Library Hall being repurposed after other ways to make ammunition came into vogue.

I surprised to find the edifice was built with a ramp inside so that the horses where able to bring the heavy equipment up the tower for the telescope installation. The central column was later intentionally used as a toilet by the staff who found it arduous to walk down the ramp to go to the bathroom.

The telescope installation was built on top of the tower some time after that was completed. The Library Hall was initially used as a library and has now been repurposed as an Art Exhibition hall.

There are also a few astronomical oddities to see, if you look up while you are waiting for the light to change to ascend to the observation lookout. They are a map of the solar system and a zodiac timepiece.

Restaurants

Some last insights into food and some places to go or avoid.

Nebbiolo

Essentially a wine bar serving Aperitivo, or charcuterie and other small items to eat while you enjoy their wine. Since we were not particularly hungry one evening, we tried this place which happened to be right next door to the Chinese restaurant we visited.

Dong Yuan

A very good Chinese restaurant right around the corner from our hotel. The place is always busy, but it does take reservations. The prices are reasonable, considering the prices in the rest of Copenhagen. They also have half-bottles of wine at a very good price, I would commend a Bordeaux.

Taste

A lunch establishment with very limited seating, so show up early if you want one. We sat inside, since the weather was intolerable and the outside seating had little, if any cover. The food is good, but a bit oily. The grilled sandwich I ordered could not be picked up, so I had to cut it into pieces using a knife and fork.

Bistro Verde

This was a quick find before we left Copenhagen for Turin. This restaurant offers a Sunday Brunch at a decent price, the only problem was, it was a vegan dish. So we just ordered a pair of normal cappuccinos and croissants and enjoyed the beautiful Sunday morning before leaving.

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Copenhagen, Denmark – Castles & Palaces

Like the British, the Danes are steeped in the tradition of a royal family. With Copenhagen as the capitol of the country, there are numerous castles and palaces that demonstrate the royal family’s hold on the country and its citizens and I guess their imaginations.

The Royal Family

The family owns, either directly or indirectly, three important landmarks within the city of Copenhagen that are castles or palaces. Much has been turned into museum or tourist attraction, no doubt to keep the family coffers full. Some, like Amalienborg, the royal residence, are guarded and entertain a changing of the guard show.

The Palaces

The are many palaces in Copenhagen, perhaps a bit too many to see in one trip. There are the Amalienborg – which contains four palaces, Christriansborg Palace which are right in town, but there is also Frederiksberg Palace and more further out from the city. If you are into grand buildings and royal history, these will probably be must-see spots.

Amalienborg

The current residence of the royal family is in Amalienborg. This palace occupies are large square in almost four city square blocks. It is divided into four distinct buildings with gardens, one of which is the Amalienborg Palace Museum, which may be visited. Each building is a palace in its own right, they are Christian VII’s Palace, Christian VIII’s Palace, Frederick VIII’s Palace and Christian IX’s Palace.

Amalienborg was once the location of two other palaces which either suffered greatly from fire, or burnt to the ground completely. Subsequent construction led to the building of the palaces we see today.

The museum is free to those who enter with a City Card, otherwise the entrance fee is kr.120 (appr. €16)/person. The museum is in a building adjacent to Christian VII’s Palace and has two floors that contain items from the living quarters of past and present royal family members. If you have any transcendent ideas about ownership or property, you may want to skip this museum. I too, had a difficult time understanding why anyone would want to collect that much stuff for personal use. But, I am probably in the minority.

Lastly, there is a collection of the royal medals and other accoutrements, here is a short slideshow on them.

Christiansborg Palace

Today, Christiansborg Palace not only houses museums and other tourist attractions, but it is also the seat of Danish Government. All three branches of government are represented in the Palace. The palace contains horse stables, an old kitchen and the royal reception rooms, all of which can be visited free with the City Card, or kr.155 (about €9)/person.

Originally constructed as Absalon’s Castle, it has been sacked, demolished and burnt to the ground numerous times. In fact, on one occasion it was dismantled brick by brick. Nevertheless, the Danes have always rebuilt some palace structure here, no doubt a testament to their fortitude. To date, there have been at least five reincarnations of the structure. The basement contains an archeological site showing the ancient remains for the first palace and perhaps foundations of even older structures.

The palace contains amazing chandeliers and ceiling details. The following slideshow provides a good overall walk-through of the palace.

You may also see the old Royal Kitchen, which frankly you can skip. We visited only because we had the City Card and it was free.

The Castles

Be aware, some venues require that you book a time slot, even if you have a City Card. This can be done online, or by showing up at the ticket office and scheduling your visit. The City Card does explain this on the venue’s information site if you click on it.

Rosenborg Castle

As far as castles go, Rosenborg Castle is a fairly small one on the northwest edge of King’s Garden. It was built in Danish Renaissance style in the 1600s as a summer place for King Frederik IV.

The building has very elaborate ceilings, some of which appear to be in the Rococo style.

Of particular interest is the Danish Throne Chair with the three stately lions in front. The chairs are on the third floor on what used to be called the “Long Hall”, it is now called the “King’s Hall”.

There are also several timepieces and at least one Astrolabe of special note.

The rest may be enjoyed in the following slideshow.

King’s Gardens

The castle also has the “King’s Garden”, a complex of garden paths and interesting things to see that the former residence could enjoy.

Restaurants

On The Sunny Side Italian Restaurant

A very good Italian restaurant on the Nyhavn canal which offers good food and has a decent wine list. A bit pricey, but you are on the canal, and what isn’t pricey in Copenhagen?

Fredco’s Deli

A very small establishment on Grønnegade street which provides a very reasonably priced lunch menu that does include salads. Here you can select from a variety of things for your salad, including dressings. Though a bit on the basic side, if you are tired of eating meat based meals every time you sit down, this might be the stop for you. The interior is in the basement and is very utilitarian in look and feel, but you should be able to find a place to sit and enjoy your lunch.

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Copenhagen, Denmark – Multiple Museums

After finally dodging a lot of raindrops and having an initial stroll through the city, we decided on museums, first the Copenhagen Museum, then the National Danish Museum. Both of these contain many floors and numerous exhibits and took us a good hour or so to cover each of them.

To get there we had to take the Metro from Kongens Nytorv to  Rådhuspladsen, which is very near the Tivoli Gardens, another venue we were planning to see.

Copenhagen

If you have the time and are a bit of a planner, like we are, you might want to check out the Copenhagen City Cards. There are a two different kinds, each with its own capability. We decided on the Discoverer Card and chose the 72 hour one, giving us 3 days of Metro access and free access to numerous museums, parks and other activities. Though the price is a bit steep at kr.459 (around €60), if you plan properly and keep to your itinerary, you can save some considerable money. Most of the venues in the city run over $20-25/person and with the Metro thrown in, it counts up quickly.

Museums

Both museums are located in the same area, down by Christiansborg Castle, so it is quite easy to do them in a few hours. Then if you have time, you can visit the castle as well.

Copenhagen Museum

The Copenhagen museum is a very good history of the city, from its ancient ramparts, to its present day seat of the royal family. The information about the museum is easily obtained, so I will only go over a few high points and slide show the rest.

The tour starts with the ancient city and its fortifications, some of which have been preserved and are on display.

There is also a good display on human skeletons and analysis on them to show the living conditions back then, which I might add, did not include a lot of health care (as we are used to today).

It is interesting that in the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries there were numerous people who were able to have keys to the city. Others needed a pass in order to walk freely in the city, most of these were provided to the wealthy patrons and businessmen of the time.

It was also a crime to be poor and people were often punished for it. Others, who had committed felonies were often sentenced to death and would remain behind prison doors until their untimely demise. The door below was from Stokhuset prison in 1677, it is where the priest would meet those who were imprisoned there and likely to perish.

Here is a slideshow to show the remainder.

Danish National Museum

The National Museum houses all things Danish, from the Vikings to the present day. There is a very interesting section on the late 1900s, 1960-80 that amused us.

The Viking display and video is very well done. The video on a Viking raid took about 20 minutes to view, but was well worth the time. Although they depicted it as a raid, it was more like a true adventure that took 60+ ships through the Mediterranean Sea and all along the coasts of Spain, France, Italy and north Africa.

The museum has a floor on humanity’s ethnographic differences in culture, clothing, tools and lifestyle. It covers the Scandinavian countries including Greenland and Iceland, as well as large parts of Asia and Meso-America.

The humorous part of the museum contains more contemporary desiderata from our own life and times. They even have a mock-up of a Danish living room from the 1960s. Just the shear volume of artifacts is difficult to imagine, let alone write about.

So, if you have the time in your schedule a visit to both of these museums is definitely worth the time. Especially, if the weather is not cooperating or if you are looking for something to do between your many castle or palace tours that you have arranged.

Restaurants

Karla Restaurant

A great restaurant for lunch, they have an excellent menu and fair prices. The food is tasty and the portion sizes will fill most American appetites. The decor is rather plain and in need of an update, but we found this true of most places we visited in Copenhagen.

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Copenhagen, Denmark – Our Rainy Stroll

Monday was close to being a total write-off on account of the rain. However, somehow we managed to persevere through the rain and especially the wind with our rain jackets and umbrellas to see a few things.

Our intention was to see the Kastellet, which was a fairly short walk through Amalienborg. But because of the wind lashing the rain around at about 35-40 m.p.h., we decided to turn back. Instead, we did a short tour with some shopping thrown in (to stay out of the weather, of course), with the buildings offering some protection along the way.

Amalienborg

Amalienborg is the home of the danish royal family with a large square that is guarded at each gate by royal guards. The square is rather austere and barren, aside from that there really is not much to see.

Churches

We took the day to visit a number of churches along our shorten rainy route.

Frederik’s Church

The largest church dome in Scandinavia is Frederik’s Church. It is also known as the Marble Church, it was finally finished in 1897 after numerous scandals and financial issues. The inside is dark and houses two separate organs. The inside is rather unique as the entire church is housed under the dome, there are no apses, naves or other familiar structures.

Restaurants

Hyttefadet

A typical danish restaurant along the Nyhavn, offering danish cuisine and simple fare. We stopped here and ate outside even with the wind and the rain, since their umbrella system and heating was first rate. Plus, the benches were covered in sheep wool, making it rather comfortable for such a damp and cold day.

We ordered something light that we could share, smørrebrød, a portion of the danish meatballs and the roast beef. Both were served with sweet pickle and an herb mayonnaise, very good.

Mormors Cafe

A small cafe, ostensibly the oldest in the city. It offers very good coffee, though a bit expensive – as it is all over the city, and an eclectic interior.

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Copenhagen, Denmark – Fire And Ice

Some weeks ago, we decided on another side trip, somewhere distant, in an attempt to avoid others who are traveling and the Italian coasts where all the Italians would be going. We decided on Copenhagen, since Ryanair has a short non-stop cheap flight to this destination from our local Turin airport and to get a break from the unusually warm weather we had been having in Turin. It’s turning out to be some break.

Copenhagen

The flight left Turin without any issues, though admittedly it is a small airport, probably comparable to New York’s Albany airport. In over just an hour and a half, we were already preparing to land at Copenhagen’s airport as we flew over the Øresund, the body of water which separates Denmark and Sweden.

Copenhagen Airport

When we deplaned, we had then realized that we had exchanged fire for ice. In Turin it was a beautiful day in the mid 70’s, here, it was a windy, cloudy, rainy day in the high 50’s. One could say, a real shock to our system.

They have a very nice airport, but it is long and spread out, and it felt like an eternity before we found the exit. However, once we arrived at the luggage carousel, our luggage was in plain sight and ready for us. We grabbed them both quickly and headed for the metro, which has direct service into the city’s center and costs about one tenth that of a taxi fare.

Copenhagen City

We exited at Kongens Nytorv metro station to find it really was freezing out. We quickly retrieved our rain jackets from our luggage and then headed for our hotel (more on our hotel later).

Since we arrived later in the afternoon and because of the weather we soon found ourselves just looking for a place to eat. So, we unpacked a little at the hotel and left to go look at the Nyhavn area for places to eat. Our choice you will find below in the next section, in meantime we found the Nyhavn canal area fascinating and very convenient for us.

Restaurants

The Nyhavn canal district is full of restaurants, with a plethora of cuisine types and price ranges. You will find the food rather expensive, all restaurants will levy a twenty-five percent tax on everything your order, no exceptions that we have found. So, choose accordingly.

Cap Horn

For our first evening we chose a restaurant that had steak on the menu and Cap Horn, since their menu on the web said they had hamburgers and other entries. Unfortunately, you cannot order from the lunch menu during dinner hours,  so we ended up ordering steak.

The steak was very good, in fact everything we ordered was very good and the service was acceptable and polite. However, with appetizers, water and wine we found our bill came to a little over fifteen hundred Krone, or a bit over $220 for our meal. I am not averse to spending that much money for a meal for two people, but the products and the services offered are definitely not worth that much. We found it tolerable for one evening, but we will be making some changes in our choices going forward. So do your restaurant research here well!

Some much for our first day and evening in Copenhagen, more to come soon!

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Alba, Italy – Piedmont’s Wine Center

Our trip started at Turin’s Porta Susa train station. For a little over 12€/person, you can purchase a one-way commuter ticket on Piedmont’s Sfm4 line to Alba, which takes about an hour and twenty minutes to get there, going through Bra first, which can also be a stop on your itinerary.

Alba

Anyone serious about wine or truffles has to visit Alba, Italy. Located an hour or so south of Turin, it is a bustling center for both, especially in the Fall when both of these products are harvested. Our whole intent on visiting the town was a wine tour we had booked for Barolo and Barbaresco (covered in my next post), but we decided to grab a hotel and enjoy an extra day just to explore.

The town is rather self contained and almost in the shape of a loose hexagon, owing to its ancient Roman ancestry as a fortification no doubt. There are several places where these ancient ruins are evident and demonstrate how the town itself is constructed upon them, using them as a foundation. There are also underground caverns and tunnels that can be explored, but arrangements have to be made ahead of time in order to visit them.

The town has numerous towers and it was once known as the town with a hundred towers. These were most likely constructed as lookouts and were defensive in nature.

There are also numerous churches, as is true of most Italian towns and cities. The cathedral, or Duomo, occupies a central place near the town’s marketplace and between the Piazza Duomo and Piazza Rossetti. The interior is typical for its size and function.

Other churches, including the Church of the Maddalena, actually have more interesting and elaborate interiors. One, the Church of Saint John the Baptist, looks more like a provincial library than a church inside.

Hotel Dellatorre

A three star hotel, which is actually more of a converted Bed-n-Breakfast, than a real hotel. It is more like a cafe/bar that has added rooms and tries to call itself a hotel. All the rooms are separate and there is no main structure with hallways, they all have external doors.

The owner runs a cafe or bar as well, and although we stayed here for one night, we did not use her cafe for breakfast, since we had learned that the beverages were a bit over-priced. Again, we are not sure whether that is in fact the case, but we did notice that there was no menu or price list anywhere. While we travel we have a general rule that if the prices are not listed, we tend to avoid the establishment.

The room was spacious enough, quiet and comfortable for the most part. The bed was very hard, so if you prefer that kind of mattress firmness, this place might be for you.

Restaurants

Conterosso

For lunch we ate at Conterosso and chose two of the local dishes. Patti had the Agnolotti with truffles and I had the veal with a barolo wine sauce, both were excellent dishes.

Gusto Madre

A contemporary dining place that makes excellent pizza. Located in Piazza Michele Ferrero, it is just on the edge of town.

Since Patti was not feeling well, I ate alone and just ordered a simple Pizza Margherita which was drizzled with a pesto, it was actually quite good.

Map of the City

Below is a map of the city.

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Verbania, Italy – Pallanza and Villa Taranto

Across Lake Maggiore from Stresa lies Verbania and the town of Pallanza. This is another destination one may reach by purchasing a ferry ticket with the Lake Maggiore Ferry transportation system.

Verbania

Since we had an extra day, we took a day trip there to discover if Pallanza had anything to offer and to visit the Gardens of Villa Taranto.

Pallanza

There is not much to see here, though during our visit there was a lot of lake side construction, which not only blocked our view of things but made for a rather noisy visit. Hence, we did not stop here to eat anything.

The town is actually quite simple and the only things there that stand out are the Church of Saint Leonard and its bell tower, and a few World War I memorials.

The water show off the beach appeared a bit to much for a destination offering so little, but we took a photograph of it anyway.

After a quick tour of Pallanza, we attempted to walk to the Villa Taranto gardens. After about forty minutes of frustration with a well known map application, we decided to turn around and take the ferry instead, which has service to the gardens.

Regardless what the phone application tries to tell you, you may not enter the gardens from any side other than from where the boat launch is, so do not try unless you want to walk on a state road or you want to waste a lot of your time trying. The entire garden is surrounded by immense walls or fences and all of the entry points are locked. I walked all the way up to the Oratory of Saint Remigio just to make sure.

Villa Taranto

Villa Taranto is the ferry stop right after Pallanza and before Intra. It is about a ten to fifteen minute ride from Pallanza, so we purchased a round trip ticket from Pallanza to Villa Taranto to make up the difference with our ticket from Stresa to Pallanza, since we would be taking the ferry directly back once we finished the gardens.

The Gardens

The gardens of Villa Taranto are very well kept and marked. Each section is dedicated to some specific type of flora or theme. The walkways are well maintained such that you will have no issues ascending the hill that the gardens are planted on.

Restaurants

In Villa Taranto we ate at the bistro within the park, having no desire after a long walk through the gardens of venturing any further out.

Cafè & Bistrot

Nothing much to rave about here, it is just a simple bistro and cafe. In one section you may sit and enjoy a drink, in the other you may order lunch or whatever they are serving at the time, if they are open. For lunch, we just had a simple salad with tomatoes and Tropea onions and olive oil, along with some white wine on the side, which was very dry and very good.

Aside from the failed attempt to walk to Villa Taranto Gardens, the ferry and the gardens, saved what could have been a sweaty miserable afternoon looking at flowers. So after eating, we thoroughly enjoyed our boat trip back to Stresa and would commend others not to stop in Pallanza, but go straight to the gardens and perhaps even Intra later, if the traveling bug moves you so.

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Stresa, Italy – Borromeo Islands

Borromeo Islands

Of the five Borromeo islands that make up that small group in Lake Maggiore, three have ferry service to them, one is uninhabitable, but has a beach you can visit, and the other, not far off the coast near Pallanza, is small and not frequented by visitors.

One should note, at least for our CMA ferry service, the islands are visited in an order, as presented below. Altering this order is impossible, if not very difficult, so plan accordingly.

Isola Bella

Isola Bella is probably the most frequented of the three. It has an ostensibly renowned italianate garden, which you have to purchase tickets for of course, but they do include access to the palazzo and the other gardens on Isola Madre.

The Palazzo

The entrance to the gardens is via the palazzo, you cannot just walk into them. We walked through the old fishing town thinking there were multiple entrances to the gardens, there are not. There is only one, through the palazzo and after the ticket counter.

A walk-through of the palazzo is provided in the below slideshow.

The gardens are accessed from the palazzo through what is called Diana’s Atrium, a small sub-garden with stairways to the garden. There is not much to see here and it is probably meant more as a meeting place, than any important adjunct to the gardens, so we ascended to the gardens almost immediately.

The Gardens

The gardens do contain some interesting species, especially the old Camphor tree that was planted there in 1819 by Vitaliano IX Borromeo. It also houses a peacock and peahen, which will provide the necessary background noise in the gardens for any videos you wish to make.

Apparently the pride of the gardens is the Massimo Theater. A rather odd assemblage of opulent statues and finished by Carlo IV, it probably points to the decedent past these properties enjoyed.

Isola dei Pescatori

Even though its proper name of Isola Superiore belies its size, Isola dei Pescatori is the smallest of the three islands. Its main attraction is the small fishing town that stretches from three quarters of its shoreline.

There is only enough room here for restaurants, cafes, shops, boat docks and the odd park on the northwest side of the island. So, casually walking its streets and narrow alleyways is, more or less, the only thing to do here, aside from eating of course.

Isola Madre

Isola Madre is the largest of the three and for the most part is an island with a garden and palazzo on it. The garden is entered first, after turning right off the boat and taking the a long garden path walk around a third of the island.

Once you pass the entrance, where a person will scan your tickets, the garden begins.

The Garden

I found this garden quieter, more casual and more enjoyable overall. It has a few different sections, including a jungle environment which is very wet and grows ferns and other jungle type plants.

The Palazzo

Immediately outside the entrance to the palazzo is a huge Cashmir Cypress tree, that was once blown over by a tornado on the island and later saved. It is indeed a magnificent specimen.

The interior of the palazzo is very interesting and a bit disturbing as well. It contains a lot of desiderata, so the displays can often appear disjointed and not themed well. However, taken as the idiosyncrasies of its creators and owners, it is perhaps more understandable. I found it enjoyable though confused at times, in its own way.

We thoroughly enjoyed our day visiting all three islands. Though it is a lot to see in one day, it took us about five hours, it is manageable. It might be more difficult if it is hot outside, since all of the gardens are outside and the palazzos do not appears to have any air-conditioning in them. However, there are plenty of places to buy water on each of the islands, so staying hydrated should not be an issue.

Restaurants

Though there are restaurants and cafes on all the islands, we ate on the island of Pescatori because it was in the middle of our day boat trip to all of the islands, and at around half past one, it broke the trip up just about right.

Trattoria Ristorante Imbarcodero

The Trattoria Ristorante Imbarcodero is on the small island of Pescatori. In fact, most of the good restaurants of the three islands are probably here. It has a wide variety of Italian dishes that one can choose from the menu. For lunch, we kept it simple, since we were both not feeling one hundred percent and already had a substantial breakfast at the hotel.