We woke up to blue skies and sunshine yet again – I could get used to this. We spent the morning doing a few chores then sitting in the sun with our books; I have to give myself permission to just do that as doing-not-a-lot doesn't come naturally, but we ARE on holiday after all. We’d been spoilt for the last few days, having an unrestricted view of the lake as no-one was on the pitch in front of us & we didn’t really expect anyone to use it as it had a large hill in the middle (therefore very hard to level an outfit). We were disappointed when a Swiss motorhome appeared & obviously thought it was perfect for them – our lake view had gone and our peace shattered as they had VERY loud voices.


 We went for a walk in the reed beds at the edge of the lake and had good views looking back at the site plus down the lake, had lunch in the shade (it was now very hot) then left for our afternoon jaunt. We headed for Villa Taranto at Verbania to see the gardens, about 4 miles away northwards. It was bought in 1935 by an Englishman called Neil McEachan, who wanted to create a beautiful garden on the lakeside – and he certainly managed that.






 It was full of mature trees, some over 100ft tall from all over the world, plus plants and shrubs he had collected on his travels as well as beds FULL of dahlias, others of roses and also of pansies. Paths wound round the hillside, in and out of wooded areas and flower beds and the most immaculate lawns I have ever seen. There were fountains in places, pergolas, statues and niches, and to crown it all, classical music playing over speakers hidden in the trees!



 We also saw Victorian-style greenhouses full of vines and other exotics, then wandered gradually up the hill to the small chapel. This was a cool oasis in the heat, and lovely place with stunning stained glass windows decorated with (of course) flowers.


 Onwards & upwards we went, admiring the villa as we went, but that was all we could do as it wasn't open to the public. At the top was a large pool with water lilies set in front of the cafe, our destination for an ice cream but that was not to be either as it was closed.


 The colourful flower beds and shrubs continued, and as we were by now quite high up, there was a lovely view over the lake. The path then gradually wound down, via shady terraces overshadowed by some of those huge trees; even so, the heat got to us so we cooled off with an ice cream, then went into Verbania to do some food shopping.


 The traffic on the lake road was really busy so we went up into the hills to bypass it and returned to the site to find MORE people near us; we had thought to stay another day and go up a cablecar on a nearby mountain, but on reading damning reviews of the state of it plus the exorbitant amount they charged, we decided to forego it.

Our next destination was to be Austria, somewhere near Salzburg, and adding together the influx of people onto the site plus the very busy roads around, we decided to leave the next day in search of peace & quiet.