Today we leave France for a 3-night stay in Italy ! 

We are traveling on a 12:31 train from Basel, Switzerland to reach our final destination of Stresa, Italy on the banks of Lake Maggiore in Northern Italy.  

After a final pack in the morning, we have our bags ready to hit the road (or train tracks as it happens). Our apartment is nicely situated about a 15 minute walk from the station on easy-enough roads so in short order we arrive at the station. We catch the 11:19 train to Basel. Same train commute we had made twice earlier this week to attend our conference in Basel so the journey was easy and familiar. At the main Basel train station, we make our way up to the big train platforms where our train will depart. When they post the platform, we find that we have to go back down another escalator to some tracks along the side where we find our train already sitting there waiting for us to board. Arriving a little early affords us time to toss our bags up the steps and onto the luggage racks before finding our seats without rushing. 

This train ride is about 3 hours, traveling through the Swiss Alps into Italy passing through tunnels to cut out climbing the mountains. As we stop at each station more and more people and luggage arrive on the train. We learn that in Switzerland there is no mandatory seat reservation as there is in Italy so there is a bit of a cluster with many people having no seat or sitting in seats that later are taken by people who have reserved that seat at a later station. We befriend the dude from Colorado who has a dog named Utah. We really want the dog to sit with us. But then later, a lady who lives in both Basel and Italy comes to sit in her seat and kicks out Colorado dude and Utah. When we finally arrive in Italy, we are greeted by the most beautiful lake surrounded by mountains. This is our home, Stresa, for the next three nights. 

After digging our bags out from under a pile at the luggage racks, we get off the train at Stresa and go out of the station to meet our taxi driver. The ride to our apartment at the top of a villa is a quick, easy 5 minute drive but would otherwise be a hike up hill dragging bags. Happy to have the ride, we meet up with Lucrezia who shows us into the villa and up the three flights of marble steps. The apartment is super cute with two terraces overlooking both lake and mountainside. 

Being in Italy, we are a little bit on the warmer side with the temperature but it’s not overly hot and we are enjoying the sunshine. After settling in, we head to a small grocery for some provisions. We also find some delicious cafe crema here too! A yummy frozen, creamy coffee treat. Next we walk down to the lake and along the promenade which leads into the center of town. We pass along huge, old beautiful hotels. Very grand. Then we come to the Grand Hotel des Iles Barromees where they have a Hemingway Bar. Here during WWII, Hemingway recovered and convalesced after being treated in a Milan hospital for injuries. He set a Farewell to Arms here. This hotel is stunning! We order some Hugo Spritz and sit out in the beautiful gardens. Our drinks are so refreshing and come with the snacky-snacks in proper Italian aperitivo style- green olives, peanuts and potato chips. We then continue our progressive-style aperitivo dinner at a small bar along the lake where we enjoy a round of Aperol Spritz and another plate of snacky-snacks. A small stroll and we are in the little town centre. There are cute shops and restaurants. We find the bank for a withdrawal before locating the main square where we find a wine bar that is serving a special drink created from the limited edition Hendricks gin, Midsummer Solstice. We enjoy this drink under the portico while people watching in the main square and bird watching in the eaves while two birds are trying to coax the baby bird from the nest. Cute! 

Now that it’s dark, it’s time to walk back along the lake and up to our villa. Good night Stresa... can’t wait to see you in the morning!