October 2017 Itinerary Link
We rented a car from Bergamo Airport(BGY), one of the 3 airports serving Milan. We had never heard of this airport prior to this trip, but it apparently serves over 12 million people annually making it the third busiest in Italy. The airport still retained the feel of a relatively small airport, and we were able to get out of it quickly.
The problem started when we tried to buy a local SIM card. We found exactly one counter, a money exchanger, that sold SIM cards in the entire airport arrival hall. Naturally, there was a long long line. We were supposed to get in touch with our Airbnb host, thus we really needed wifi or a working phone. We found the path across the freeway & reached the big shopping center called Orio Center next door to the airport. There were two mobile phone vendors, but both had a long line. We were supposed to pick up a friend from Stresa Railway Station, and we did not have enough time to wait. So we went our way, and, pretty soon, we ran into the traffic surrounding Milan area.
From BGY to the station in Stresa was supposed to be a 2 hour drive, but it took us more than 3 hours. Not knowing where to get off the freeway to get to downtown Stresa did not help, either. It was dark, and the offline map on Pat’s tablet refused to work. There was nothing, no village or gas station, in this part of Italy. We just had to trust our instinct & hoped for the best. We, somehow, found the train station 90 minutes later than planned. Not knowing what else to do, our friend was still waiting there for us.
We were all starving. We parked the car & walked around to find a restaurant. We stumbled into a place called Pizza something, and our fortune turned around right at that moment! They served much more than pizza, and all were so wonderful. Too bad that I can’t find that restaurant on any of the eatery lists for Stresa.
We asked to borrow their phone to call the Airbnb host, but the lady said, “Eat first! Think about food, don’t think about calling!” We had to eat quickly so that we could make the call finally. Understandably, our Airbnb host was quite anxious to hear from us, and, even though she did not sound happy, everything worked out and we found our beds for the night. And the house was just wonderful! The view from the house is in the pictures above.
Next morning we embarked on a leisurely drive along the lake on SS34 stopping in various towns. In late October, the road was not crowded except for occasional biker packs. I couldn’t help wondering, though, how it would be in the summertime to fight with all the traffic on a rather narrow road. One can park the car & use the ferries to visit different towns, including the ones in Switzerland. Cafes and restaurants in this area were not too overly priced considering overwhelming presence of tourists.
We took the cable car from Stresa to the upper town of Mottarone. Yes, the idea sounded wonderful & you got the view. No, we did not think it was worth 19 Euros per person roud trip. The location of the station in Stresa was not well marked, and we had to ask around several times to find it. Granted we did not have a nice clear day to visit, the ride was mildly interesting at best. Once you are at the top, there really was not much to do or see except for one small church up the hill.
Two restuarnts we enjoyed in Stresa: Lo Stornello in downtown and La Rampolina near our Airbnb uptown. The quality of food is excellent but you can get a decent main dish for under 20 Euros, and wine is cheap in Italy.
In summer, most visitors to this area do an island hopping to see the villas or even a train + boat excursion. But we were there off-season, and we were a bit wary of seeing more big, beautiful houses. We were happy to look at them from a distance.
Small Wide World 