Weekend in Italy

Wow - what a terrific weekend! We ventured off to northern Italy for Robert's birthday and were treated to terrific blue skies, nice fall weather and some great site seeing. First up, we arrived in Stresa on Lake Maggiore to visit the Park of Villa Pallavicino. It was a zoo (see video) and botanical garden all rolled into one (any they even had 3 owls!). Next we took a ferry to an island in the middle of the lake to visit an absolutely over-the-top villa on the private island of Isole Borromee. We could not believe the scope of this magnificent palace and gardens complete with white peacocks! We missed the ferry back to the mainland and were forced to have a beer to pass the time (darn). We ate at a great hotel/restaurant in the town of Mergozzo to finish off our perfect day. Sunday we started in Arona to visit a huge statue that is only 30 feet shorter than the Statue of Liberty - Coloso di San Carlo Borromeo (check out those EARS!). That riveting visit was followed by a visit to the most beautiful garden either one of us has ever been to - Giardini Botanici Villa Taranto. We couldn't stop saying things like - that's beautiful, look at that tree, check out that view...MAGNIFICENT!!! For our drive home we took a long journey through the Alps and over a couple of passes - there was light snow falling near the top. See pictures from our weekend here, and see what it looks like to drive in the Alps here.