It was 11:00 AM in Frankfort Germany as our Delta flight began its descent. The crew had begun the breakfast service 1/1/2 hours before we touched down and they were picking the rest of the trash up as the plane made its final descent. Luann had awaken in time to eat and now she was resting with her eyes closed and looking extremely satisfied and content. It made me sick just watching her. How could she do it so easily, trip after trip? The plane had now taken a whole different personality. It was now buzzing with noise, smiles all around and people looking out windows. The window blinds were pretty much raised and people occupying those seats were like royalty. The majority of people on these flights don't have window seats, so everyone without a seat is trying to catch a glimpse of land. They have to go through the keeper of the window seat. For a lot of these people, it is the first time they have ever seen Germany or any other European country from the air. As you might expect, heads were moving in all directions. The three seat middle aisle that had not seen anything but plane cabin and heads was desperate to get a glimpse of land. It was like watching an ostrich farm when all the ostriches are frantically looking for sand to put their heads in. I was the worst one of all. Unfortunately, there was nothing to see. It was thick as smoke out there and no one could tell if we were near the airstrip or miles above it. The plane hit a spot of turbulence somewhere before touchdown and many of use thought we had landed. It came as a surprise when 20 seconds later we did actually touch down. Smiles disappeared for a few seconds. It was over. We were in Frankfort Germany and Luann and I have never been here before.
When I would picture Frankfort Germany, visions of cold war espionage would come to my head right away. I always imagined a gloomy, cloudy, busy and eerie kind of city. I think it is from some of the novels and spy movies I have read and seen during my life. Other that that, the only reference I can remember of Frankfort is when Colonel Hogan used to talk to Commandant Klink about Frankfort and Dusseldorf. As we taxied in, the keepers of the windows allowed us to get a good glimpse of the airport and the surrounding geography. Boy, was I surprised to see that it was a cloudy, gloomy, busy and sort of eerie. I could not believe that it was exactly as I had pictured it. How often does that happen?
We deplaned and now the vacation is one step closer to starting. All we have to do is get to the connecting flight and head for Milan Italy and we are home free. Our group met at the end of the concourse where we had deplaned and it looked like were going to have to walk to another terminal. The rest of the group looked great. I looked like a homeless person. Pat and Sharon headed us to the right door and we started walking. I couldn't talk, I couldn't walk, I couldn't think. There was a big fight going on within me. My brain was yelling at my body for not being able to relax and my body was blaming my brain for not being tough enough to ignore the distractions on the plane and fall asleep. It was awful. Luann asked me of I was mad or if I was tired. All I could muster was a grunt. I usually like to take control in situations like this, but I couldn't . I just followed the group. It seemed liked we walked for hours. I have never been through an airport that I climbed up and down more escalators, went through more doors, took more lefts and rights, read more signs and moved my carry on from one hand to another so many times. Going through customs was the easiest and fastest part. When we finally arrived at security to go to the gate, there must have been five hundred people in front of us. The line had at least four, maybe six horizontal ques and the length had to have been at least one hundred feet long. I was afraid we would miss our flight. Apparently security was too, because they started looking for passengers going to Italy and moving them to the front of the line. We all got through and our gate was not more than fifty yards from where we were. We are now at the gate and see that the flight to Milan is on time. We are almost home free. We have a few minutes to freshen up, so now it comes time to find the restrooms (WC as they are called in Europe). I will never bad mouth another US airport again. The Frankfort airport could pass for any American airport. It is modern, has lots of shops and restaurants and it is very clean. There is one major difference. They hide their bathrooms. There must have been five or six of us walking in all directions, running into each other looking for a bathroom. Where we have one bathroom for every ten or so gates, I don't know if this airport had ten or so bathrooms in the whole airport. We had to go through the duty free shop, take a right and it was stuck behind the Kiosk bar. One person could not find it by him or herself. It was truly a team effort.
When I would picture Frankfort Germany, visions of cold war espionage would come to my head right away. I always imagined a gloomy, cloudy, busy and eerie kind of city. I think it is from some of the novels and spy movies I have read and seen during my life. Other that that, the only reference I can remember of Frankfort is when Colonel Hogan used to talk to Commandant Klink about Frankfort and Dusseldorf. As we taxied in, the keepers of the windows allowed us to get a good glimpse of the airport and the surrounding geography. Boy, was I surprised to see that it was a cloudy, gloomy, busy and sort of eerie. I could not believe that it was exactly as I had pictured it. How often does that happen?
We deplaned and now the vacation is one step closer to starting. All we have to do is get to the connecting flight and head for Milan Italy and we are home free. Our group met at the end of the concourse where we had deplaned and it looked like were going to have to walk to another terminal. The rest of the group looked great. I looked like a homeless person. Pat and Sharon headed us to the right door and we started walking. I couldn't talk, I couldn't walk, I couldn't think. There was a big fight going on within me. My brain was yelling at my body for not being able to relax and my body was blaming my brain for not being tough enough to ignore the distractions on the plane and fall asleep. It was awful. Luann asked me of I was mad or if I was tired. All I could muster was a grunt. I usually like to take control in situations like this, but I couldn't . I just followed the group. It seemed liked we walked for hours. I have never been through an airport that I climbed up and down more escalators, went through more doors, took more lefts and rights, read more signs and moved my carry on from one hand to another so many times. Going through customs was the easiest and fastest part. When we finally arrived at security to go to the gate, there must have been five hundred people in front of us. The line had at least four, maybe six horizontal ques and the length had to have been at least one hundred feet long. I was afraid we would miss our flight. Apparently security was too, because they started looking for passengers going to Italy and moving them to the front of the line. We all got through and our gate was not more than fifty yards from where we were. We are now at the gate and see that the flight to Milan is on time. We are almost home free. We have a few minutes to freshen up, so now it comes time to find the restrooms (WC as they are called in Europe). I will never bad mouth another US airport again. The Frankfort airport could pass for any American airport. It is modern, has lots of shops and restaurants and it is very clean. There is one major difference. They hide their bathrooms. There must have been five or six of us walking in all directions, running into each other looking for a bathroom. Where we have one bathroom for every ten or so gates, I don't know if this airport had ten or so bathrooms in the whole airport. We had to go through the duty free shop, take a right and it was stuck behind the Kiosk bar. One person could not find it by him or herself. It was truly a team effort.
Our last experience in Frankfort was with Alitalia Airline. I felt a little better now, having splashed cold water on my face and I was eager to get to Milan. The boarding doors were opened and we walked out into the cool, cloudy afternoon daylight fully expecting to see an airplane. There was no airplane out these doors. The doors led to a sidewalk that ran along the tarmac and to a bus. Yes, a bus. The bus that has poles in the middle that gives the passenger a clue that there will be more people on this bus than there is room. We were literally on the tarmac, but you couldn't tell it with all the bus and truck traffic running around. Shirley kiddingly talked about the bus taking us to Milan. The bus sat there for a good ten minutes as people kept piling in and piling in. It reminded me of some of those buses you see on that travel channel showing New Delhi India, where people are almost hanging out of them. It finally moved and we headed for the plane. The ride to the plane was as neat of a bus ride as I have ever had. We had this bus that looked like a small toy driving next to these huge planes. There were buses everywhere just like this, dodging around parked planes. There were planes landing and departing, not more that a football field away from us. Our bus driver even got screamed at by one of the baggage trucks as he cut the baggage guy off. This went on like this for a good five minutes and we finally arrived at our plane. The steps were out and we climbed on board. I knew I was going to do everything I could to get some sleep.
Luann and I got split up on this leg because of the delay in Cincinnati. We were OK with that because we both knew it wasn't a long flight and she needed the break after having spent all that time babysitting me on this trip. As soon as I got in my seat, it was time to close my eyes and let me fall under that dark blanket we call sleep. A person would think that after all this time with no sleep, I would nod off immediately. It was not to be. I thought I had gotten into a school bus full of kids with the chatter that was coming from two ladies about five rows behind me. I was so tired, I couldn't tell what language they were speaking . Also, the flight attendant had to make all the announcements in Italian and English. As soon as I would doze off, the attendant would come on. I got caught trying to understand the Italian and then have to listen to the English part to see if I got any of it right. I was lucky to have understood one word out of a hundred. It was a lot harder than those CD's I had listened to back home. Finally, the in flight service started and it was quiet. I fell asleep for almost a half and hour, when I woke to find the attendant staring at me. He wanted to know if I wanted the Italian version of our peanut or pretzels. We got crackers with a tomato taste and small bite size cookies. They were pretty good. As I looked out the window, I noticed we were flying over the Alps. It was one of the most beautiful scenes I have ever seen. We were close to Milan, just crossing the border and I could see the Matterhorn. The sky was absolutely clear, we were fairly low and we got a great view of the countryside. It was breathtaking. To make the flight even better was the fact that now the flight attendant had the beverage cart next to us. The wine was complimentary. I have never been on flight where wine was served like the water. I had to have a glass. Sharon and Pat were across from me and Sharon reminded me that it was early morning back home. I didn't care. If I only drink once in a while, this would be it. Once in the morning and a while tonight. My vacation had started. Window seat, great view, a little sleep and a glass of wine. I was ready for anything.
We landed in Milan/Melpansa airport. I wish the flight would have taken me to Stressa. We arrived without a hitch and without luggage, so it seemed. I met up with Luann and asked her if she had a glass of wine on the plane. I was so excited. She said no, as she slept the whole time. She is incredible. All twelve of us waited at the carousel. A few bags would come off, but nothing resembling any of ours. The wait lasted around thirty minutes, when a porter came with all of our bags. He was a big guy, with a pony tail and smiling eyes. He was our hero. How he got the bags was beyond me, but I didn't care. I got our bags and everyone else got their bags and finally we were ready to go find the tour guide. Snag number two hit. One of Bonnie's bags was not there. As we all sat there or stood there or walked around, a posse was formed to look for her bag. Bob went to patrol all the carousels (11 of them), Bonnie and Doyle went to the lost and found and the rest of us hung around. We watched people arrive, get their bags, walk through the exits and wondered if we were ever going to get out of this airport. It took a heroic effort, but someone in our group suggested that we leave and find the bus. Eleven of us walked out through the exit into the ground transportation area. Doyle and Luann went looking for the tour guide and didn't realize that she had found us. She was real short, so they may not have seen her. Either way, we got everyone rounded up and Bonnie came out of the baggage claim area with her bag. It had gone to Rome. Lucky bag! (the luggage, not Bonnie).
All twelve of us loaded into the tour bus that was big enough for fifty people, but we didn't care. We were going to the hotel. After a brief announcement from the guide, we rolled. I sat by myself, not because I didn't want to sit with Luann. but because I could put my carry on on the seat next to me. This way we both had window seats to enjoy the view. Milan looked exactly as it did eight years ago. It looked great. A one hour bus ride along the toll road that goes to Chiosso and Cuomo took us to the Stresa exit. The city of Stresa is one of many small cities that are on the waters edge of Lago Maggiore. Lago Maggiorie is a huge lake with small islands scattered throughout it, the Borromean Islands.. There are three of the bigger islands in the middle of this lake that are pretty well known, one of which will be our dinner location tonight. The bus made its way down the narrow highway from the highlands and then wound around narrow streets along the lakeside, through the small towns until we arrived in Stresa. This is a resort community and I can only imagine what this town looks like in the summer time during peak season. A quaint, but beautiful promenade along the highway gave way to the series of large and small hotels and inns that hid the small downtown stores. People were sitting in outdoor cafes drinking coffee, beer, cappuccino and a host of other beverages, along with food and pastries. It was enchanting. The bus dropped us off in front of the Hotel Milan Speranza au LAc Lungolago and we eagerly, but tiredly filed out to check in. I have never gotten used to the narrowness of the streets but that is the way this whole town was. Check in was a breeze as the travel guide gave the receptionist the names of the couples on the tour list, in turn, each couple got a room key. We were all taken up by elevator, two couples at a time, without our bags, because the elevator could only carry four people due to its small size. It took a few extra minutes to get to our rooms, but that was OK. We had made it!
In Europe, when you get a room key, it is attached to a big wooden or metal instrument. This makes it very difficult to lose a key and more difficult to carry the key in your pocket. When we were in Europe eights years ago, it took me almost a week to figure that out. I would carry the key, attached to the wooden or metal piece, and put it in my pocket. Going to dinner or simply walking around was very cumbersome and I looked like an idiot leaving the hotel. I thought I could outsmart them by taking the key off the instrument, but then I had one small little key that I knew I would lose. I finally noticed back then, that people would leave their keys, instrument and all, with the receptionist when they left the hotel and ask for their key when they got back to the hotel. I don't feel too bad about being that ignorant because Luann had not figured it out either. The group got a kick out of it when I told them. They probably wondered how they were going to last with me for a whole week.
Luann and I walked into a small, dark little room. There was nothing modern about this room. The bathroom was immediately to our left, with all the fixtures that normally belong in a bathroom. It also had a bidet, which resembled a urinal, only it had a drain in it and separate water faucets. I knew it would probably not be used as it looked awful uncomfortable. The bathroom was not proportional to the rest of the room. It seemed bigger than it should have been. In the hallway entering the room, there were a group of hooks along the right wall for coats and a mirror exactly opposite on our left. The mirror was actually the short wall of the built in closet. The bed sat in the middle of this room and two people could not walk side by side around the bed to the closet. There was a small table desk combination where a TV set sat across from the bed and we used this to set some of our luggage on. The other bag, mine, went on the floor. The closet wasn't deep enough for the bags. The TV was a small 16" that resembled the TVs we had given to Goodwill not too many years before. On each side of the bed was a night stand with lamps for reading. The phone was on Luann's side of the bed. The one thing missing from the room was a clock. We didn't pay much attention to the lack of the clock, but it would come back to haunt us. At the end of the room was a long, two pane door that led to a balcony. Our room was situated above the narrow street over the entrance to the hotel. There was a church right across from us, which we could see and hear the workers fixing up. A statue of the Angel Gabriel with his horn was covered under a blue tarp, guarding the entrance to the Church. It was a picture perfect setting for us. It was now 4:00 pm and we were all to get together at 6:15 for the night reception dinner. We were tired but a quick shower, clean clothes and the excitement of being here, propelled us to go out and explore this quaint town before we got together as a group.
Luann and I had about an hour to walk around and see what Stresa looked like. Walking out the front entrance of the hotel (I made sure I handed the receptionist my huge room key) we ventured into the narrow street. To our left was the center of town (centro) and to our right, across the busy highway (autostrada), was the promenade and the lake. We decided to go left and see the downtown. The street was the same size our alleys back home and it had reddish and gray cobblestone/brick surface. There was a pharmacy on the left hand side, you could tell by the green neon cross, and the church was on our right. A cross street, same size and composition, was at the end of our block. In the middle of that block was a wine store. If you looked up the street we were on and walked straight, you would run right into that wine store. We didn't run. We walked right into that store. We love our reds and to our surprise, the nice lady running the store had a couple bottles of Italian wines and she was giving a wine tasting to another customer. It did not take but a few moments for her to offer a couple of glasses for us to try. One was a Barbera grape wine, which was excellent, and the other a grape I have never heard of. We liked the Barbera wine better. What a nice way to start the three day stay in Stresa. We said our farewells to the proprietor and promised to be back. We meandered around the small downtown, which was a maze of small turns loaded with shops, restaurants and small hotels. The back of the the downtown, away from the lake, was hilly and made for a challenging walk on the cobblestone surface. This reminded me of an amusement park arcade, where it is all make believe. However, this was real and it was nice. A stop at the ATM for some Euros and our walk time was over. It was time to go meet the group for dinner.
We arrived back at the hotel before everyone else had gathered, which gave us time to get a glass of wine at the bar. The bar was a short two steps on the other side of the reception desk. It was very small and had seating for probably fifteen people. A wall separated the body of the bar from reception and the rest of the lobby. However, it was in perfect proportion to the small hotel. The rest of the group finally showed up and instead of going to dinner, we were told to go up a flight of stairs to a conference room. This conference room was fairly good sized and not dissimilar to the conference rooms at our hotels. At this time, we learned that the twelve of us were going to be combined with a group from Michigan. This group was thirty one strong and they had just arrived from a Collette Vacation tour of Southern Italy and Sicily. They had been on the road for nine days prior to this part of their tour. As we all sat at various tables, the hotel staff began serving us wine. They were very quick to make sure we didn't help ourselves, as Luann and Pat found out right away. We listened to our Collette vacation representative tell us what the agenda was going to be for the next few days. She told us what time breakfast would be served, what time the bus would leave for our tours, what we should wear, where we would be going and more information than I really cared to listen to. She handed out a folder for each couple to keep the handouts that Collette would be giving us throughout the tour. I felt like I was in a work related conference. Finally, we did the dirty deed. We had to introduce each other and tell each other a little something about ourselves. If you had asked me after this to tell you the names of the people that had introduced themselves, I would probably remember the twelve in our group (including me) and none of the Michigan people, let alone any tid bit of information. I introduced myself as an employee of Collette travel, which got a couple of laughs, but I did it because I am a rebellious individual and I didn't think the group needed to go through this team building exercise. After forty five minutes and three small glasses of wine (just a guess), we were instructed to meet in front of the hotel for our walk across the busy street to board two small boats that would take us to the Isola Bella (beautiful island) in the middle of Lago Maggiore for dinner. Our preschool class of older people was now a team, according to the tour rep. The only thing missing was a red lanyard that we could all hold on to as we crossed the street.
There are many highlights on this trip and this one dinner was one of the best. We boarded the two small boats. Older model boats, with a deep seating area in the middle and an elevated area in the back. Some people in the group sat in the covered part of the boat, which was in the middle, while others sat in the back. The view was gorgeous no matter where a person sat. It had already turned dark outside, but the lights from the town and house lights in the mountains gave us a lighted,romantic backdrop for a five minute boat ride to the island. The temperature was in the low sixties and dropping, but we were all mezmorized by the view. The boats churned the water into a frothy spume as we sped along the top of the water and we could not help but think that this had to be one of the prettiest settings we had ever seen. It was a setting out of a romantic novel or movie.
We pulled into the island and were dropped off on the dock. This small island is one big castle with a huge botanical garden. Since it was already dark, it was hard to see much of the grounds, but we got a good glimpse of the castle. It was huge and stretched for three quarters of the islands length. We were only going to experience a small part of it. The part that had been converted into a restaurant was where we were led. We climbed one flight of stairs, and through a small door we entered into a big dining area with two levels. The Michigan people pretty well took up the upper level and the twelve of us sat at a long table on the lower level, with some of the local customers. We were treated to a five plate dinner consisting of fish and veal, along with unlimited wine. It was topped off with gelato and a lemonjello after dinner drink that tasted like lemon drops from a blender. Our group talked, laughed and had a great time. Unfortunately, it came to an end an hour or so later and we had to load up in the boats and go back to the hotel. The temperature had really dropped now, so the back of the boat was even covered. As we headed back, the tall guy from Michigan, was chastised by his wife for something he did and he had to get Kenny McDaniel to attest to the fact that he wasn't as bad as his wife said he was. That made the ride back a little more memorable as we refelected about our delicious dinner and laughed at the poor Michigan guy's plight.
We arrived back at the dock and everyone went their separate ways. Most people went back to the hotel to go to bed, some went for a walk and some hung around the lobby. Luann and I did all three. We hung around the lobby and met Rageddy Ann and Andy (ardent Notre Dame fans) and talked about their daughter and my son who attended Notre Dame. We also met Jerry and Jan, who we found out later was sick with a cold. We learned more about them in five minutes than we could have ever learned about them in the team building session hours earlier. Luann and I got our key, got a warmer coat and went for a short walk. We returned approximately a half hour later and went to bed. We were ready. It was now 11:00 PM, or 4:00 PM Iowa time. I had been up thirty four hours and looked it. I couldn't wait for sleep to take over my body.
Luann and I got split up on this leg because of the delay in Cincinnati. We were OK with that because we both knew it wasn't a long flight and she needed the break after having spent all that time babysitting me on this trip. As soon as I got in my seat, it was time to close my eyes and let me fall under that dark blanket we call sleep. A person would think that after all this time with no sleep, I would nod off immediately. It was not to be. I thought I had gotten into a school bus full of kids with the chatter that was coming from two ladies about five rows behind me. I was so tired, I couldn't tell what language they were speaking . Also, the flight attendant had to make all the announcements in Italian and English. As soon as I would doze off, the attendant would come on. I got caught trying to understand the Italian and then have to listen to the English part to see if I got any of it right. I was lucky to have understood one word out of a hundred. It was a lot harder than those CD's I had listened to back home. Finally, the in flight service started and it was quiet. I fell asleep for almost a half and hour, when I woke to find the attendant staring at me. He wanted to know if I wanted the Italian version of our peanut or pretzels. We got crackers with a tomato taste and small bite size cookies. They were pretty good. As I looked out the window, I noticed we were flying over the Alps. It was one of the most beautiful scenes I have ever seen. We were close to Milan, just crossing the border and I could see the Matterhorn. The sky was absolutely clear, we were fairly low and we got a great view of the countryside. It was breathtaking. To make the flight even better was the fact that now the flight attendant had the beverage cart next to us. The wine was complimentary. I have never been on flight where wine was served like the water. I had to have a glass. Sharon and Pat were across from me and Sharon reminded me that it was early morning back home. I didn't care. If I only drink once in a while, this would be it. Once in the morning and a while tonight. My vacation had started. Window seat, great view, a little sleep and a glass of wine. I was ready for anything.
We landed in Milan/Melpansa airport. I wish the flight would have taken me to Stressa. We arrived without a hitch and without luggage, so it seemed. I met up with Luann and asked her if she had a glass of wine on the plane. I was so excited. She said no, as she slept the whole time. She is incredible. All twelve of us waited at the carousel. A few bags would come off, but nothing resembling any of ours. The wait lasted around thirty minutes, when a porter came with all of our bags. He was a big guy, with a pony tail and smiling eyes. He was our hero. How he got the bags was beyond me, but I didn't care. I got our bags and everyone else got their bags and finally we were ready to go find the tour guide. Snag number two hit. One of Bonnie's bags was not there. As we all sat there or stood there or walked around, a posse was formed to look for her bag. Bob went to patrol all the carousels (11 of them), Bonnie and Doyle went to the lost and found and the rest of us hung around. We watched people arrive, get their bags, walk through the exits and wondered if we were ever going to get out of this airport. It took a heroic effort, but someone in our group suggested that we leave and find the bus. Eleven of us walked out through the exit into the ground transportation area. Doyle and Luann went looking for the tour guide and didn't realize that she had found us. She was real short, so they may not have seen her. Either way, we got everyone rounded up and Bonnie came out of the baggage claim area with her bag. It had gone to Rome. Lucky bag! (the luggage, not Bonnie).
All twelve of us loaded into the tour bus that was big enough for fifty people, but we didn't care. We were going to the hotel. After a brief announcement from the guide, we rolled. I sat by myself, not because I didn't want to sit with Luann. but because I could put my carry on on the seat next to me. This way we both had window seats to enjoy the view. Milan looked exactly as it did eight years ago. It looked great. A one hour bus ride along the toll road that goes to Chiosso and Cuomo took us to the Stresa exit. The city of Stresa is one of many small cities that are on the waters edge of Lago Maggiore. Lago Maggiorie is a huge lake with small islands scattered throughout it, the Borromean Islands.. There are three of the bigger islands in the middle of this lake that are pretty well known, one of which will be our dinner location tonight. The bus made its way down the narrow highway from the highlands and then wound around narrow streets along the lakeside, through the small towns until we arrived in Stresa. This is a resort community and I can only imagine what this town looks like in the summer time during peak season. A quaint, but beautiful promenade along the highway gave way to the series of large and small hotels and inns that hid the small downtown stores. People were sitting in outdoor cafes drinking coffee, beer, cappuccino and a host of other beverages, along with food and pastries. It was enchanting. The bus dropped us off in front of the Hotel Milan Speranza au LAc Lungolago and we eagerly, but tiredly filed out to check in. I have never gotten used to the narrowness of the streets but that is the way this whole town was. Check in was a breeze as the travel guide gave the receptionist the names of the couples on the tour list, in turn, each couple got a room key. We were all taken up by elevator, two couples at a time, without our bags, because the elevator could only carry four people due to its small size. It took a few extra minutes to get to our rooms, but that was OK. We had made it!
In Europe, when you get a room key, it is attached to a big wooden or metal instrument. This makes it very difficult to lose a key and more difficult to carry the key in your pocket. When we were in Europe eights years ago, it took me almost a week to figure that out. I would carry the key, attached to the wooden or metal piece, and put it in my pocket. Going to dinner or simply walking around was very cumbersome and I looked like an idiot leaving the hotel. I thought I could outsmart them by taking the key off the instrument, but then I had one small little key that I knew I would lose. I finally noticed back then, that people would leave their keys, instrument and all, with the receptionist when they left the hotel and ask for their key when they got back to the hotel. I don't feel too bad about being that ignorant because Luann had not figured it out either. The group got a kick out of it when I told them. They probably wondered how they were going to last with me for a whole week.
Luann and I walked into a small, dark little room. There was nothing modern about this room. The bathroom was immediately to our left, with all the fixtures that normally belong in a bathroom. It also had a bidet, which resembled a urinal, only it had a drain in it and separate water faucets. I knew it would probably not be used as it looked awful uncomfortable. The bathroom was not proportional to the rest of the room. It seemed bigger than it should have been. In the hallway entering the room, there were a group of hooks along the right wall for coats and a mirror exactly opposite on our left. The mirror was actually the short wall of the built in closet. The bed sat in the middle of this room and two people could not walk side by side around the bed to the closet. There was a small table desk combination where a TV set sat across from the bed and we used this to set some of our luggage on. The other bag, mine, went on the floor. The closet wasn't deep enough for the bags. The TV was a small 16" that resembled the TVs we had given to Goodwill not too many years before. On each side of the bed was a night stand with lamps for reading. The phone was on Luann's side of the bed. The one thing missing from the room was a clock. We didn't pay much attention to the lack of the clock, but it would come back to haunt us. At the end of the room was a long, two pane door that led to a balcony. Our room was situated above the narrow street over the entrance to the hotel. There was a church right across from us, which we could see and hear the workers fixing up. A statue of the Angel Gabriel with his horn was covered under a blue tarp, guarding the entrance to the Church. It was a picture perfect setting for us. It was now 4:00 pm and we were all to get together at 6:15 for the night reception dinner. We were tired but a quick shower, clean clothes and the excitement of being here, propelled us to go out and explore this quaint town before we got together as a group.
Luann and I had about an hour to walk around and see what Stresa looked like. Walking out the front entrance of the hotel (I made sure I handed the receptionist my huge room key) we ventured into the narrow street. To our left was the center of town (centro) and to our right, across the busy highway (autostrada), was the promenade and the lake. We decided to go left and see the downtown. The street was the same size our alleys back home and it had reddish and gray cobblestone/brick surface. There was a pharmacy on the left hand side, you could tell by the green neon cross, and the church was on our right. A cross street, same size and composition, was at the end of our block. In the middle of that block was a wine store. If you looked up the street we were on and walked straight, you would run right into that wine store. We didn't run. We walked right into that store. We love our reds and to our surprise, the nice lady running the store had a couple bottles of Italian wines and she was giving a wine tasting to another customer. It did not take but a few moments for her to offer a couple of glasses for us to try. One was a Barbera grape wine, which was excellent, and the other a grape I have never heard of. We liked the Barbera wine better. What a nice way to start the three day stay in Stresa. We said our farewells to the proprietor and promised to be back. We meandered around the small downtown, which was a maze of small turns loaded with shops, restaurants and small hotels. The back of the the downtown, away from the lake, was hilly and made for a challenging walk on the cobblestone surface. This reminded me of an amusement park arcade, where it is all make believe. However, this was real and it was nice. A stop at the ATM for some Euros and our walk time was over. It was time to go meet the group for dinner.
We arrived back at the hotel before everyone else had gathered, which gave us time to get a glass of wine at the bar. The bar was a short two steps on the other side of the reception desk. It was very small and had seating for probably fifteen people. A wall separated the body of the bar from reception and the rest of the lobby. However, it was in perfect proportion to the small hotel. The rest of the group finally showed up and instead of going to dinner, we were told to go up a flight of stairs to a conference room. This conference room was fairly good sized and not dissimilar to the conference rooms at our hotels. At this time, we learned that the twelve of us were going to be combined with a group from Michigan. This group was thirty one strong and they had just arrived from a Collette Vacation tour of Southern Italy and Sicily. They had been on the road for nine days prior to this part of their tour. As we all sat at various tables, the hotel staff began serving us wine. They were very quick to make sure we didn't help ourselves, as Luann and Pat found out right away. We listened to our Collette vacation representative tell us what the agenda was going to be for the next few days. She told us what time breakfast would be served, what time the bus would leave for our tours, what we should wear, where we would be going and more information than I really cared to listen to. She handed out a folder for each couple to keep the handouts that Collette would be giving us throughout the tour. I felt like I was in a work related conference. Finally, we did the dirty deed. We had to introduce each other and tell each other a little something about ourselves. If you had asked me after this to tell you the names of the people that had introduced themselves, I would probably remember the twelve in our group (including me) and none of the Michigan people, let alone any tid bit of information. I introduced myself as an employee of Collette travel, which got a couple of laughs, but I did it because I am a rebellious individual and I didn't think the group needed to go through this team building exercise. After forty five minutes and three small glasses of wine (just a guess), we were instructed to meet in front of the hotel for our walk across the busy street to board two small boats that would take us to the Isola Bella (beautiful island) in the middle of Lago Maggiore for dinner. Our preschool class of older people was now a team, according to the tour rep. The only thing missing was a red lanyard that we could all hold on to as we crossed the street.
There are many highlights on this trip and this one dinner was one of the best. We boarded the two small boats. Older model boats, with a deep seating area in the middle and an elevated area in the back. Some people in the group sat in the covered part of the boat, which was in the middle, while others sat in the back. The view was gorgeous no matter where a person sat. It had already turned dark outside, but the lights from the town and house lights in the mountains gave us a lighted,romantic backdrop for a five minute boat ride to the island. The temperature was in the low sixties and dropping, but we were all mezmorized by the view. The boats churned the water into a frothy spume as we sped along the top of the water and we could not help but think that this had to be one of the prettiest settings we had ever seen. It was a setting out of a romantic novel or movie.
We pulled into the island and were dropped off on the dock. This small island is one big castle with a huge botanical garden. Since it was already dark, it was hard to see much of the grounds, but we got a good glimpse of the castle. It was huge and stretched for three quarters of the islands length. We were only going to experience a small part of it. The part that had been converted into a restaurant was where we were led. We climbed one flight of stairs, and through a small door we entered into a big dining area with two levels. The Michigan people pretty well took up the upper level and the twelve of us sat at a long table on the lower level, with some of the local customers. We were treated to a five plate dinner consisting of fish and veal, along with unlimited wine. It was topped off with gelato and a lemonjello after dinner drink that tasted like lemon drops from a blender. Our group talked, laughed and had a great time. Unfortunately, it came to an end an hour or so later and we had to load up in the boats and go back to the hotel. The temperature had really dropped now, so the back of the boat was even covered. As we headed back, the tall guy from Michigan, was chastised by his wife for something he did and he had to get Kenny McDaniel to attest to the fact that he wasn't as bad as his wife said he was. That made the ride back a little more memorable as we refelected about our delicious dinner and laughed at the poor Michigan guy's plight.
We arrived back at the dock and everyone went their separate ways. Most people went back to the hotel to go to bed, some went for a walk and some hung around the lobby. Luann and I did all three. We hung around the lobby and met Rageddy Ann and Andy (ardent Notre Dame fans) and talked about their daughter and my son who attended Notre Dame. We also met Jerry and Jan, who we found out later was sick with a cold. We learned more about them in five minutes than we could have ever learned about them in the team building session hours earlier. Luann and I got our key, got a warmer coat and went for a short walk. We returned approximately a half hour later and went to bed. We were ready. It was now 11:00 PM, or 4:00 PM Iowa time. I had been up thirty four hours and looked it. I couldn't wait for sleep to take over my body.
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