We can't get enough of these lakes. Today, we drove to one that had been recommended by Charmaine... Lago d'Orta... that tickled her fancy even more than Lago Maggiore. Charmaine pointed out that the smaller lake offered intimacy... the towns' old sections offered narrower streets... the island (Isola St. Giulio) offered a 15th-century church with frescoes that remain as fresh as a daisy. With such high praise we set out with our fancy well and truly ready to be tickled... and we were not disappointed.
The island is dominated by the church and its monastery. Tourists are pointed towards a promenade that circumnavigates the island. We shared our walk with two priests... one, a visitor and the other a resident. The resident priest was strikingly handsome... Joye couldn't stop staring... I suspect the long hours spent in solitude were actually spent in front of a mirror... buffing hair... massaging cheeks... pouting lips. The promenade passed small signs each giving valuable life lessons, such as... 'Each of your journeys will end close to you'... 'If you can be yourself, you can be everything '... 'Listen to the silence'. The trip to the island was worthwhile just to get the philosophical messages.
After Lago d'Orta, we headed towards the Swiss Alps (but stayed in Italy) to test the new car with some mountain driving. The car performed well... but the occasion was spoilt by local drivers tooting me to hurry up going round the hairpin corners. In Crete and Peloponnese, we had the mountain roads to ourselves... we thought we were really racing up the gorges into the passes. Today, our misconceptions were smashed. It wasn't just the tearaway teenagers giving us the hurry up. It even got to the stage where a group of cyclists were catching up to us. (going downhill!) We just didn't have the nerve to speed along the edge of the mountain on a road wide enough for one car. We met one speeding on-comer who had to screech to a halt and reverse some 100 metres until there was a spot suitable for passing. Italians like to drive fast... even when they can't see more than 10 metres ahead.
Tomorrow, we head to Lago Como... where we will spend an evening with Sydney friends. We can't get enough of these lakes.
No comments:
Post a Comment