Breakfast at the campsite consists of cereals and fresh bread with a variety of toppings. Dee goes to the campsite shop and lines up for fresh bread and rolls every morning. It's Paul's job to cut the loaf as he has had lots of practice in the Navy. A good start to the day.
Today is a trip into Stresa to see what tours are available for us to do and a look around the streets and shops. The road along the lake to Stresa are lined with magnificent old hotels overlooking the water. Something out of the 1920s. They have flowers on the balconies and beautiful gardens surrounding them.
In the main parking area there are men trying to get you to use their boat to see the islands. They swoop onto you before you get out of the car and then try to direct you to their ticket office. However Dee was able to get us to the information centre and public ticket office where tickets are cheaper. The island tour takes about four hours so we have decided to defer it to tomorrow.
The shopping and eating areas of Stresa are in narrow winding streets between the houses. There are many tourist shop but also boutique clothing, jewellery, trinket and pottery shops. It was interesting looking at Italian made items. Choosing gifts is difficult though as we can't take heavy items back to Australia as they will use up our baggage allowance too fast. Otherwise we may need to send a parcel back by post.
We had lunch at the Two Lorikeets. It had an inside and outside dining area. The menu was diverse and much cheaper than the main eating areas in the centre of the town. We sat outside where the pagola was covered in grapevines and small clusters of grapes. The tables we covered with red and white check tablecloths and a white one over the top. John had pizza and the rest of us had pasta. The meals were very nice with wine to add to it. It was a very relaxing lunch. Afterwards we had gelato at a local shop in the square. So refreshing in the heat.
After spending about four hours in Stresa we returned to the camper to enjoy the evening by the lake. Dinner was the fresh bread rolls purchased this morning with a help yourself topping. We relaxed in the shade as the the temperature has been quite warm. Greater than 30 degrees. It does not cool till well into the night.
Tomorrow is a big day looking at the islands.