Moved on this morning, retracing the road back almost to Milan before turning North. Lake Maggiore and Stresa were very scenic and very laid back - most enjoyable and we wished we could have had more time there! Our lunch stop was in the old town of Bergamo and after a short tour we had free time to wander and take some photos before having a few drinks at a tiny little bar while watching Daniel Riccardo in the Monte Carlo Grand Prix on an amazing High Definition...

Weather was a bit cloudy early on as we started our first day in the Italian Lakes Region. There was an optional tour of the palace at Isola Bella, a little island in the lake, it wasn't my cup of tea so after brekky Mumsie joined the others for the short boat ride and I took a walk along the waterfront into the little town of Stresa. Some very impressive looking hotels dominated the shores of Lake Maggiore - everyone of them very old - but still impressive a...

Our transfer to Charles De Gaulle Airport demanded a pickup 4 hours before our EasyJet flight to Milan - goodness knows why because the ride took only 45 minutes and we were so ridiculously early that the bag drop wasn't even open! Our driver, a young Frenchwoman, was a terrible driver - on and off the accelerator every few seconds - and it was quite a relief to actually survive the frantic Paris traffic and get to the airport! We waited for a lengthy period ...

WEDNESDAY 27th JUNE 2012VENICEOur visit to the famous city of Venice this morning started early to beat the heat and the vast crowds of tourists that come here, especially in summer.The coach took us to a dock with huge parking areas where we boarded a water taxi which took us along a big waterway passed some huge private yachts and eventually to the area of St Mark or as locally called San Marco!This is where the Venice we see in all the movies and history lesso...

TUESDAY 26th JUNE 2012ITALY AGAINEnjoyed a really good sleep in our very quiet and very dark cabins! Best sleep for ages, probably because we knew there was no wake up call, and not having to be at breakfast until 8.30am! The rest of the morning was spent taking it easy in the comfy arm chairs in the ferry's main lounge, most of us reading or simply discussing the cruise etc. I spent the best part of three hours catching up with the travel blog - I had got ov...