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 and with ornate decorations and beautiful gardens in front.
All along the shore small boats were ferrying tourists up and down the lake to all the attractions, with a few quite large ones connecting the major towns.
I walked for 3 or 4kms before meandering through the tiny streets and alleys of the town - little shops and lots of cafes - before settling in one overlooking the lake to have an espresso in true Italian style - strong, black and sweet! It was excellent!
Later I walked back to our hotel where the others had returned, and we then took the coach across to Lake Como about an hours drive away.
Como has a population of about 90,000 and is a major centre of the region. It looked a typical Italian city as we drove in - old and pretty grubby - and didn't change much as we reached the crowded lakefront where we had a lake cruise waiting.
There were huge crowds about celebrating a major religious festival of some sort and we fought our way through the throng to board a little boat which took us along both sides of the lake to look at all the villas and famous landmarks. It was very pretty and we saw where George Clooney and many other famous folk have their villas. 
Once the cruise was over we had time for a wander about, but it was very crowded and we settled down to have a pizza for a late lunch, before the coach took us back to Stresa!
Como was not really very impressive - the lake waters were filled with rubbish and it didn't impress at all!
It was well after 6pm by the time we got back and after a shower, we walked back into Stresa and strolled all the streets for a while before enjoying a great meal at one of the many trattorias.