From Zurich down to Garda

We arrived in Zurich and were thanking our lucky stars that we didn't book trains with only 9 minutes in between arrival/departure because we would've missed train #2. There was a Christmas market going on in the train station, so we wandered around for a while checking out the various booths and then got some yummy, spicy hot dog/sausage things to nom on until our train to Milan arrived.

Hanging in the train station

Swarovski Crystal-decorated Christmas tree in the station

We quickly realized that Zurich is German-speaking Switzerland, not French-speaking.

The train from Zurich to Milan was only a few minutes late (everything was screwy because of the snow), and the scenery was BEAUTIFUL. We were traveling through the Gotthard Pass in the Alps, so we were surrounded by these incredible views the entire trip. According to Dad, they've just finished blasting a hole in the mountain that's going to be a tunnel eventually, once they get the track laid. So trains going through the pass will soon be a thing of the past. Pretty cool that we got to do it before the tunnel opens :)

View from the train



Incredible

We arrived in Milan safely, and Phase Two began: Find Rental Car. We had to take a bus from the train station to get to the airport where we would pick up the car, which wasn't too bad. Then we had to find the Hertz counter inside the airport. Slightly trickier, but we managed. Grabbed some airport grub, just in case we took longer than anticipated to get to Stresa, and then went out to hunt down our car in the parking garage. Again, we managed with some difficulty, but still managed.

Next, Phase Three: drive to Baveno. More like "Phase Three: The Stooges." Though in our defense, Italian road signs are NOT well lit, and we were driving in the dark at this point. Long story short, it took us somewhere in the realm of three hours to make a 60 mile drive. On superhighways. Our constant refrain was, "Well, if we get lost AGAIN, we can just follow signs back to the airport and try, try again!" That alternated with, "Thank GOODNESS we ate, or we would be MISERABLE." In any event, we made it in one piece and without stress levels being too outrageous.

Our hotel was called Hotel Splendid, and splendid it was.




Splendid... Hotel Splendid




Every bathroom needs its own mosaic swan, and this was ours.

Mom and I went out for a late-night wander around the hotel grounds when we first arrived. The place is right on the water of Lake Maggiore in Baveno, so we were checking out the lake and the beach and the various docks that we encountered. Finally wandered back to play with the buttons in our hotel room and head to bed.

Next day we all slept til 11ish. This was on account of A. our exhaustion and B. the fact that we had a metal, mechanized shutter to cover the sliding door that led out to our balcony. Sweet, right? Anyway, this shutter basically blocked out all vestiges of light and let us sleep as long as we wanted to. We were awakened by a small child's screams. As Dad put it, "who let the crumb-grubbers in?" Eleven o'clock was plenty of sleep though, and we got off to a leaisurely start.

Initial plan was to take a ferry around the Borromean Islands that are right off of Stresa (town next to Baveno), but we nixed that and decided to just wander along the promenade by the water. Good decision, it turns out, because it started snowing and got very cold and windy. It was a great walk though.

View we woke up to (once the iron curtain was lifted)



Mom and Dad with the Alps in Stresa, Italy



The Alps over Lake Maggiore

Mermaid in the Alps!?

Cool tree + Cool Street Lamp + Cool Place = Cool Picture



When I'm rich, I'm buying this house for M&D and fixing it up so they can have a bungalow on the beach in Italy



Another view, but without the excellent red berries

I was there, too

Memorial to the victims of 9/11/01

I was obsessed with those trees

We had a great wander along the water and then headed back into town for mass at 6. It was difficult to say the mass parts in english when they were being said in Italian, but it was calming, being in church. After mass we headed to a bar/pub/restaurant place for some dinner. We went at my request, basically because they served Guinness. And a damn good pint of Guinness it was; well-poured. We hung out for a while and had a nice exchange as we were leaving with some of the men who had been there all night with us. They thought we were British (I'm pretty sure because they assumed ignorant Americans wouldn't be TRYING so hard to speak Italian), but we had a nice chat with them and further butchered their language, I'm sure, but they seemed to appreciate our efforts (side note: Dad's been GREAT with his Italian. Mom and I kinda keep to the side, but he's right out there, chit chatting away. True, he's had some moments of "Fr-italian," but on the whole, excellent effort has been made).

Back to the hotel for bed. Woke up early and I went to the hotel's gym for an early morning work out. Normally they charge for use of the gym and health club, but because it's the dead of winter and half of Baveno is closed down for the season anyway (seriously, at least half of the hotels are closed, windows boarded up and looking sketchy, but it's just bc it's winter. They all open up again in May for the start of tourist season), they made it fo' FREE.

Anyway, had a GREAT workout, and floated in the jacuzzi for a while, and hung out in the steam room, and the sauna, and jammed to the Spanish version of "Hotel California" that was playing, and basically loved every second. There was this room that looked like it had sand on the floor, and lounge chairs, and I went in to vegetate for a while only to discover that the sand was bath salts! So I scrubbed my feetses for a while. So good. And then when I was finished, I took a shower in one of those incredible ones with the foot-diameter shower heads that rains on you, and had horizontal jets that shot at you while you sing in the shower. Best part? I HAD IT ALL TO MYSELF (not just the shower. We're talking the shower, the workout room AND the whole health club, so the jacuzzi and sauna and steam room. When I'm rich, after I buy M&D that house in Stresa, I'm going to build a steam room into my house. It was THAT good) Glorious. GLORIOUS. Finally went back upstairs, 50 minutes later than I had told M&D to expect me, and got myself together to leave.

Snow on palm trees!?!?

Clampett-style, we lugged our baggage downstairs and headed for the hills. Stopped for breakfast at a restaurant we had found the day before, and ended up eating lunch instead. I had this amazing risotto with lake fish that was served in a hollowed-out gourd, and Mom had a sweet cheese platter, and Dad had a Meat&Cheese salad. Yum! It was snowing the whole morning, and continued to do so after we left the restaurant and started our drive to Lake Garda.

Restaurant for breakfast/lunch and a view up the hill in Stresa



He wanted to say goodbye to us

 Made it here (Desenzano del Garda) safely, and checked in to the Hotel Villa Rosa without too much fuss. I was going through blog-withdrawal (really just internet withdrawal), so I just paid for some internets to get these babies posted. Because apparently Wi-Fi is never free in Europe, unless you're staying at a youth hostel. Mom and Dad both went for walks around town while I vegged out in here, and I think I may swap them out and go for a wander myself! Tomorrow: Garda.