Lago d’Orta

Above:  Isola San Giulio as seen from Sacro Monte.

Breakfast at the Elena Hotel wasn’t as sumptuous compared to Hotel du Parc but it was adequate.  We got talking to three older English gentlemen.  They’re on motorcycle road-trip travelling all the way to Corsica.  They seem to be focused on getting to Corsica and not too interested in the wonderful sights along the way.  They’re not even exploring the lakes here along with the interesting islands.

Around 1000 we hopped into our car to drive somewhat west to another lake, Lago d’Orta.  The road was narrow and windy with lots of cyclists.  After an hour we parked outside the town of Orta San Giulio and walked in.

We found the waterfront and the lake.  A boat took us over to Isola San Giulio, the small island in the lake.  The island’s larger buildings comprise of the basilica and a monastery.

We walked around the “Way of Silence” pathway.  This alleyway around the island has plaques telling walkers to note different sounds at each point, eg. Wind, sea or even silence.

We visited the Basilica di San Giulio which was built in the 12^th Century to replace it’s damaged predecessors.  Here, we entered the crypt which held the remains of San Giulio.

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Back on the “mainland”, we got lost making our way to Sacro Monte di Orta.  I’m not sure how that could have happened as this devotional complex is located on the summit of a hill.  It consists of several chapels built around a spiral route on the landscaped summit.  Each building was filled with artwork mainly in the form of murals and life-like statues.
 

In one of the chapels at Sacro Monte.

We hiked down the hill on the other side, to find that it was a long way back to the car.  At that point, we realised we could have also driven up Sacro Monte partially.

On our drive back to Stresa, we stopped for lunch at Mottarone ski resort.  At this time of year, there was no snow.  But it allowed me to notice that the slopes were nice and grassy rather than rocky.

Lunch was delicious.  We ordered a plate each of three dishes.  The first consisted of polenta; dhall and sausage; and ratatouille.  The second had savoury mince; a tasty venison stew; and cheese.  The red wine was surprisingly nice for me since I don’t usually appreciate red.  And in Italy, the sparkling water is kinda obligatory.

Instead of going straight back, we went further first before backtracking.  We travelled via Baveno to the northern side of the lake opposite Stresa, called Verbania.  These areas were all very nice but it was “more of the same”.

On the final leg of the drive, Kim ran a red light.  He saw the red light but didn’t register in his head.  I saw it too but thought it was a wee bit dim.  I later realised that many of their traffic lights seem rather “weak”.  Fortunately, we didn’t run into anyone else.

In the evening, we took a simple dinner of pizza and salad in the square outside of the hotel.  As it was our last night in Stresa, we spent some time walking on the waterfront after dinner, admiring the several gorgeous hotels there.  They’re beyond our budget.  We bought a crème caramel from the supermarket and had dessert in our modest hotel room.