Slow Travel: Stresa, Italy

A travel journal of my time on Lake Maggiore.

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We arrived by train. Traversing through the northern Italian and Swiss mountains, overlooking the epic waterfalls and crested peaks. It felt otherworldly. As if there was this sacred space we had the honor of viewing. As we passed by the little towns nestled in the hills, I wondered what life was like there. For those people. Did they wander into ‘town’ for the market each day to get their milk and cheese? Did they spend their time tending to the gardens and hiking the terrain? Did they have dreams of escaping this rather mundane yet magical life? Or were they so fulfilled by their space that there was nowhere else to go? I wondered.

After two hours, the train slowed to a stop in Stresa, Italy. We got out and a kind man helped me lift the stroller off while I held little Maverick on my hip. We looked around. “The hotel says it’s only a few feet from the station, but I’m looking at the map and it says we’re a half mile away. Let’s grab some taxis,” my dad said. This was typical Italy, and I loved it.

As we rounded the corner with luggage all over our laps and a hungry baby fussing in my ear, I saw it. Villa e Palazzo Aminta, our home for the next week. She was quaint and opulent all at once. With gold embellishments and nooks and crannies filled with antiques, I was enamored by her instantly. She felt like home.

Day One

Once we finished check-in, we wandered into the terrace area overlooking the magnificent Lake Maggiore. Maverick played with her new wooden stacking toys on the floor as we all ordered iced coca-colas and our first bowls of pasta for a late lunch. We had to get up rather early for our train, but we wanted to arrive before our new guests joined.

My husband, Matt, is from England and when we planned this trip to Europe, we figured we would head to his hometown of Newcastle at some point. But then my parents suggested Matt’s parents and our niece and nephew to join us in Italy. I loved the idea instantly, knowing that my sweet mother-in-law had Italy on her bucket list.

They arrived a few hours later, and we were so excited to all be together again. It had been almost a year since we’d seen each other and all the kids had grown immensely.

Maverick made fast friends with the hotel’s in-house dog, Cassia, and I could tell she missed our three dogs back home. Once the afternoon rolled around, we decided to take the ‘leisurely’ walk into town for dinner. Half of our group took the hotel’s shuttle, while I headed up the walk for the rest of us. Google maps was sadly not our friend, and instead of strolling along the lake into Stresa, we went the wrong way (again, it was definitely because of Google maps and not my lack of direction skills) and ended up hiking many a hills with three kids before making our way down into the town and finding the cute walkway we *should* have come in on. Nevertheless, we were prepped for our evening dinner at Mamma Mia’s where we enjoyed pasta, pizza, wine and scoped out our post-dinner gelato snack. It was such a lovely day to catch up and get acquainted with the area, and we were ready to enjoy our time here on Lake Maggiore.

Day Two

We awoke just in time for the most over-the-top breakfast I think I’ve ever had, complete with a violin player. We enjoyed freshly cooked eggs, baked bread, honey from the land, teas and coffees galore, pastries and all while overlooking the pool and the lake in the distance. It was magical.

After breakfast, we all threw our swimsuits on and headed to the pool. The water was honestly quite chilly, but my Northern English family didn’t mind one bit. They splashed around and I realized that my child might be more like her English family than her Floridian one as she played in the freezing cold water without a care in the world.

By the time lunch rolled around, I ate the same pesto pasta I’d had the day before and then swapped out naptime with Matt so I could head to the spa. The spa at our hotel was underground and quite literally, in a cave. My sister and I went first and quickly realized that we weren’t having a traditional massage, but rather a couple’s massage. Massages in Europe are very different from traditional American massages. Everything, and I mean everything is on the table, literally. We caught each other’s eyes as we flipped over and tried so hard to hold in our laughs, but after the experience, we met back up with my mom and mother-in-law to fill them in on what they were about to do. We all laughed until we cried and I know it’ll be a memory that we’ll share forever. That’s the best part of travel to me, creating these memories that we can look back on and connect with.

For the evening, we all got dressed up and I took family photos of everyone before we enjoyed a lovely dinner at the hotel. We sat outside for the first half until dark clouds rolled in and we quickly escaped the lightning for the rest of our meal inside. The kids were fascinated by the weather and my sister’s fiancé, Alex, took them down to the docks to document it. It was such a fun night.

Day Three

Today, we decided to venture out of our little area and visit the three islands in the lake. We took a lovely boat ride over to the furthest one from us first, Isola Madre. This magical island is considered a botanical garden on water and is filled with all types of exotic animals (peacocks and all) and a gorgeous palace that still displays furnishings from the Borromeo family. It felt ethereal being there.

We then water taxied over to the next island, Isola dei Pescatori, where we had a long leisurely lunch overlooking the lake. I loved this little island because it was more ‘town-like’ with shops and restaurants, and there are only 50 full-time residents there. We mosied through the cobblestoned streets and visited the shops, Matt had the best slice of pizza of his life, and we ate delicious gelato under the hot Italian sun.

There was one more island to go, but Maverick was due for a nap and I didn’t see her falling asleep in the stroller as we had to carry it half the time over all the steps and cobblestoned streets, so we ended up going back to the hotel while the rest of our group visited the final island, Isola Bella. They all loved it and said that the palace and ornate garden were insane, for many it was their favorite island.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing and wandered into Stresa (the right way) for a relaxing dinner.

Day Four

On our last full day on Lake Maggiore, we woke up to lots of rain. My favorite pastime is taking pictures and videos of fog, rain, and overall dark weather. I love the contrast it brings to the landscape, so I grabbed my camera and Matt’s rain jacket and headed out to explore. It was so ethereal standing on the dock overlooking the lake as rain plummeted down, and I was grateful my camera didn’t get too wet.

We spent the rest of the day just taking in the views, and once the skies cleared the kids headed back to the pool of course. By late afternoon, we loaded back up onto a water taxi and rode around the edges of the entire lake. Turns out, it was much bigger than I could see from our hotel. It was so nice just riding along and enjoying the beautiful water. We were then dropped off in town for a final dinner before heading back to pack and sleep.

Day Five

We spent the morning with our British side of the family before saying our tear-filled goodbyes. It’s always so bittersweet because we absolutely love our time together and hate that we live on the other side of the world. I’m so grateful we were able to create these memories with them that will last a lifetime.

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And there was our trip to Stresa, Italy. The next day we drove the hour into Milan, where we spent two nights before flying to London for a few days and back home. I didn’t really pull my camera back out for the rest of the trip as I just wanted to enjoy our time in the present moment.

18 days is a long time to spend away, but I truly think there’s something so special about getting out of your everyday comforts and spending time with people you love. It’s the highlight of my life.

Thank you for following along on this little journey, now we’re settling back into home life and I look forward to continuing to share our slow lived journey here with you throughout the rest of the summer. I’d love to know if you have any special trips or activities planned for these next few months!