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DAY 9 / FRIDAY / JUNE 18
MILAN
OVERNIGHT IN STRESA, ITALY
At the heart of the city,
Milan’s Cathedral is the world’s largest Gothic cathedral,
begun in 1386 and added to each century thereafter.
World War II bombs thankfully just missed the Cathedral’s roof, which nests amid a
majestic web of flying buttresses, spires and pinnacles.
Above the forest of statues
(there are over 3400), the small gilded copper statue of the Virgin, the
Madonnina ,
erected in 1774, stands over the central lantern, 108.5m (119 feet) above the city.
Entered from the Piazza in front of the Cathedral, the glass-domed cruciform
Vittorio Emmanuele II Gallery is a civilized place in which to meet someone or for
the weary visitor to rest.
This vast Belle Epoque shopping arcade was built to link the Piazza del Duomo to
the Piazza della Scala and soon became Milan’s conservatory. Winter and summer,
Milanesi can be seen here, escaping the rain, browsing the exclusive shops and sipping
campari and soda in the bars.
The celebrated opera house
Teatro alla Scala was founded, under the auspices of the
Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, to replace the Royal Ducal Theatre, which was destroyed
by fire on February 26, 1776. Opera lovers might want to visit the Museo Teatrale alla
Scala (Theater Museum at La Scala.)
DAY 10 / SATURDAY / JUNE 19
BORROMEO ISLANDS
OVERNIGHT IN STRESA, ITALY
View of Lago Maggiore from above Stresa
Stresa, with its many beautiful villas, has been an internationally renowned tourist
resort since the mid 19th century. Its setting on the shores of Lake Maggiore, facing
the Borromeo Islands, is panoramic and picturesque.
The lakeside promenade is famous for
its many flowers -- camellias, oleander, azaleas, hydrangas, and magnolias --
and its lovely views.
The elegant four-star Hotel Regina Palace was officially inaugurated on June 27, 1908.
The celebrities and royals who have stayed here include the playwright George Bernard Shaw,
King Hussein of Jordan and King Farouk of Egypt.
Isola dei Pescatori
Lake Maggiore is probably the most famous of all the Italian and Swiss lakes. Its
beauty is legendary, with blue-green waters stretching for 40 glorious miles from
Switzerland in the north to Italy in the south.
Magnificent mountains shelter tranquil
lakeside village resorts full of enchanting streets and piazzas.
This morning, we cruise on Lake Maggiore to two of the beautiful Borromean Islands,
Isola Bella (Beautiful Island) and
Isola dei Pescatori (Island of the Fishermen.)
Isola Bella, the most romantic of the three islands, was created by the 17th-century
Count Borromeo for his wife, Isabella. It has an imposing and furnished villa with a
botanical garden inhabited by peacocks and pheasants.
Isola dei Pescatori is a delightfully peaceful
fishing village with tiny, narrow streets.
Branson DeCou Photographs of Isola Bella from the 1920s
The Borromean Rings
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