Day 16

Today was a lazy day. We went down for breakfast around 9:30 and it was good. They had eggs and a variety of meats, cheese, breads, sweet rolls, cereals, fruit and yogurts. Plenty to choose from. We looked around for Paul so he could scramble us some eggs, but he wasn't there. :( So we filled our bellies and went back to the room to plan our day. Part of planning our day included an after breakfast nap (hey...it's vacation). So about 11:30 we walked into town and shopped a bit. I had a gelato to hold me until lunch, chocolate and mixed nut, which was new for me and very delicious. Ok...so here comes the confession, we had to buy a bag to get all our stuff home. ;) The new bag is a duffle bag we can just put all our dirty clothes in and toss them on the plane without worries. One of our carry-on bags is filled with purchases and my glass projects. This way we can keep it with us so there is no risk of it getting lost. We may have to gate check it in NY, but that is ok. Also today, Stresa had its weekly market. We walked around and looked at all the stuff. Guy stayed true to the Italians and bought a belt from an Italian vendor. I on the otherhand was weak and bought a blouse from an oriental guy. The tag on the blouse says "made in Italy", so does that count? Tomorrow our plans are to take a boat to another town across the lake that is supposed to have a huge market. That should be fun. At this point, all purchases will need to be pretty small in size to get them home. lol.

After I packed up all the dirties and purchases, I double checked all the bags to make sure I wasn't leaving any little goodie behind. Really, we haven't bought THAT MUCH stuff, and most items are small, but one item is kinda big so a pretty good sized duffle was necessary. Packing everything up was just a reality check that vacation was almost over *insert very large sad face here*. So after getting our things somewhat organized, we went up to the hotel's rooftop about 2pm for a sandwich. It was nothing fancy, just a ham and cheese on toast, but it was good and all we needed to hold us until dinner. Guy and I are betting on how much weight we've gained and he tried to count how many gelatos I've had. He thinks 30, but that is crazy (maybe more like 25 - ha ha) After lunch, Guy went to the room to take a quick nap (not feeling 100% today) and I walked to the grocery store to buy some of my favorite cookies to bring home. Seriously they are just a sandwich cookie, Oreo-ish which is nothing fancy, but I just love them and can't get them at home. I also found a lovely store that had some very unique scarves, so I picked up a few (more things to shove into the suitcase).

Currently we are back on the rooftop to enjoy what scenery we can see. All day it has been pretty warm and humid, but the sun has stayed mostly behind the clouds, but this means the haze in the distance is really thick. We know there are lots of really big mountains back there, we just can't see them. Probably our worst photo op day, but I have pics of this area already, so not too worried. I'm down to just a few shirts, which are long sleeves, so tomorrow may get a bit toasty. We'll see. The temperature on the trip has been very unpredictable from one day to the next. But we've been very lucky. The rainiest days have been travel days. - Be back in a few hours to report on our dinner. :)

We took a slow stroll to dinner tonight because it was a beautiful evening. Just cool enough that you wanted to make sure you had some sort of sweater in hand. We wanted to eat outside and we decided on the Pizzeria Mamma Mia. When we arrived the outside was full, but the doors were open to the inside and they had a table close to the doorway. The staff was really friendly and our food came out quickly. Guy started with minestrone soup and when he was finished he had to go outside and cool off a bit as we were inside enough to feel the heat of the kitchen. I ordered veal lasagna and it was just ok. The cheese, meat, and noodles were all sort of one big square of inseparable goo. Guy ordered perch, pan fried with sage and butter. He enjoyed it. I decided tonight, since it is our last night in Stresa, to have tiramisu instead of gelato. I'm not a coffee drinker, but how can I not have this traditional dessert at least once. (Although we did have a version of tiramisu at the Arabella tho, which was raspberry and tastier than tonights I must say). After dinner we strolled back slowly hoping the slower we walked the better the chance of making the vacation last longer (not sure that it is working). So we went got back to the hotel, we went to the rooftop to get one last look at the beauty of the lake at night. It was about 9:30 and not completely dark, so I got a few shots that I think will be nice. Here at the La Palma I can only get free internet on one device, so it had to be my ipad, but that keeps me from being able to Instagram or send photos from my iphone to my ipad. That is ok as my Nikon has a wireless card in it and I could upload a few from it as well.

Well, goodnight from Stresa, Italy. It is a beautiful town and I know it won't be too long before we return. It was the perfect place to wind down this fantastic vacation and take a few days to relax and breathe. Mission accomplished.