Ferry ride on Lago Maggiore

 [Early September 2001]

The Lago Maggiore ferry system serves as an important means of transportation for many of the locals, stopping at several of the western lakeside communities but also going as far as Locarno, Switzerland, near the northeastern end of the lake. So of course, one day we just had to hop aboard and go to Switzerland. 

While the lake was calm and the trip uneventful the people watching provided ample and productive opportunities for candid portraiture. 

waiting for the ferry

We stopped at several of the nearby coastal towns at the western end of the lake. Isola Bella: 

Intra:

Isola Madre, which had lovely gardens just right for strolling:

And Verbania:

Isola dei Pescatori and Lago Maggiore 2001

 [Early September 2001]

We returned to Italy in September, flying to Milan and then taking the train north to Stresa. Located at the far western end of Lago Maggiore, Stresa is not only a lakeside resort of some note but boasts a large conference center and we were there so Susie could attend a meeting of the International Emergency Physicians Association. 

Once in Stresa we made our way from the station down to the ferry landing and took the next boat to nearby Isola dei Pescatori (Island of the fishermen). The largest of several in the Borromeo Island group, clustered near near this part of the lake, Pescatori was the site of the Hotel Verbano which would be our home for the next few days.   

nondescript entry to the hotel, which was in any event very nice

the outdoor dining section of the hotel's restaurant

We were pleasantly surprised to discover the hotel had put us up in one of their nearby apartments with a superb view of the lake and plenty of room to spread out and relax.

Once settled in we explored the (tiny) island, fully of twisting alleyways and nearly always a view of the lake somewhere.

there was even a small outdoor market on the island

looking north

the northern tip seen from the ferry

the western side from the ferry

There was also a tiny cemetery wedged in-between homes and the island church. . .