The Islands on Lake Maggiore are all owned by the Borromean family, as is the lake and today the vast elegant villas on Isola Madre and Isola Bella are frequented by tourists, who not only enjoy the opulence and grandeur but get to walk in the immaculate gardens and take an immeasurable number of photographs.
I love visiting gardens and I never tire of bringing my tour groups here and listening to their comments of delight. Maybe they are not the garden style we could envisage for ourselves but, there is always something that I could find a place for in my garden – like the blousy stunning hydrangea Paniculata’s.
A good brisk morning walk along the side of lake Maggiore takes us to the historic garden of Villa Taranto. In 1931 a Scottish Captain by the name of Neil Mc Eacharn decided to buy the estate called “La Crocetta” from the Marquise of Sant’Elia and to transform it into a specimen English Garden. He was a plant collector and many thousands of plants were brought here from the far corners of the world to make up his rare collection – Some even from New Zealand. The huge trees are magnificent, but each year I can never get passed the collection of over 300 Dahlia’s without taking photos. Last year it was pink and this year its Red !!!
There is also a very lovely little chapel containing his tomb and it is accentuated by glorious stain-glass windows depicting flowers from the garden.
Very rarely on tour do we we not meet in a bar for the obligatory Aperol Spritz or glass of Prosecco before dinner.
Lake Orta is a small pretty lake where many Italians visit during the weekends. Especially, in the early evenings where they enjoy a walk among the shops and stop at a bar for an aperitif. Consequently, it was only fair, right and proper that we participated as well and as you can see we have our happy prosecco faces on.
Italian bars always provide little bowls of crisps, olives and tiny pastries and some like the bar beside our hotel came out with a mini platter of prosciutto, cheese and bread. It’s so civilised and very delicious. The joy of travelling certainly makes sure you can immerse yourself in another culture and enjoy their food, wine and customs for a short while anyway and will certainly reward you with memories for ever.
