On this day we said good-bye to France and hello to Italy! Jose-Maria drove the four of us, with our luggage and the sandwiches that he had made for us, to the station. We marveled at the Alps we saw from the train’s windows, eating our sandwiches along the way.

Some hours later, we arrived in Milan, where we got a train to Stresa, on the mainland of Lago Maggiore. We arrived at our hotel at 4 PM.  Agnès and Jose-Maria had made the reservations, and once in our room, we took a brief nap. It was brief because I wanted to get outside and begin exploring everything.

Agnès and Jose-Maria enjoy swimming. They explored the  possibility of swimming in the lake, but the ground beneath our feet at the beach  consisted of slippery rocks that made the thought of getting into and out of the water unpleasant. Instead they swam in the hotel’s pool.

While they swam, Nick and I  went for a walk. I had brought along a sweater in case I felt  chilly, but I didn’t need it, because  feeling chilly never happened during the entire trip.  We agreed that  the main street in Stresa, called Corso Umberto, with its huge, impressive hotels,  looked like an old TV show called Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. However,  just a few streets away, the locals were buying food and wine from individual shops.

We came upon a plaque dedicated to Robert Baden Powell, founder of the Scouting movement. Our son, Nicholas is an Eagle Scout.

We happened upon a gelateria, where we shared a snack. At home we would typically choose one flavor of gelato, while here we  were expected to choose two. We settled on lemon and stracciatella, which is vanilla with  strands of drizzled chocolate. It was delicious and very refreshing.

Jose-Maria had consulted his phone to find a restaurant where the four of us could have dinner. He found a one called  il Vicoletto that had very good rating a few blocks away and, he made a reservation.

In addition to technology, Nick and Jose-Maria have many things in common. They are never bored, because they both have many interests and hobbies. Before dinner, we discussed one of J-M’s passions, the Beatles. His daughter Alexandra had made arrangements for a trip to Liverpool for Christmas for the two of them, and he  absolutely loved it. We agreed that rather than exchanging physical gifts with our adult children, spending time together is a much more meaningful gift.

The four of us shared two appetizers: spinach “pudding” with Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, and grilled octopus. Both were outstanding! For our main courses, Nick and Jose-Maria chose sea bream, and Agnès and I both chose night’s special, homemade tagliatelle pasta with locally harvested mushrooms. Dessert was whipped  yogurt with fresh strawberries and grapes over a plain cookie, not fancy or rich,  but absolutely perfect! The entire dinner was incredibly delicious.

After dinner, the four of us strolled along the  cobblestone streets  to our hotel. When we approached a hat shop, Agnès realized that she had left her sun hat at home, so she bought a charming one. As we continued, we heard music being played on street corners by locals. What a lovely day it had been!

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