On
a cool morning we set off for the Stresa train station for our round
trip via rail to Locarno and then back to Stresa by boat later in he
day. The cost of the whole trip was only 32 euros which is not bad
for six hours of transport. We caught the 9:12am Trenitalia
service to Domodossola way up in the mountains. This is a nice town
in the Centovalli region – Centovalli meaning “One Hundred
Valleys”. The terrain is very steep and spectacular. It is the
start of the train journey known as the “Lake
Maggiore
Express”.
Hiccups!
The
train runs on an electrified, narrow gauge railway to Locarno in
Switzerland. It
has just recently been updated so we were able to enjoy the scenery
through large, panoramic windows. Our train left Domodossola at
10:25, climbing quickly into the higher mountains on a gradient of
about 6%. The term “Express” is a bit
of an exaggeration,
on the part of the railway operators. The
fifty-two kilometers takes two hours to cover with the train
sometimes barely moving as it creeps over the steeper sections. There
are about two dozen stations along the route with the train stopping
at 70% of them. So, it must be the fact that it doesn't stop at 30%
of them that makes the train an “express”! All
along the route
the valleys and hill-sides are lush and green, the ravines are deep
and the mountains are tall and craggy.
The
sun was fighting an uphill battle (no pun intended) to shine through
the cloud and
mist
for most of the journey which
made it difficult
to translate the view to film. On time, just after 12:30pm we arrived
in Locarno, Switzerland. No immigration issues even though the
documentation that accompanied our tickets insisted we bring our
travel documents. I guess you never know when they may have a
crackdown or random inspection. Our passports are with us 24hrs/day
anyway. Locarno
was sort of what I expected a Swiss town to look like – neat and
tidy and well presented. Pleasant
gardens with flowers lined the foreshore of the lake, the port was
easy to find and a small marina was home to a number of motor and
sailing vessels. It
has a population of about 16,000, being set partly on the level
ground near the lake shore and partly on the hill-side behind. I
suspect it serves a much larger number of people in the adjacent
hill-side and lake-side villages which seem to merge into one
another.
Like
the UK, Switzerland, although part of the EU, still uses Swiss
Francs. Therefore, a detour to an ATM was required so we could buy
lunch We had a very nice kebab for lunch sitting by the lake shore,
keeping the resident sparrows fed and the kids entertained. There
were about three hours to kill before the boat left for the other end
of the lake. So we set off for a stroll around Locarno which turned
into something like a hike.
Speaking
of the other end of the lake, it's about 68kms to the south of
Locarno. Lake Maggiore is the second largest lake, in area, in Italy.
Its average width is 3-5kms with its widest point, just near Stresa,
being 10kms. The lake is very, very deep. Its surface lies at 195m
above sea-level but none of its bottom is above sea-level. Indeed, at
its deepest point its bottom is 179m below sea-level. That's bloody
deep!
We
decided to head towards the river hoping to be able to stroll along
the lake shore. That was good for a small part of the journey but
didn't last long. We soon found ourselves some distance from the
shore-line in what looked like Locarno's sporting precinct. The was a
very nice indoor pool with small water park attached, the local
soccer team's home ground, a small Par 3 golf course with adjacent
driving range, a canoe club and a camping ground. This led to a
bicycle path along, but not in view, of the river. We had probably
walked 4 or so kms before we found a path into a little park and then
back into the centre of town. We bumped into Dennis and his wife from
Tassie looking for directions to the port and then found a bar for a
drink.
The
large ferry left right on time. We first sat out the back, then moved
to the front, then under shelter in the front as the weather worsened
the further down the lake we went. The mist turned into sleet which
turned into showers which turned into rain. One by one the patrons
moved indoor seeking shelter, but not the Smiths.
We donned our
rain-jackets, determined to get plenty of fresh lake and mountain air
into our lungs. But eventually the elements won the day and we
retreated to the indoors. We may be mad but not mad enough to sit
there for another two hours. I took the opportunity to have a little
nap for an hour. We bumped into Dennis again so he came over for a
chat. Dennis likes a chat, I suspect. As we got closer to the
southern end the weather lifted and the sky brightened a little but
it still damp.
We
arrived at Stresa after just over three hours of cruising. It would
have been such a scenic and breathtaking cruise on a bright sunny
day. Oh well! It was good value for money despite the inclement
weather. We ate at a restaurant in Piazza Carbona near the hotel. My
calamari was good, Kerry's ravioli was not. We gave the waiter
the benefit of our view. which he didn't appreciate. A coffee and
desert in the hotel lounge and then upstairs to bed. Oh, the news
while sailing back of Carlton's loss to Essendon threatened to ruin
my day. But it made Kerry's. :(
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