Archive for April 21st, 2006

Apr 21 2006

Travels With Dad: The Italian Lakes, May 1984

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May 8, 1984

A beautiful day visiting islands in Lago Maggiore: Isola Bella & Isola Madre. Isola Bella has a very grand palace – also historical, in which Napoleon & Josephine stayed (in the best bedroom, overlooking Isola dei Pescatori). The gardens are spectacular, and I saw my first white peacock, who put his tail up, just before we left!

Dad, Meg and I made a cursory inspection of the house on Isola Madre (not as grand as the one on Isola Bella with its risque tapestries) which has an impressive collection of antique dolls. However, I agree with Flaubert that the gardens are more beautiful than those on Isola Bella. [!!!] There is also a wonderful bird sanctuary, where we spent most of the time. There were white-backed pheasants with babies, fan-tailed doves (busy making more fan-tailed doves), and white and blue peacocks, both putting their tails up. I’ve never seen peacocks before, and the colors are just astonishing.

We leave Italy tomorrow. Things I will probably forget after leaving Italy: the signs that are crossed out to show when you leave a town or city; the old fashioned trains with compartments; juice in boxes and cartons (Dropy, Santal, Billy); the shutters on the windows; stores closing at 1:00 and reopening at 4:00 or 5:00; the way you punch tickets on buses & the inspectors who check them; the light in Siena and Venice and Florence in the afternoon; that bars are where you go for coffee, a chat, billiards, stamps, school supplies, cigarettes, and french fries [Similar to the French tabacs. In Intra, you brought an empty pot to the bar and they filled it with french fries for you to take home.]

We were sent on our way with two bottles of “precious wine” from 1966.

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