The 3 of us arrived by train in Stresa, a small town on Lago Maggiore a few days ago, to decompress and recharge after a busy and emotional few weeks, before heading back home. The local population here is only about 5000 people, and heavily reliant on tourism. I learnt today, that between November and April, this place goes into hibernation. All the restaurants and shops close up and the vendors work in alternative jobs or go away on holidays. We have actually noticed this phenomenon slowly creeping in as the days went by.
Mum and I felt it was our duty to make a contribution to the tourism industry, especially the Italian leather industry…Mum said to buy shoes and bags when in Italy, I obeyed.
Jake made a fair contribution to the gelato industry and together we propped up the wheat, wine and coffee industries, so we think we can leave knowing the town won’t go under just yet.
The best part were the views and the sunrises:
We spent our last day in Milan, doing a walking tour and eating more gelato. As we were walking the streets, the city was familiar somehow - a little bit of Melbourne, a little bit of Buenos Aires and even a little bit of Adelaide CBD. Some pics from the Piazza del Duomo for your viewing pleasure:
On our last day, we finally got ripped off by paying 122 euro for a very average lunch and even more ordinary wine. The hustle was impressive to watch. The ‘restaurant’ was full within 10min of our arrival. We easily got talked into a larger portion size (4 euro each) and 4 thin shreds of ‘extra’ Parmesan also for 4 euro each, that we only found out about when paying. You’d think we’ve travelled enough to not make this rookie mistake again, but there it is.
See you soon Adelaide!
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