Day 15

Friday means MARKET DAY in Stresa! Whoop Whoop! And happy First Date Anniversary to us! Year #39. Hence rounding out the title of this blog: Art, Schnitzel and now the Love part. 

 

Breakfast was nice and leisure. I got a kick out of watching everyone today. The La Palma is a lovely hotel with quite an eclectic clientele. This morning as I was coming down the stairs there was a very tall man in front of me. When he realized I was behind him he turned and looked back at me and I said “Good morning” to which he turned forward again and kept walking without a reply. His wife was coming shortly behind me and I later heard them speaking. They were French. Guy was still in the shower when I headed down for coffee and while I waited for him I did some serious people watching as my entertainment. Some young people in the room, but the largest age range I’d have at 50+. Today lots of English speakers around me with British accents. Finally conversations I can eavesdrop in on for a change. There are people in tennis shoes and jeans, and then some fancier ladies in high heels that I have noticed taking a lot of selfies. One older gal, I’d have in her mid 70’s, was VERY tan and had on a tight black leather dress. I feel like the La Palma wall flower just blending into the crowd, neither under dressed nor over dressed. 

 

After breakfast we walked into town to shop the market! It’s only on Fridays in Stresa and we missed the Wednesday one in Louino. I’m not sure I’ve shopped the one at Stresa, but it was pretty nice! I scored some great items including not one but two pairs of new shoes (thanks to the Canadian dude that was chatting it up with Guy, distracting him from my shopping) a new dress, pants and blouse, Guy bought himself a new wallet and I snagged a few other odds and ends. After scoring at the market, we walked by the Mamma Mia restaurant to make a reservation for tonight. When Guy walked up to the owner, she looked at him and said “I know you!”. They chatted for a bit and we are looking forward to our dinner tonight. This was Guy’s dad’s favorite restaurant and we have the best picture of all the staff huddled around him for what was his last photo op in Stresa. Good memories here. 

 

I headed back to the hotel with all the goods, while Guy stopped at the grocery store to get us a light snack for lunch, which was super! He picked up some cheese, bread, salami, olives and some to-die-for Nutella cookies. We had cokes in the fridge and sat out on our balcony enjoying our food and wondering how we can move here (just kidding, kind of). After the yummy food I proceeded to put my new shoes on walking around the room, then my OTHER new pair of shoes on which actually Match my new purse. Happy accident! Guy is laughing at me, but I showed him my other goodies and had quite the show and tell time. He asked me how I was going to get it all home. I said “Do you have to come?” It took him a minute to realize I was contemplating leaving him here so I could use his suitcase. But for sure my pillow and blanket will remain in Italy so as to make more room in my bag. Guy will also leave behind his old white Tshirts which he strategically brought just for this reason. We’ll make it all fit. We always do.

 

The La Palma is fantastic, but the beds are a bit hard. Last night was a little rough so Guy is napping while I catch up on the blog. The sun decided NOT to make an appearance today, so his dreams of another day by the pool ended up being a nap in the room. All is good because if he’s asleep, he can’t hear me opening and closing the Nutella Biscuit sack! ;) So after sneaking a biscuit, I headed out by myself for stroll along the scenic panoramic pathway along the town of Stresa all the way down to where it ends at the next boat stop. It was such a nice day even without the sun and I took my time taking in all the views and watching all the people sitting on the benches. I passed the newly erected September 11 memorial, the first in all of Italy. It’s a beautiful piece of art. Simple yet creative. It inspired me to get a little more creative with my photography today. I looked for the most interesting ways to photograph Isola Bella. At one point I was down on my knees photographing through a hole in the ornate concrete wall and next thing I knew, someone else knelt down beside me to take the same shot. I laughed. She had photography FOMO (fear of missing out). 

 

Back at the hotel I got ready for dinner and we took off a bit early to walk around the town. We wanted to sit outside so we dressed appropriately, however little did we know the heaters would be on out on the patio of the Mamma Mia Restaurant and before I could fully read the menu I had sweat covering my upper lip. I was going to get soup, but quickly changed my mind. I looked at Guy and said “I can’t take it”. So instead of asking to move, he switched me seats. We shed as much clothes as we could and he took it like a man, but as the evening went on and it cooled off, it got some better. I, however, sat comfy and cool in my new seat. Dinner was good and we had great service. Guy wanted gelato, but I opted for tiramisu. Once I was done, he was so full he didn’t want to get any…but there is tomorrow. We’ll for sure get one last scoop!

 

Not sure what tomorrow brings (our last full day). It was supposed to be sunny today but was not. It is supposed to rain tomorrow, but I don’t trust the forecast! Even if it poured all day, we’d be totally happy spending our last day sitting around with our feet up, because when we get home, we’ll hit the ground running again…per usual.

 

Almost for the last time, ciao from Stresa Italy.