Just enough news to digest with a cup of cappuccino.

Stresa's mayor, Canio Di Milia, joins the blogosphere, becoming one of the first mayors in Italy to start his own blog, with which he plans to communicate with his constituents, record weekly video messages for them, and accept and answer their comments.

Sunday, March 8th marked the second annual Lago Maggiore Half Marathon, with over 2,300 participants leaving from Stresa and running to Pallanza. The winner was Ezekiel Jafari Ngimba, from Tanzania, with a time of 1 hour and 41 seconds.

Sunday also was the national holiday Festa della Donna, a day similar to our Mother's Day. The traditional flower to give on this holiday is the Mimosa; Stresa sponsored its own flower sale in Piazza Cadorna, with the proceeds benefitting research for multiple scherosis.

If you don't feel like it's spring yet visit the Camelia Spring Show, March 21 and 22, at Villa Rusconi in Verbania. The two-day show will feature over 200 varieties of the Camelia, both antique and modern, music, a children's garden, sales of products and books, as well as the introduction of a new women's fragrance, based on the scent of Camelias, grenadine, and citrus zest, called "Fiori di Stresa".