In this new feature I plan on occasion to introduce you to some Stresiani, people who live in Stresa. I'll ask them each three questions, and in this way we'll get to know them and hear their own perspectives on this lovely little city. For my very first interview I have the great honor of introducing you to il Primo Cittadino di Stresa, that is, the mayor. Canio Di Milia has been the mayor of Stresa since 2005, and he was kind enough to take the time to answer three questions for me.

1. Please describe Stresa for my English-speaking readers who have never been there.

Stresa is a city that captures its visitors with its natural beauty. For its lush greenness and for its flowers. We are, in fact, a city known for its gardens, where it is also possible to see and discover diverse styles and philosophies of gardening, from Italianate gardens on Isola Bella, to those in the English style on Isola Madre, to that specializing in the Alpine botanical species at Il Giardino Alpinia. These natural beauties are found between the water, Lago Maggiore, and the mountain, Mt. Mottarone, Stresa’s own mountain. These characteristics make Stresa, from a certain point of view, unique and magical, and they have permitted, almost naturally, that these natural beauties have paired with numerous cultural initiatives. Think to the concerts of the “Settimane Musicali di Stresa e del Lago Maggiore,” or to the philosophical-humanistic culture found here in the presence of the immortal spirits of the philosopher Rosmini and the poet Rebora, the symposium Rosmini, and the International Center of Rosminian Studies. And there is also its great cuisine, inspired by the Scuola Alberghiera of Stresa, which is the oldest cooking school in all of Italy.

2. What thing do you like the most in Stresa?

If I must say what, to me it pleases most Isola Pescatori, where it is possible to rediscover the charm of a little village of another time, where fishermen really do live, with a romantic atmosphere of an earlier age.

3. How do you see Stresa five years from now?