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Thursday, January 29, 2009

Stuzzichini

Taking aperitivo is absolutely positively one of the things that I enjoy most about life in Italy. And the stuzzichini are one of the reasons why I love aperitivo so. You see, aperitivo consists of two parts. There is the bevanda, the drink. And then there are the stuzzichini. Stuzzichini are the little foods, we’d call them appetizers, that are put out, most often for free, in the bars during aperitivo time. Here are a few photos of favorite stuzzichini I have had in and around Stresa.


In Arona, pizza, spinach torta, chips, nuts, and olives. That's my Americano in the foreground.

In Verbania, a plate of fresh sliced meats, served beautifully around a center of different olives. That's my Prosecco on the side.


Astragalo, in Gravellona, is one of my favorite aperitivo hangouts. There is a never-ending buffet of foods, specializing in many kinds of bruschetta.


Here's a better view of a few of my bruschette. And that's my glass of Franciacorta just above it.

After some of these aperitivi there is no need for dinner. Quindi, therefore, for a budget conscious traveler, for the price of a glass of prosecco, it's possible to have a nice light meal as well. Just another reason to love Italy. And so, on my next trip, I promise that I'll do extensive research into all the bevande and stuzzichini in Stresa. I'll search far and wide, high and low, going out for aperitivo every evening if I must. Just for the blog of course...

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

San Carlo Borromeo Statue

Hey big guy! I have to say that every time I see this statue in Arona. Because this guy is big. How big you ask? He’s 36 meters (115 feet) tall. His arm is 9.1 meters long (30 feet), the thumb 1.4 meters (4.5 feet). That’s big. Even more impressive when you consider that he was built in 1697. Giovanni Battisti Crespi designed the giant statue and then had it constructed on a hill overlooking Arona and Lago Maggiore. There is a hollow concrete core over which copper plates were joined together to form the body. The head and arm, however, are made of bronze. Up until the time the Statue of Liberty was built in 1885, this was the tallest statue in the world, and also the tallest enterable monument. That’s right. You can go inside the statue and, by climbing a series of steep and scary stairs, a jumble of iron and wood, reach the windows in the eyes and ears, for a view of the town and the lake.


Who da man! San Carlo Borromeo is the man, that’s who. Carlo was a nephew of Pope Pius IV, and a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, who lived from 1538 to 1584. The colossus was meant to be part of a large complex of buildings celebrating the life of Carlone, big Carlo, as he is sometimes affectionately called, but ultimately only three chapels were completed.


In the center of Arona, in Corso Cavour, there is another, much smaller version of the statue, he’s called Carlino, little Carlo. But man oh man, you should go see the big guy.
















Views of the interior of the statue.


Arona is 22 km to the west of Stresa by car, about a 25 minute car trip, or take a boat for the 40-minute ride.


Sunday, January 25, 2009

News Bites -- Little Bits Of News From Stresa


Just enough news to digest with a cup of cappuccino...

The Lago Maggiore Solar Challenge 2009 will take place the 11 and 12 of July. The competition for solar-powered boats will begin in Dormelletto, with stops in several towns along the lake. Several of those towns will also hold exhibitions, explaining certain features of this innovative technology.

It has been announced that the London Symphony will open this year’s Settimane Musicale di Stresa. Other noted musical groups already set to appear are the BBC Philharmonic, the Palatino Concert, and the Israel Philharmonic Brass Quartet. The festival will run from May 2 to 17.

Plans were unveiled for the new theatre to be built in Verbania, near the lakefront. The exciting design, by Spanish architect Salvador Perez Arroyo, shows a building formed of four scultural shapes, a main theatre to hold 500, smaller theatre for experimental shows and conferences, a bookshop, bar, a restaurant, and underground parking.

Poll results: 31 of you responded to the question: Which of these people has NOT been to Stresa? And the answer is… Well, I sort of blew it. It turns out all of these people have been to Stresa. Ernest Hemingway visited many times between 1918 and the 1950s, in fact, he set part of his novel “Farewell to Arms” here; Winston Churchill spent his honeymoon in the luxurious Grand Hotel Des Iles Borromees; Benito Mussolini took part in the Stresa Front, the important, but ultimately unsuccessful meeting in Stresa on April 14, 1935 between the leaders of Italy, France, and Great Britain. The purpose of the meeting was to try to contain Nazi Germany; Princess Diana was in Stresa in 1984 when she and other dignitaries and celebrities visited the Borromeo family on Isola Bella; Gina Lollobrigida came in second at the second Miss Italy contest, held in Stresa in 1946; and George Clooney, well, I thought George had kept to himself on Lake Como but it turns out that he visited Stresa just this past summer to look at a property for sale. And how about you? Have YOU been to Stresa yet?


Thursday, January 22, 2009

The Navigazione Laghi – Information And Boat Schedule For Lago Maggiore



One lovely thing about Stresa as a base is that it is possible to travel easily to many of the main touristic sites without ever needing a car, never being stuck in a traffic jam, and never looking for directions. And the means of transport is ever-so-much more pleasant than public buses or trains. The boats on Lago Maggiore should be your main method for getting around and sightseeing; every journey will become part of your vacation.

At 212 square kilometers Lago Maggiore is Italy’s second-largest lake. Bordering Lombardy on the east, Piemonte on the west, and Switzerland on the north, there are dozens of towns, islands, and sights to see. The government-run boat system is extensive, fast, and efficient, with over 30 steamboats, motorboats, and ferries in its fleet.

So let’s navigate the Gestione Navigazione Laghi Web site a bit to get you comfortable with it.

The site offers a lot of information, much of it quite good. For our purposes here, click on English, and then choose Lago Maggiore. Here’s the link. The list on the right is of the towns with imbarcaderi, boat docks serviced by this system; click on any town for some information about it. (You can read more about the Stresa Imbarcadero here.) The text – clearly written by an Italian in English – is understandable but ever-so-slightly off sometimes, and so we find delightful descriptions such as this one for Gerra:
A pretty lake town situated along a cone assuming a triangle shape in the lake with hamlets of Riva which receives the sunrays bright and early and the hamlet of Scimiana that receives them in the late evening. On the hill it’s found the agglomerate of Ronco with a marvellous view, over the lake and over the gulf of Ascona.

Okay, boat schedules and prices, which fortunately are a bit more understandable. Click on FARES from the menu on the left. Here’s the link to the page you’ll be on. 

It’s a well-planned and helpful site. It also has a photo gallery, information about special cruises, and a variety of nice links. This use of boats on Lago Maggiore as everyday transportation is just one of the very unique things here. Make sure you use the Navigazione Laghi and use them often. Recognizing that you can in fact get where you want to go and back to Stresa on one of the ships can really add to the relaxation of traveling here. And remember to bring your camera...

In addition to the main tourist ships there are car ferries, private water taxis, and a variety of other charter vessels available. 

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Risotto alla Milanese - With a Little Something Extra


Good parmigiano cheese is good parmigiano cheese; it’s a shame to waste even a teeny crumb of it, even when all you have left is the ends, the rind, after all the cheese has been grated away. Friends in Stresa taught me something to do with those ends; they use them while preparing Risotto alla Milanese. Here’s what we did:

We cooked the risotto as normal, browning the rice in equal amounts of butter and olive oil, to open it, to allow it to breathe, but at the same time we added the ends of the parmigiano to the rice.
Beef broth is then slowly poured in. We set the clock for 15 minutes and add beef broth three times during that period. You’ll notice I haven’t specified how much broth to use, or how much rice. That’s because we never measure. Rice is measured in handfuls; one for me and one for you and one for the pot. Broth is measured by being enough to well cover the rice each time it is poured over. After the second addition of broth the rinds of cheese were already quite soft.
We add the zafferano, the saffron, with the last addition of broth. Now the risotto becomes its distinctive yellow color. When this last liquid is absorbed it should coincide, piu o meno, more or less, with the 15 minutes, and then it should be removed from the heat. Now add some grated parmigiano, stir it in, and let the risotto rest for 5 minutes.

That’s it. Classic Risotto alla Milanese, this time with some now soft and chewy chunks of parmigiano mixed in. It gives the risotto a bit of extra flavor, and I love that it makes use of what would otherwise be thrown away. Be fair when serving the risotto; make sure that everyone gets equal amounts of the cheese pieces; I’ve seen people fight for them. Have you tried this? Heard of any other methods like it to not waste food?

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Santa Caterina del Sasso

It was on a stormy night in 1170 that the story of the hermitage and monastery of Santa Catarina del Sasso begins. A rich trader, Alberto Besozzi, was washed from his boat and was saved from certain drowning by the intervention of Santa Caterina. In a gesture of thanks Alberto decides to live out his life as a hermit in the caves built into the rocks, and during his years there he builds the first chapel on the site. Santa Caterina intervened again centuries later, wiping out the plague that had been terrorizing the region. And again in 17th century, when she is said to have stopped a massive rock slide before it crushed the chapel containing the tomb of Alberto. Some like to say the evidence of this last miracle is in plain view inside the small chapel where, over the alter, a large boulder hangs precariously, seemingly frozen in its fall by some invisible means. I won’t ruin the wonder by telling you geological reasons for the rock’s strange state; isn’t it still remarkable that, for whatever reason, here it is hanging impossibly. It’s the super-naturalness of the appearance that matters here after all.

Inside, the monastery has been recently rejuvenated. Fragments of frescoes have been revealed and cleaned, such as the 17th-century "Dance of Death." The beautiful arches and vaulted ceilings have been cleaned. Outside, fig trees, geranium, and oleander grow. Below, hundreds of feet below, the blue waters of Lago Maggiore wash up against the rocks. And far off in the distance is the snow-capped peak of Monte Rosa. Questa e’ la rara bellezza che c’e’ nel Santuario di Santa Caterina. This is the rare beauty that is Santa Caterina.

Santa Caterina del Sasso is in Leggiuno, across Lago Maggiore from Stresa. The best way to approach is from the water, where the visual impact is greater. Perched on a narrow precipice of rock cliff, the monastery looms above. For many centuries this was the only way to approach and enter the monastery. Now you can also approach from the top of the cliff, where you can park your car and walk down almost 300 steps. There is also an elevator between the top and the bottom.

The current structure dates from the 16th century.

Frescoes have been beautifully restored.

Interior view of the main chapel.

Aerial view.

The monastery is currently run by a Dominican order of friars; they sell their produce in the shop on the premises, and it is worth a trip there just to buy these wonderful items. Entrance is free.

From Stresa take the boat to Santa Caterina.


All information and more is on the website: 
http://www.santacaterinadelsasso.com/

updated 2018

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

The Nebbiolo and the Fog


The fog. I hardly understand what thing is the fog, and I don't like it. It makes things grey, it limits my sight, but when I discovered how it feeds and protects the acids of the grapes from which comes my favorite wine I changed my mind.


Those poetic words were written by a Piemontese friend to explain the Nebbiolo grape to me. Nebbiolo, which grows in a relatively small region in Piemonte, is something you should get to know, if you don’t already, when here in northern Italy, as it is considered by many to be the most noble of all Italian grapes. Nebbia means fog, and each autumn, when the intense fog comes rolling in and hangs over the Langhe region where the Nebbiolo grows, it creates conditions that have been impossible to duplicate anywhere else on Earth, and wines considered among Italy’s best. As my friend describes it,


The fog has a reason. Nebbiolo, precisely. We Piemontese have grown up with the Nebbiolo. It is the wine of Sunday, of holidays, to open on special occasions, and on the Nebbiolo have we developed our fine taste for wine in general. Perhaps it is for this that it is so difficult for us to find a wine better than this. More than 30 different wines are made with the Nebbiolo grape, all of them particular in their own right, but the Barolo, Barbaresco, and the Gattinara represent the best, the excellence that can be achieved. Its brilliant ruby red color, that tends toward garnet with reflections of orange with the years, its perfume elegant and delicate, of rose and violet, its taste dry and velvety, with good body and medium tannens, of fruit and pink berries, especially raspberry, all of this over time assuming a hint of tobacco, all combine together like a romance in a glass.


Truly an elegant description of an elegant wine. As a rule Nebbiolo wines are dark red and have a high level of alcohol. They have a rich aftertaste. They take a long time to mature fully; when they do the wine takes on its characteristic brownish-red color at the rim. These wines go well with strong flavored meats and stews and with strong cheeses that may overpower the taste of other lighter wines. For all the different wines produced from the Nebbiolo it still only amounts to 3% of the wine production in Piemonte. The Barolo and Barbaresco, so called for the towns of the same name, are given the most respect; wines from outside the designated region go by Langhe Nebbiolo and Nebbiolo d’Alba, among others. For all these reasons, a bottle of Nebbiolo wine will tend to cost more than other Piemontese wines such as Barbera or Dolcetto. One pays for rarity. I'll let his words summarize it for us,


It's been attempted to cultivate the Nebbiolo in other places in the world, but it has always failed. In the way that God has fixed the stars in their certain points in the sky to guide millions of travelers, perhaps he has also put the Nebbiolo here, in Piemonte, with the fog and the perfect conditions, as a fixed starting point, the reference point, for other wine to look to.

Monday, January 12, 2009

News Bites - Little Bits of News From Stresa

Just enough news to digest with a cup of cappuccino....

Snow is the big Stresa news this week. Not enough to disrupt services but certainly more than Stresa is used to, about 6 inches in total falling over a period of a few days. Stresiani woke up to not a White Christmas but a Bianca Epifania, a White Epiphany, on January 6. It didn't stop the La Befana witch from coming though; she made her appearance in Piazza Marconi as usual, handing out her candy (and coal sometimes) and officially ending the holiday season…


Look for Stresa on RAI Uno on January 17 when the Italian TV series Easy Rider airs a segment filmed on Lago Maggiore in December. In this episode traveling stars Ilaria Moscato and Marcellino Mariucci visit some of the most enchanting locations around and in Lago Maggiore, taking the ferry from Laveno, making stops at the Borromean Islands and in Stresa….


There’s a new restaurant that I can’t wait to try. All'Osteria celebrated its grand opening last week with an open house night. The crowd had the opportunity to taste some of the regional Piemontese specialities; I heard the risotto is excellent…. All'Osteria, via S. Pietro 23, Graglia Piana di Brovello Carpugnino, Hours: 11-14, 19-23 (closed Tuesday). Price per person: about 30 €.


Poll answer: Thanks to all who answered this week’s easy poll. As 84% of you knew, Stresa in 1998 celebrated 1000 years of history. The earliest recorded mention of Stresa known so far dates from 998, and as the sign entering the city proudly reminds us, that is 1000 years of hospitably serving all who come here.


Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Cioccolata Calda - Italian Hot Chocolate

You can’t compare the cioccolata calda, hot chocolate, that you get in Italy with anything you may be used to or have had anywhere else. The Italian version is thick, as thick as chocolate syrup almost, thick enough for a little spoon to stay centered in without falling over, and certainly as sweet as syrup, but with richer, denser chocolate. The first cup I had, at Caffe degli Artisti, in Stresa, took me completely by surprise, and to my American taste was almost too rich, too forbidden, like eating the cake batter from the bowl, or frosting straight from the can.

But fortunately it’s not forbidden, it’s encouraged and readily available at bars and restaurants, and I highly recommend it. Start with the classic, cioccolata extrafondente, but then get adventurous and try some of the dozens of other decadent flavor combinations. Here's a very, very partial list of the flavors that can be combined with the basic chocolate: amaretto, lemon/pinoli, orange/vanilla, coconut, walnut, pistacchio, wild berries, rum, and zabaione! Or how about hot chocolate with whiskey... That’s one way to warm up on a chilly Italian winter morning.


If you'd like to try this at home here’s the basic recipe:

· 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

· 1/3 cup sugar

· 1 teaspoon cornstarch or arrowroot

· 2 cups milk or half milk-half water

1. Mix the cocoa, sugar and cornstarch together until thoroughly blended.

2. Add 1/2 cup liquid to a medium saucepan and set over low heat. Whisk in the cocoa mixture until thoroughly incorporated and no lumps remain. Add the rest of the liquid.

3. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium-low heat, until the mixture is thickened (it coats the back of a spoon), about ten minutes.

4. The cornstarch is a great thickener - it won't clump like flour will, it's smooth and tasteless. Don't use regular flour to thicken this.

5. Serving-wise, once the cocoa has thickened, you can stir in a hint of additional flavorings before serving. 1/4 tsp vanilla or almond extract or Grand Marnier would be nice. Dust with cinnamon or nutmeg. Alternatively, you can make this, substituting half the liquid with coffee, to make a nice mocha.

6. Double or triple the amount of the dry ingredients, mix, and keep in a sealed jar in the cupboard. To make, it's one part mix to two parts liquid. Just remember to give the mix a shake before using, to reintegrate the sugar.

The above amount will make two nice sized cups. I’m sure you can find a friend to share it with…

Where are the hot chocolate hot spots in Stresa? I like these:
Caffe degli Artisti, via Principe Tomaso 42/44
Caffe Moka Stresa, via A.M. Bolongaro 26



Sunday, January 4, 2009

Skiing in Stresa!


It’s a pity that people tend to think of Stresa only as a summer destination. Very few realize that it sits at the base of a full-fledged ski resort, but that it does, with fantastic, affordable, hassle-free skiing available right from the center of town, without the need of a car.

Mt. Mottarone is no beginner’s hill. Listen to these statistics: Seven ski lifts and 21 piste, ski runs, offering a total skiing area of 21 km. Snow-making capabilities on 25% of the trails. Off-piste areas. Snowboarders welcome. And then there’s the view… As any skier will tell you, one of the most enticing parts about skiing is the sheer splendor of winter landscapes and in this regard Mottarone delivers. At the summit you’re surrounded by seven lakes, so spend a moment and take in the 360° view. Choose your path down. The Alpe Corti piste is especially scenic; the 2.5 km trail begins at the very summit and winds its way down varying terrain, offering resting spots with incredible panoramas of the lakes below.

Mottarone has a full range of services for skiers. Rentals of all equipment, lessons, several restaurants and bars. While down below Stresa doesn’t receive too much snow, protected as it is by the lake and mountains, 5,000 feet higher Mottarone can be covered in white. As I write this and check the ski report the mountain has a 48” base, fresh powder cover, and is 100% open.

Getting to the summit, where skiing begins, is also part of the fun. From Stresa a 5½-mile private road offers breathtaking views and takes about 30 minutes. There is a per-car toll. If you’re without a car, or simply if you prefer, take the cableway from the imbarcadero at Carciano. You’ll switch halfway up, at Alpino, to the next cable way, which you’ll take up to Mottarone; the entire trip takes 18 minutes. If you’re in Milan this is the nearest skiing and easily offers a full day’s activities. Yes, you could drive two or three hours further north into Switzerland to ski at the more famous, large, and crowded resorts. Or avoid the crowds, enjoying breathtaking scenery, save traveling time, and spend a day at what I think is a sadly overlooked side of Stresa, the ski-town side. 

And don't forget, Mt. Mottarone is also wonderful in spring, summer, and autumn.


Web site for Cableway rates and schedule, as well as additional information about Mt. Mottarone: www.stresa-mottarone.it

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