10:30 AM:  The procession of King Falcett and his court will depart from the Palazzo dei Congressi, through the streets of Stresa, arriving at Piazza Cadorna to proclaim the opening of Carnevale and make greetings to the town's authorities. The procession will include musicians and flag wavers. 

11:00 AM:  Masked costume competition in Piazza Cadorna. There will be prizes for individuals, children, couples, and groups. To register for the competition please go to the tourist office in Piazza Marconi by Saturday 18 February at noon.

12:30 PM:  At Carciano, yum, there will be polenta, salami, and tapelucco. Tapelucco is a ragu made of very small pieces of donkey meat, a very traditional mountain food served at Carnevale here. The food is offered to eat there or to buy for takeaway. Possibly I will be reporting back to you with my review and photos of the tapelucco.

12:30  And also up in Levo, polenta, wild boar stew, and tapelucco.

12:30 to 14:30: In Piazza Cadorna, another serving of polenta, salami, and tapelucco, preceding the masked parade at 14:30. In case of inclement weather, the food will be served in the Liberty Villa.    (continued)

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Last week, the Grand Hotel des Iles Borromees reopened its doors to guests, recognizing the growth of tourism in Stresa outside of the traditional summer season. The five-star hotel is advertising special room and spa packages, noting the attraction of Stresa in the winter to visitors arriving for a weekend of ski and spa treatments such as thermal hydromassage. Borromees is the first of the hotels above 3-star ranking to reopen, joining the few hotels in town which have remained open during the winter, Meeting, Saini, and Mon Toc, and perhaps beginning a new trend. Grand Hotel des Iles Borromees: www.borromees.it  Centro Benessere Spa at the hotel:  www.centrobenesserestresa.com

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Soon you may be drinking bottled water from our own Levo! Another step forward in the very long and slow process of bringing Acqua Preziosa Stresa to market has occurred. The city council of Stresa has recently approved the use of land in the Stresa frazione, the hamlet, of Levo, for use by the company that will build a water bottling plant on unused land there. The plant would then be used by the private company which already has a permit to use the natural spring water which flows through Levo, with the intention of bottling and marketing it. Stresa hopes that this initiative will bring both jobs and more recognition to the area. But this is still far from happening; in the meantime continue to visit the (almost) free water station in the center of town.