In this addition of News Bites, we present information about a new hotel, an old garage, a small theater, and a big race. Enjoy!

Personally, I must say I am very happy for this news. A new hotel will be built in Stresa, between Hotel La Palma and Hotel des Iles Borromees, on a site that currently holds just an eyesore of overgrown ruins. It has taken more than two years of tense negotiations, but the Stresa Comune gave approval for the project recently, and hopefully works will begin before too long. The hotel will be the first new one to be built in Stresa since 1955, and it is expected to have a designation of 4 or 5 stars. It seems that two of the three old villas on the property, Mona Villa and Villa of San Basile Rizzo, may in fact be incorporated into the design, preserving them and also renovating them. To me, it's a win-win.

(   continued ...  )

**********

Now, to balance the previous news, a bit of sad news for another old property. May 13, 1963 marked the day of the last run of the Stresa-Mottarone Tram. This building, on via Carducci near the train station, was the depot of the Mottorone Tram each evening. In the years since 1963 it has been used as a garage for buses, a storage warehouse, and most recently, simply empty, abandoned. One idea had been to build a multi-level parking garage on the location, mid-way between the train station and the center of Stresa. But due to the inherent historic nature of the depot that plan seems stalled, and so the depot will remain abandoned, with no future, until a plan can be devised for it. 

**********

Don't ever call Stresa provincial. For proof that it is not, look no further than this recent 'theater' performance in Piazza Possi. Did you notice the 'theater' in that piazza? You may have mistaken it for a portapotty. This was 'Gabinete Italy,' the theater for an audience of one. That's right, with a reservation, one person at a time could enter the theater and engage in a ten-minute performance, face-to-face with the actor. The stars of the project in Stresa were Camilla and Federico Sandri Gagliardi, who performed excerpts from "The Confession, micro-monologues for a theater of the person." I'm so sorry that I missed this! Prob thought it was a portapotty.

**********

It's been a busy, fast-paced, and some might say noisy weekend on the lake, as Stresa hosted the UIM X-Cat World Series. Like the Class One powerboat races held in 2009 and 2010, this X-Cat World Series brought crowds of fans from around the world to the lakefront. Performing teams included Fazza 3 Champion of Champions Arif Al Afeen with Mohammed Al Marri, SkyDive Dubai Mohammed Hassan and Talib Al Sayed, the Mouawas 50 of Omar Danial and Gary Ballough, and the Swedes of Westerland Racing Kumlin and Svenson, to name just a few. After this weekend the competition continues in Arona on September 7 and 8.