Next stop Lago Maggiore. After leaving the incredible Casa Scaparone and truffle obsessed town of Alba we drive to Verbania, Michael (our friend from the bay area who is graciously hosting and is showing us his favorite places) has an apartment there so we will stay there for the next few days.
We arrive in the area late in the day, the lake is covered in mist and fog, stunning mountains with snow soar above the lake and it’s pretty islands. We want to explore but it is already too late in the day so we head into the mountains, Michael has another amazing restaurant to share with us and Carrie. We settle into the comfortable cozy restaurant for another spectacular dinner.
We save the adventures for the following day. While we will visit the botanical garden and the town of Taranto. Michael and Carrie will visit a friend in Switzerland, about a 2 hours drive away.
We start the day early and walk to the Villa Taranto Botanical Gardens, they are set just off the shore of the lake and have amazing views, winding trails, beautiful flowers and trees…
The gardeners get around the grounds on scooters.
Our picnic, some treats from a local shop Michael pointed out to us.
Looks like we were a few days early for the tulip labyrinth.
After a few hours exploring the Botanical Gardens, we wander back into town. We go into a church and the organ is being played, we stay and listen for a while. It starts raining so we go into the Museo de Paesaggio and admire sculptures, paintings and artifacts from the area.
When we come out of the museum the sun is shining again, throwing beautiful beams of light onto the lake…
We continued along the lake back towards the apartment passing overgrown abandoned homes and beautiful homes with perfect gardens.
Seeing the ferries out on the lake we are excited for the next day when we will visit the islands!
sierrajohnrambleon 