Italian Lakes

Whoever designed the Italian Flag must have been inspired by Spring time in the Italian Lakes.  A patch of  green for the wakening of spring with the lush grass and trees, white for the jasmine, clematis and snow topped mountains climbing high up into the misty sky and red for the rhododendrons and roses that are flowering along the roadside and in many gardens.

While waiting for our very delayed flight from Gatwick we read a newspaper to wile away the hours and discovered that it is 75 years since the first person took their driving test in England. The drivers licence in England has quite an interesting past - we were a bit surprised ...

• 1930 - Disabled drivers faced age restrictions and driving tests with renewal of the licence every year.
• 1931 - The first highway code was published
• 1934 - The first licence for truck drivers and then one year later a voluntary test for for car drivers 
• 1935 - C0mpulsory tests came in. Mr J Beene was the first person to pass his driving test (not sure though if he was the first one to sit the compulsory test).  The fatality rate from road accidents was over 7000 - huge considering the number of vehicles on the road compared to now - and within a year the number of deaths had fallen by 1000 - obviously did some good. In the first year 246,000 people applied and the success rate was just over 60% past first time.  
• 4 years later the tests were suspended due to World War 2 but they began again in 1946.
• 1956 - Tests were again suspended during the Suez Crisis. Learners were allowed to drive by themselves and test examiners were required to administer petrol rations.
• 1957 - Driving tests back on and never been off since.
• 1990 - Drivers were now told what they did wrong and where they could improve.
• 1996 - Learners had to complete a theory test - this was the surprise as both Harry and I remember having to sit one many decades ago.

So, why is that so fascinating? There is a connection.  By the time we had driven around Italy for four days we had decided that Italian drivers, cyclists, motor cyclists and pedestrians all need a bit of a brush up on road safety. Key things would be 'look before you walk across the road', 'stay single file on narrow roads around the lake', 'drive in one lane and not across two', 'only pass cars when there is no other vehicle coming the other way', 'slow down a bit' etc etc. Italy has just under twice the number of fatalities for a similar population to the UK while in New Zealand there are just under 300 but admittedly the number of cars on the road is significantly smaller. Perhaps Italian drivers are inspired by the closeness of Monza racing track (we spent a lazy morning there looking at the track, wandering through the trees to certain vantage points and driving to ones further away. It is a fairly old track (just had its 75th anniversay a couple of years ago) and there is still the old sloping track running along the side. It was a warm sunny day and we were surprised that the track had lots of trees to cool the cars and crowds (including some old gates and a chicken farm). Just after the laying of the first stone back in 1922 work was suspended for reasons of "artistic and monumental value and landscape conservation". Two months later the plan was approved because car builders wanted somewhere to test vehicles at top speeds and also test their manoeuvrability and resilience under extreme conditions.

But that isn't the end of our transport commentary - parking was also fun. We spent lots of minutes looking at parking metres trying to work out if we needed to pay and how much. It didn't seem as straight forward as in other countries. One place beside the lake in a lovely little village we only needed to pay on Sundays (it was Sunday when we went visiting), others were in Switzerland (we had forgotten to take Swiss Francs with us - there were some back in Bristol), others were free after a certain time (which differed between neighbouring streets) and others had Italian that just wasn't in our little language book at all. We weren't the only ones struggling - in Switzerland we decided to park and have a picnic beside the lake when an Italian came and asked us in fluently in his native tongue if we had to pay. We had sat near the car so we could spy parking wardens coming around the corner. We sort of signalled in sign language that we had no Francs and he smiled. We had finished our first cup of tea before he gave up asking those walking and trying to decipher the instructions.  Don't know whether he ended up paying or not.  We did have a great time in Italy - as we drove, walked, boated and rode cable cars. We spent at least one day driving around Lake Maggiore and the others driving to places of interest.  This lake is less touristy than the others and we enjoyed the minimal crowds and the nice weather.  The drive took us up into Switzerland to the tip of the lake where Locarno sits at the foot of the mountains (that is where we had our cup of tea). We also drove to a 13th century monastery L'Eremo di Santa Caterina del Sasso Balaro which was built in a cliff face near the southern tip.  An extraordinary piece of architecture down 120 steeps steps to the lake edge with some wonderful frescos and one of the best views from a loo window over the lake (pity it was a squat one so you didn't hang around for long looking at the view - perhaps that was the point).

And boats took us to little islands and villages - and when we were tired we watched the scenery go by while basking in the sun (the trip on Lake Como was a bit wet at the front of the boat - I often wondered if the captain used to time how long it look the tourists to leave and go into the back or indoors - we lasted a while but not too long). We walked for miles and miles. Firstly around the little islands in Lake Maggiore - Isola Pescatori where there was barely an inch that wasn't covered in buildings or little cobbled paths and stalls and Isola Bella where the Borromean family had their homestead and a great garden (this family owns large quantities of land around here and are well known through out the ages) as well as a little chapel with marble tombs.  The homestead was different to other ancestral homes we had seen with unusual grottos at lake level, marble ceilings and there was a charm and simplicity about the place.

Another day we took a boat to Nesso. We had a great view of most of the little villages overlooking Lake Como and Nesso appealed to us because of the comment in the guide book (haven't we learnt yet?).'Unless you catch a quick glimpse of the arched stone bridge as you pass through Nesso, you might be tempted not to stop. But those who have first seen Nesso from the lake knows that far below the road is one of the loveliest vignettes on the lake. Follow the steeply descending cobbled strees and stone stairs along the south side of the deep rocky ravine, which slices the town in half, to emerge at lake level...Deep inside the ravine there is a spectacular water fall...the boats do not stop here but further north from which you must climb to road level before descending again into the cleft'.  So, we hopped off the boat full of anticipation and began to climb the pretty vertical cobbled stairs up to the top - some of them didn't look as though they had been used much while others were closer to housing and although crumbling didn't have so much stinging nettle growing in the cracks.  So, we arrived at the top (our fitness levels are improving) wandered along and stared down at the waterfall, gorge and the little roman bridge (afterall this is what we had come to see) and then walked along to the steps down the other side.  Didn't take that long...but...at the bottom we explored the bridge and the gorge and then wondered if there was another way to go back up.  We asked a local (in hand signals) and he pointed to another path which we started to walk along - within a minute we were back at the boat jetty.  We couldn't stop laughing but had time to enjoy our lunch in the sun sitting by the lake before the boat came to take us back to Como.

We caught a couple of cable cars during the weekend - known as funiculars. The first we spied from Lake Maggiore which took us high up in the hills above Stressa - which would have given us a great view of the lakes and mountains if only the mist and rain hadn't descended the same time we ascended. From the top the view was a murky grey and it was raining so we went down half way to the alpine gardens and then walked the rest of the way. The trip through the subalpine gardens gave us a slightly better view of the lake and we spent some time watching lizards scamper through the garden.  Our visit culminated in the owner giving us a map and with hand signals telling us how to walk down. Some Germans followed us and with hand signals we showed them the wrong way, and then the right way to head down hill (not an easy descent). Another day we caught this little Funicular in Laveno up the Sasso del Ferro which gave us slightly better views of the little lake side village between clouds.

Our last walk was around Como (known for the setting for James Bond in Casino Royale and Oceans Twelve) as well as its fabulous Duomo - the only criticism is that it was hard to take a good photo. It was built in the 14th Century and is quite a mix of architecture. Inside it had the Lords Prayer in tiles in 15 languages which I thought was quite special. Also around the lakes was a memorial to those who died in the First World War and at Hiroshima.
"Will this dreadful experience lead to anything? there must be a deep and sustained change of heart, otherwise even this lesson will have served no purpose".

Pier Amato Perretta (killed in the First World War)

And then onto the art museum where I had seen that there was a Rubens exhibition on. I didn't need too much Italian to pick that up but lots of luck as we parked right beside the museum without even knowing it was on. Rubens was around in the 17th century and although Flemish spent some time in Italy. We couldn't take photos of course, but were amazed to see we could go right up to the paintings and look at how they had survived 400 years - they were great. There were other artists too - a couple of Van Dycks, Boel and some we hadn't heard of before.

http://sites.google.com/site/rubensatcomo/home/paintings-25-28

And last but not least were the hotels. We stayed in Varese and although quite central was not a place we wanted to spend much time in. The hotel was reasonably nice, good food (well an Aussie rugby team and a group of Police were happy as well so that says something) but our room was right above the reception area. Coach trips leaving at 6.00 in the morning, soccer players on the fields at 10.00 in the evening, and smokers outside were enough to give us a few sleepless nights. After the first night we asked why our air conditioning wasn't working (closing the windows on a hot night would have drowned out some of the noise) but were told during spring the air conditioning wasn't turned on (not impressed we decided another night like the first and we would ask to change our room). In Stressa hotels are famous and along the lakeside expensive (try 500 euros a night - is any hotel worth that much!!). Ernest Hemingway set some of his novel Farewell to Arms in the Grand Hotel des Iles Borromees. I haven't read it but apparently it is a story based on his war time experiences - its the story of a volunteer in the Italian army. And that brings me to my next topic. During the weekend we heard lots of Italian, French and German - but very little English. The restaurants we visited had menus in Italian and so with the help of our trusty language book and an occasional waiter who haltingly explained dishes in broken English we ate well. They were always pleased when we asked for the bill in Italian (we had to practice it every meal time under our breath a few times to remember).