Prisoner of Hopes

Category: Uncategorized

  • Been There: Travel Goals Italy

    Been There: Travel Goals Italy

    I am a contrary traveler. I don’t mean to be, but I almost never enjoy the “it” places. I read the guidebooks and “just to say we have been there”, we dutifully go to the “must see” places. I am almost always disappointed. I don’t like crowds. I don’t like the so called “ugly” tourists…

  • In Search of Counts and Kings: Travel Goals Italy

    In Search of Counts and Kings: Travel Goals Italy

    It is still raining on the banks of lake Maggiore. Today we take a long drive to the city of the Kings of Savoy, Venaria Reale. It is sunny there. The drive takes just under three hours as we rejecte the autostrade in favor of backroads.. We see farm houses and vineyards as we meander…

  • Gardens and Galleries in Verbania: Travel Goals Italy

    Gardens and Galleries in Verbania: Travel Goals Italy

    Some days just exceed my expectations. I wake up to a beautiful pink sunrise. The rain has washed the earth clean and the birds are singing their thanks. We have no where to be and take our time, lingering over coffee. We drive around the lake to Verbania and the Villa Taranto. I am not…

  • Rainy Day In Milano: Travel Goals Italy

    Rainy Day In Milano: Travel Goals Italy

    Today was a washout. It rained all night and all day. Outside adventures at the Lake looked dismal. I searched the radar for anywhere dry and came up empty. So we headed to Arona, parked blocks away from the train station, and walked through the flood to buy a round trip ticket to Milan. We…

  • Convents, Cable Cars, and Clothing: Travel Goals Italy

    Convents, Cable Cars, and Clothing: Travel Goals Italy

    The day is overcast as we drive around the lake to Santa Caterina del Sasso. An ancient monastery along Lake Maggiore, Santa Caterina is carved into the rock. It hangs above the lake as if suspended by magic. After parking and trying to decipher signs that seem to suggest the monastery is in two different…

  • Mottarone, the Tiniest Alp: Travel Goals Italy

    Mottarone, the Tiniest Alp: Travel Goals Italy

    The morning broke cool and cloudy. Because the forecast for the rest of the week included rain, we decided to drive up to the top of Mottarone. The smallest mountain in the Alps. The tiniest Alp. The road was surprisingly busy, and unsurprisingly winding and narrow. Gangs of cyclists clogged the road. Once we got…

  • Climbing the Sacred Mountain After Sailing to the Island of Silence: Travel Goals Italy

    Climbing the Sacred Mountain After Sailing to the Island of Silence: Travel Goals Italy

    Saturday in Northern Italy is marked by hordes of men on bicycles taking over the roadways. These biker gangs are problematic because the roads are narrow as they curve up and down the foothills of the Alps. The general rule I’ve determined is the narrower the road and the more blind curves, the more cyclists…

  • Along the Via Novara: Travel Goals Italy

    Along the Via Novara: Travel Goals Italy

    We start out with no expectations for the day. We are visiting the Italian city of Novara for no other reason than our wonderful neighbors’ family is from the area. We want to explore and send pictures to honor our friends since they can’t be here with us. The town has about 100,000 people and…

  • Alpine Adventure: Travel Goals Italy

    Alpine Adventure: Travel Goals Italy

    It is raining this morning. Light misty rain, but moving into an all day steady drizzle. I search google maps and apple weather for patches of dryness to see if anywhere close is a better (drier) way to spend our day. Rain. Check again. More rain. Eventually, I find dry patches high in the Italian…

  • Birthday Journey To Locarno: Travel Goals Italy

    Birthday Journey To Locarno: Travel Goals Italy

    Today I turn 58 years old. To celebrate, I am traveling to Locarno Switzerland. It sounded like a great idea, yesterday, when after an “uphill day”, the travel office in Stresa was finally able to book it. After two unsuccessful attempts to purchase seats had failed, finally getting tickets for the rail and ferry Swiss…