We got off the plane and although it was quite cloudy it was still hot.
Border control was a breeze - the man gave us a quick glance and stamped our passports none of the 'What is the purpose of your visit?' 'And where will you be staying?' that we get when we travel to England.
The luggage came through quickly and then it was off to get our car. We found the Maggiore stand easily and we handed over our papers. There was an exchange of words behind the counter. 'Sorry, we don't have any car left in the Nissan Qashqai class but we have a Opel Insignia diesel station wagon to offer you.'
I was worried Eyal might faint with joy. The clerk heard his gasp and said 'We can get you a Qashqai if you really want it?'. Eyal managed to squeak out 'No, no the Insignia will be fine.'
We trundled into the car park and were directed to our vehicle - the sleek, dark grey beast with a boot so large it swallowed up our luggage as if it was a light snack. Naturally there was acres of room inside and fabulously comfy seats. Eyal checked out all the buttons and discovered the gear positions (yes it was a manual).
As soon as the key was in the ignition the proximity sensors started beeping excitedly. They seem a bit a of a nag especially as Eyal always has a good natural sense of a car's perimeters. But in fact the Insignia is so large it is not easy navigating through narrow Italian streets that are much better suited to the ubiquitous Fiat 600 and once you make use of the sensory beeps, rather than trying to ignore them, they become much less annoying.
With route plans downloaded from the internet I navigated us out of the airport and in the direction of Lago Maggiore. We made our way on to the autostrada and were careful to pay the toll.
This area of Italy is not unfamiliar to me as I visited so many times as a child but although many of the place names evoke childhood memories I don't know the area anywhere near well enough to navigate by memory. At some point as we were nearing the lake there was a fork in the road and the signposts matched neither the direction nor the road numbers given in the internet directions. I soon came to learn that Vergiate was a useful direction to head in but at this point the name meant nothing to me.
We ended up driving through Varese. Not a disaster as I had intended to visit Varese but the wrong side of the lake for the hotel we had booked. I knew I needed to head in the direction of Arona but the signposts were either for Luino and Switzerland(!!!) or back to autostrada for Milan.
We asked some locals for directions. When I mentioned Arona the first lady uttered a swear word that I recognised from my limited Italian vocabulary. So obviously it was not a direct route!
They nodded when I asked if they spoke English and then proceeded to give me directions in Italian, thankfully I understand the words for left, right and straight ahead. They also kept saying a word that sound like 'afor' (grey in Hebrew) but I quickly grasped it was 'semafora' – traffic lights.
After a second stop a garage owner confirmed, by accompanying his words with expressive hand movements, that I was going in the right direction. It was a pleasant welcome to the area that there was no apathetic shrugging of the shoulders and a muttered 'I don't speak English' - despite my obvious tourist status and lack of Italian people were kind enough to take the time to explain slowly and repeat themselves to ensure I had understood.
A few minutes later, after heading straight for the autostrada as directed. I began to see signposts for Sesto Calende and then finally Arona. I even saw a sign for Angera and stored that information for the next day.
We drove straight along the road to Arona. I knew we were on the lakeside but we couldn't actually see it. Soon we were in Dormeletto and there was our Hotel on the left. Hotel Le Palme. It was a little posher than I expected and I felt quite proud of internet booking. With a mix of Italian and English we communicated with reception received the keys for our room – 301.
I had chosen a family rooms with 4 beds as it was more economical than two doubles and I hate it when the children are running in and out of the room every time they want to communicate with us.
Our hotel room
The room was very spacious and nicely decorated with a large bathroom and a walk-in wardrobe. The children, and even Eyal, were bemused by the bidet and giggled when explained its use!
The room was in the back of the hotel so even though we were next to the main road it was quiet and peaceful. Occasionally a train whooshed past but that didn't disturb us.
The view from the window was of the lush greenery of the surrounding hills. Dark clouds were settling in and forgetting that in Europe the sun sets so late we were given the illusion that it was evening.
Elad was starving because we had not eaten lunch and as it was too early for restaurants to open we decided to take a look around, to try to 'find' the lake and maybe somewhere to snack.
But it was only late afternoon and the dark skies were not due to the onset of evening but rather to storm clouds. A moment after we stepped outside a fat raindrop sploshed down followed by several more. We quickly abandoned our intention to take a walk and ran for the car.
The dullness of the skies left us with an even stronger impression of just how green the surrounding area was. Although the buildings on the roadside were either residential, commercial or light industrial there was dark green every where.
We returned to the car and as we drove into Arona we spied a cafי/bar with free parking next door.
The girl at the bar spoke English and we ordered some sandwiches with a small glass of Italian beer.
Elad and I decided to try the chicken and added some mushrooms. The girl asked “Would you like some cheese with that?” We smiled and refused. Then Eyal and Odelia ordered mozzarella and tomato sandwiches. 'Are you sure you wouldn't like some prosciutto too?'
It became a reoccurring theme – it seems almost impossible to find a plain cheese sandwich here. Everywhere we looked the cheese was paired with ham or a similar slice of cured pork. We don't keep kosher strictly enough to spend our holiday eating salad and tinned Israeli tuna but a cheese and ham sandwich is just a step too far!!
prosciutto
Another holiday theme became apparent when we went to pay and discovered that they didn't take credit cards. Luckily we had all ready changed some money
While we enjoying our delicious snack the the wind outside was whipping up a storm. It was definitely not walking weather. We piled back into the car and I pointed Eyal in the direction of Stresa. As Eyal navigated along the promenade and the twisty, cobbled streets of the old town of Arona we had beautiful views of the lake and admired the old buildings. Then we were on the lake road with gorgeous mansions and villas on the left side and a view across the lake to Angera Castle.
However within a few minutes it started to rain. The rain fell harder and harder until we had to stop. Not only did low visibility make it difficult to drive the narrow twisty lake road but there is not much point sight-seeing when all you can see are the lights on the dashboard of your hire car. We parked for a few minutes in the hope the rain cloud would blow over but when the thunder began rumbling overhead we turned back to the hotel.
We decided to have a short nap to catch up on our sleep and then find ourselves some supper at a local restaurant.
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