{"id":1057,"date":"2025-07-01T09:05:23","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T09:05:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/?p=1057"},"modified":"2025-07-21T08:33:29","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T08:33:29","slug":"riding-out-the-heat-wave-stresa-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/?p=1057","title":{"rendered":"Riding out the Heat Wave, Stresa Style"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It would seem inopportune not to take advantage of Switzerland\u2019s central geographic position in Europe. Bordering France, Italy, Germany, Austria, and Liechtenstein means travel to and from these countries is incredibly convenient. Even though Switzerland isn\u2019t technically an EU member, it is part of the Schengen Treaty\u2014making border crossings seamless, and sometimes so much so that you don\u2019t even realize you\u2019ve entered another country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was thanks to this ease\u2014and the fact that Cedar wanted to add a few more pushpins to his world map of countries visited\u2014that we decided to head to Italy for a mini vacation (from our vacation). We\u2019ve been to Italy a few times before and love it\u2014the people, the food, the culture\u2014and of course, the fact that it\u2019s notably easier on the pocketbook didn\u2019t hurt either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We settled on the lakeside town of Stresa, based on solid recommendations from our Swiss friends. With temperatures hitting the mid-30s, it seemed like the perfect place to ride out a heat wave. After a little research and some last-minute Expedia luck, we landed on a charming little hotel\u2014 Hotel Della Torre\u2014with great rates, beautiful rooms, and an even better-looking pool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From our apartment doorstep, we figured we could leave just before lunch and be poolside in Stresa by check-in at 3 p.m. And thanks to the Swiss being tunneling experts (like the dwarves Cedar and I are reading about in The Hobbit<\/em>), the journey was even more exciting for him. We\u2019d be traveling through one of the longest tunnels in the world\u2014the Simplon Tunnel, between Brig and Domodossola.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cedar, has always been fascinated by building things, engineering, and of course, trains. So logically, we\u2019ve spent a lot of time discussing tunnels lately: how they work, how they\u2019re built, why they are built, how much travel time they save\u2026 and, of course, whether we might actually see dwarves inside the tunnel\u2014and if so, would they be friendly dwarves? His curiosity is a powerful thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our plan went off without a hitch. Even with the train connection between Domodossola and Stresa temporarily offline for renovations, the replacement buses were easy to navigate. And while they didn’t run with quite the same clockwork efficiency as the Swiss Postbus, they got us exactly where we needed to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stresa sits on the shore of Lake Maggiore, in the Piedmont region of northern Italy. It\u2019s about the same distance from Milan as Chilliwack is from Vancouver\u2014roughly 100 km. I realized that in my last couple of posts I\u2019ve been light on the history, so here we go\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stresa was first mentioned on January 15, AD 998 as Strixsya<\/em> (later Strexia<\/em>, Strexa<\/em>, and Stresia<\/em>). In 1014, Emperor Henry II donated it to the female Benedictine monastery of San Felice of Pavia. By the 15th century, it had grown into a fishing village under the rule of the Visconti of Milan, and later came under the control of the Borromeo family\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kidding\u2014I\u2019ll spare you the full 1,000+ years of history. What I will say is that Stresa is one of the most picturesque lakeside towns I\u2019ve ever visited. Continuing on our Belle \u00c9poque kick, Stresa was another key stop on the 19th-century Grand Tour and remains a haven for artists and writers to this day. From our hotel window, we had a perfect view of the Borromean Islands\u2014Isola Bella, Isola Madre, and Isola dei Pescatori\u2014still owned by the Borromeo family. And for literature buffs, the Grand Hotel des Iles Borrom\u00e9es is famous for hosting the writer Hemingway, who featured it in A Farewell to Arms<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, I find all of this fascinating and spent a fair bit of time researching it to share with my travel companions. Unfortunately, they were both far more interested in the pool (and the opening hours of the pool bar) than in my history lessons. Sigh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check-in was flawless, and we booked our dinner reservation at the hotel restaurant before heading to the pool to relax for the rest of the day. The weather was scorching hot, but luckily the pool bar was well-stocked. Even mid-afternoon, there was plenty of space, and Cedar was one of just two kids splashing around, practicing cannonballs and living his best life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He can be pretty shy at times, but was definitely interested in the family with the little girl\u2014who looked to be about Cedar\u2019s age\u2014 they seemed to be speaking a mix of English, French, and maybe Spanish\u2026 they definitely spoke the universal language of prosecco. Everyone looked up when we popped the cork, and with a thumbs up and a friendly wave, we met Manuella, Esther, and Nina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a few minutes of small talk, we learned that Manuella and Nina (mom and daughter) were from Switzerland, and Esther (a family friend) was from Bilbao, Spain. Cedar found out that Nina was just a few months younger than him, and that they both loved swimming, cannonballs, and splashing their parents in the face\u2014pretty much a match made in heaven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best news? We were all starting our hotel stay at the same time, which meant more pool time together in the coming days. With our dinner reservation time fast approaching, Cedar needed some time to get into his fancy new Italian dinner clothes, so we said our goodbyes with a promise to meet poolside again the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dinner was a fixed menu\u2014classic Italian fare, with an appetizer, starter, main course, and dessert\u2014and it was delicious. Cedar couldn\u2019t believe they kept bringing dish after dish. We were used to Swiss dinners (served at our usual dinner hour), which tend to be smaller due to the larger midday meal. So after a massive meal, it was off to bed with full stomachs and dreaming of what adventures the next day might bring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Italy…here we come!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
First things first<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
View from our room<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Another view from the room<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Ap\u00e9ro time<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Cedar and his new friend, Nina<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It would seem inopportune not to take advantage of Switzerland\u2019s central geographic position in Europe. Bordering France, Italy, Germany, Austria, and Liechtenstein means travel to and from these countries is incredibly convenient. Even though Switzerland isn\u2019t technically an EU member, it is part of the Schengen Treaty\u2014making border crossings seamless, and sometimes so much so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":958,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,12,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adventure","category-food-and-drink","category-friends-and-family"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/IMG_2291-scaled.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1057"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1057\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1215,"href":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1057\/revisions\/1215"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}