Magnificent Lake Maggiore – Italy

Earlier this month we embarked on a holiday to Lake Maggiore in Italy, along with our friends Dorothy and Iain. It was a part of Italy that we had never visited, and having read mixed reviews, we were excited to see how it would all turn out. We flew from Edinburgh to Milan, and as some comedian had remarked ‘it was sunny all the way’! We had some great views of the Alps, and their snow capped peaks as we approached Milan. On arrival there we were met by our tour guide and were driven by coach to our hotel at Baveno on the edge of the lake, passing many interesting towns and villages on the way. This would be our home for the next seven nights. We were pleased that the room we were allocated had a beautoful view out across the lake.

The itinerary that the tour company had arranged was excellent, in that it showed us a wide variety of places, and scenery, and we travelled by boat, rail and coach. We spent a day on the lake visiting the Barromean Islands with their variety of botanical gardens, palaces, exotic birds and flowers, and open air restaurants at the edge of the water. We had a visit to Lake Orta, and Orta ‘the Venice of the North’ the one time home of Francis of Assisi, we also had a visit to the island ‘Isola San Giulio’ home to an ancient chapel and convent. Our next official tour took us into the Alps at Macugnaga. The weather was favourable to us and the mountains with their snow capped peaks were absolutely amazing. The last official tour was to Locarno in Switzerland by means of coach and narrow gauge railway. It was incredible to think that we were still on the edge of Lake Maggiore when we arrived there, which highlighted the huge size of this lake.

Holidays like this give us an opportunity to meet people of different cultures and languages, to smile together and share in our common humanity. We might enjoy different foods, and dress styles, and have different colours of skin, but we share the same joys and sorrows, and the same hopes and fears for ourselves and our families. As a Christian I also like to think that we have a common need for a Saviour and friend, and that in Jesus Christ we have one who bridges all cultural and social barriers. There is a verse in the Bible that speaks of a day to come in heaven when we shall worship God together, it says ‘And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;‘

On our free days we went exploring on our own, and if you would like to see more you can watch the video of the holiday by clicking on the link below.