July 19th-27th – De-stressing in Stresa

After a week of stifling heat in Spain, it was lovely to come to the fresh air of Lake Maggiore and the quaint resort town of Stresa. With a cable car taking you up into the mountains, fast train links to Milan, ferries to take you all around the lake, and scores of restaurants, it's perfectly set up for being adventurous or just lazing around the lake.

As camping spaces are like gold dust (and similarly priced) at this time of year, we were lucky to be able to stay with our very generous friends, Ade and Lucie, in their beautiful apartment on a hill overlooking the town and the lake. From the vantage point of their huge terrace, we were able to watch the weather change over the distant mountains and the lake (changing its colour hour by hour), or just chill out in the sun.

In between some world class lazing, we did some mammoth cycle rides, a bit of swimming, and A LOT of eating pizzas – I think I must have had a (very adventurous) prosciutto e funghi in pretty much every restaurant in town. What a great place to relax!