Home to an ancient university, the town of Pavia dates back to pre-Roman times when it was known as Ticinum.
Our train-happy family readily jumped onto a train at Milan Centrale to spend a day at Pavia. A day of discovering piazzas, a university, and beautiful churches.
Our walk began from the train station at Pavia. We ambled along the streets that led to Piazza della Vittoria and the quiet Piazza del Duomo.
Stresa, on the shores of the large Lake Maggiore, is a quick, easy, and beautiful weekend getaway from Milan. With a train journey of about an hour, Stresa could even be the destination of a day trip from the fashion capital.
We conversed with garden lizards and Amherst pheasants at the beautiful Isola Madre, strolled along Stresa’s lovely lakeside promenade, sighed over the views from the public park, and petted farm animals in the gardens at the Villa Pallavicino.
The city of Bergamo, located at the foothills of the Alps, finds its place on many itineraries owing to its airport. Given the chance (and the time), it is a beautiful “two-tiered” city to visit. Frequent trains connect Bergamo and Milan, making it a fantastic destination for a day trip from the fashion capital.
On a sunny spring morning, about a year ago, we spent a day exploring the beautiful CittàAlta of Bergamo.
Padua, a city in close proximity to the Queen of the Adriatic, Venice, appears to live in the shadow of its more “popular” neighbor.
During our weekend escape to Padua, we discovered a charming city that boasts of a renowned university (dating back to 1222) whose alumni and professors list includes Galileo Galilei, Copernicus and William Harvey. The world’s first university botanical gardenfinds its home here, and features in the UNESCO heritage list.
From the beautiful Roman Arena to the romantic atmosphere inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, a weekend in Verona can be memorable. The Adige river winds its way through this beautiful city in the Veneto region of Italy.
We “exercised” our feet at the Arena, ambled along in Piazza Bra and Piazza delle Erbe, smiled at the fuss about “Juliet’s balcony”, wandered in the maze at Giardino Giusti, and enjoyed a tranquil evening stroll along the River Adige.
A gorgeous Sunday morning along the lake.
It had been fun exploring Lugano on Saturday, and we looked forward to another great day in this Italian-speaking city in south Switzerland.
A Sunny Day on Monte Bre
We boarded a bus to the other end of town where the funicular to Monte Breawaited us :).
Junior is completely smitten by the “funicular+mountain+park” combination now. As we ascend, the vistas provide countless photo-ops.
Views from our hotel room… Lake Lugano. And the powerful jet of water from a fountain… I could sit here for hours… days… months… and stare… wonder… dream.
On a warm June weekend, we headed to Lugano, Switzerland. Lugano, the land of Swiss landscapes with an Italian touch, is approximately an hour’s train ride from Milan.
After an introductory tour of the city by the “tourist train”, we explored the city at a leisurely pace.
As we got ready to welcome autumn, a grand goodbye to summer was in order. At Peschiera del Garda. On the shores of Italy’s largest lake, Lake Garda.
The regional trains from Milan reach the little town of Peschiera in about an hour and a half (it is faster if you take the high-speed trains). A convenient day or weekend trip.
The pretty lakeside town has an old fortress, quaint canals, boats docked along the lake, and a spectacular lakeside promenade with pebble beaches.
It is no secret that the little boy at home is obsessed with cars. And that his face lights up at the mere mention of a Ferrari. I will not even begin to describe his reaction when he sees one :).
And hence, a surprise visit was planned to the Ferrari Museum (Museo Ferrari) at Maranello, near Modena. By the other Ferrari fan in our family :). As for me – their enthusiasm rubbed off on me :).
An approximately one-hour train ride from Milano’s Porta Garibaldi took us to the charming lakeside town of Lecco.
This picturesque Alpine town, on the banks of the beautiful Lake Como, is the birthplace of the Italian writer, Alessandro Manzoni.
It was a sunny Sunday morning.
A short walk from the Lecco station brought us to Piazza XX settembre. An outdoor art exhibition attracted many onlookers.
From here, we headed towards Piazza Cermenati, which was buzzing with activity.