Italy; Mountains, boats and lots of ice cream

Our trip away to Italy was so lovely and relaxing. It was very different to a lot of the other holidays we have been on as we normally have a villa with a pool and so we spend a lot of time there where as this time we were out and about most of the time! We stayed in a place called Gignese which was a little village just out of the town of Stresa on the edge of Lake Maggiore. I have visited Italy and been to Verona and Venice on a trip with school before and so it was lovely to go back because I had such a great time last time!  

We may have also eaten our body weight in ice cream and pizzas have one every day we were there! But what else can you do when in Italy?? It's tradition! We had a very nice little pizzeria in our little village we stayed in and so we could walk to there and have a one there or sometimes we took them back to the villa with us. We also had a meal in the square of the town on the lakeside and we sat under the trees with umbrella over the top and little fairy lights, it was sort of magical! 

We went down and spent a lot of time at cafes and wandering around the little unique streets and shops in the town of Stresa. We did things like boat trips to the islands on the lake and we also went up to the top of one of the mountains around the lake and went on a chair lift and rollercoaster which was so exciting and fun! 

There were all of these very posh and lavish hotels on the lakeside and they were all so lovely and nicely done it gave the whole place a look of glamour. 

Before we came to Italy this time I had it in my head that I wanted to get something from a little shop that makes wooden pieces and this was the image I had in my head! The things you can see on the outside were so nicely made and there were so many little trinkets but it was what was inside that was amazing. The walls were covered, every inch, by cookoo clocks all individual but all beautiful and as soon as you walked in you could here each and every one ticking at different times. 

And finally, this was the view from my room in our villa. It was breathtaking and being able to watch the sun rise over the mountains was the best way to start the day!