Travel
Travel• June 24, 2011

Part II: Grand Hotels in the Italian Lake District: Lake Como’s Uncommon Allure

Before setting off for a week in Menaggio, we had planned only two days at the Hotel Metropole-Suisse in Como. We might have stayed a week had we realized the “City of Silk’s” wealth of architectural gems. Often heralded mostly for its immense Gothic cathedral, Como offers a walled medieval maze of streets, an attractive […]...

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Venetian Heritage as seen by Mary Hilliard

Travel• June 17, 2011.
Venetian Heritage, one of the intrepid groups which raises money for preservation and restoration in Venice, Italy, held a gala event there for a few beautifully sunny days in early June. Their scheduled activities for the 200 or so guests coincided with the opening of the Biennale, the much discussed and often maligned, but nevertheless […]... READ MORE
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Grand Hotels in the Italian Lake District

Travel• June 7, 2011.
However much the Italian Lakes District is culturally set apart from the more well-traveled museum-saturated Venice-Florence-Rome-Naples route, the region’s breathtaking scenery, invigorating alpine air, virtuoso villas, and splendid gardens are as enthralling as any Botticelli or Tintoretto. While the tradition of the European Grand Tour dated b... READ MORE
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Borromeo Baroque: Lake Maggiore’s Isola Bella & Isola Madre

Travel• May 24, 2011.
Whether inspired by the Gothic spires of the nearby Duomo of Milan or obsessed to formulate an imaginative pyramidal Italian version of Versailles, the Borromeo family’s island showcases, Isola Bella and Isola Madre, make for Lake Maggiore’s unrivaled architectural and botanical wonders. Isola Bella’s grandiose palazzo and over-the-top garden... READ MORE
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Villa Carlotta abloom! Lake Como bellissimo

Travel• May 17, 2011.
Years ago, I lived in a wonderful villa in Florence, a former Strozzi hunting lodge transformed into a classic 19th-century villa set amidst a tree-filled park. Back then, I never found myself attracted to the allure of Italy’s Lake District. Instead, my youthful springs meant Luxor, Mykonos, Crete and Marrakesh; not Lake Maggiore or Lake [&helli... READ MORE
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Milano Moderno

Travel• May 10, 2011.
My planned spring retreat to the scenic Italian Lake District had a bit of a detour when my travel companion scored a last-minute ticket for Cenacolo Vinciano, as the Milanese call The Last Supper. So we made the stop before heading to Lago Maggiore and Lago di Como. And with so much happening in Italia […]... READ MORE

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