A long overdue visit of the land of Dolce Vita

After the most recent cold snap we felt the desire to get out and go catch some sun rays, so we booked an apartment in lakeshore resort at Lago Maggiore in Italy, a well deserved break filled of nice weather, excellent food, some hiking and a good portion of dolce far niente.

An apartment with a view

our house guest

Restrictions with regards to Covid still apply, so one had to use an online registration form before entering the country and the use of masks was still mandatory in shops, supermarkets or public buildings.

Our homebase in Cannero Riviera

Never getting enough of the shabby chic of Italian architecture.

We went hiking in the area and especially liked the region around the local mountain Mount Morissolo at 1311m.

post hiking

The vegetation is rich and colourful, and oranges and lemons area already ripe and ready to be picked.

A boat trip to Cannobio

Impressions from Cannobio

Ah... the food!

(Almost) lost places

Carmine Superiore

Cassino

Donego

Viggiona

A week of fun, relaxation and culinary pleasure passed by in no time and a five hour drive in low (to our surprise) traffic brought us back home, back to reality.

Onset of Winter in Bamberg

Bamberg, a.k.a. Franconian Rome. I kid you not. Built on seven hills, with important buildings on top of it (mostly churches, abbeys or cathedrals) and UNESCO world heritage.

We arrived in a snow storm, but next morning the worst was over. The old town core had survived the WWII bombing almost unscathed. We visited the famous old city hall, and marvelled at centuries old timber frame houses and other architectural gems from medieval times. What a lovely and picturesque place. 

April Weather

View from the hotel room

Breakfast room

The new Residence

Rooftops

Bamberg Cathedral

A walk-around in Old Town Bamberg

Lange Straße - home to countless breweries

The iconic town hall on the bridge

Little Venice

Former Abbey St. Michael

Castle Altenburg

Castle Colmberg

And back to April weather:

April weather: rain, snow and sunshine all together - Heidelberg edition

Yesterday had us sun bathing, today we got snow, hail and rain. Yet our visitors still wanted to visit Heidelberg (who wouldn't want to?). So we spent the day in town, visited the old city core, admired the restored old bridge and the famous castle which presents itself completely without scaffolding for the very first time in decades. Despite adverse weather conditions and temperatures around freezing point it was well worth the visit, and bonus: fewer tourists.

Since we had some time left in the day we moved on to castle Schwetzingen with  its huge garden. No surprise we had it all to ourselves. It had started drizzling, and we craved a hot cuppa or two by the time we got home.