6 September Verbania Loop

We caught a ferry over to the 'other side' to do a bit of exploring on our bikes.  There are some awesome mansions around the foreshore.  We said 'Laveno Mombello' a million times as the sound of it captures the essence of beautiful lakes and the Italian language.....  Laveno Mombello is the town our ferry arrived in.

We had a picnic with views down to the lake and then moved on to our first lake swim in Lago Montane.  The swims in clear water with outlooks over spectacular scenery have been a highlight of our cycling trips. This was no exception, with mountain vistas all around.

Jimi our coordinator had mentioned one could stand in a bucket to go to the top of a nearby summit - we needed no further incentive. Actually, it really was a bucket, just big enough for 2 with standing room only and one could in fact hook one's bike onto the outside of the bucket and take that up too.  We didn't! 





Needless to say, lots of photos were taken on the way up and at the top and down.  The views were, dare I say it, gobsmacking!  Great to see over where we'd cycled and swam that day and the layers of mountains in all directions.

 

We finished off the evening with dinner on a balcony overlooking the promenade and lake.  Another beautiful warm evening. We celebrated with a Monaco drink.  The group were good story tellers and we had fun.