Day 24 - Sun 21 Sep 25: Stresa to Castelbrando

Sun 21 Sep 25: Stresa to Castelbrando

A great service as part of this tour is that our luggage is marked with the room number for our next destination and taken directly to our room on arrival - no check-in required. Likewise, when we checkout, we leave our luggage outside the door of our room for collection by porters to be taken to, and loaded on the bus. Leaving our luggage outside our door this morning  at 7:30, we headed down to breakfast then departed at 8:30am. Our destination today for a two night stay is Castelbrando, a former medieval castle situated on a Dolomite limestone rock in the north east of Italy, overlooking the village of Cison di Valmarino. The name CastelBrando stems from Brando I of the name Brandolini, an ancient family from Forlì, who were the Lords of the castle.
Read more about it here: CastelBrando

For a Sunday morning, there was a lot of heavy traffic heading south towards Milan, then again heading east as we neared Lake Garda, but apparently that is the norm in Italy in a Sunday with many families, especially from Milan, heading out for the day with family. It was a little hazy with high clouds and a pleasant 24 Deg when we left. We stopped for lunch stop at Peschiera del Garda at the bottom end of Lake Garda for about 70 minutes before continuing on our way to Castelbrando where we arrived at 4pm. Access to the hotel was a little more unique than usual, needing to catch a funicular to the entrance then navigating our way through the many levels of the castle to the older wing, on the ninth floor. Our room (908) is part of the original building dating from the 1500s', and the views from our room are simply outstanding. After a walk around to orientate myself, Noel and I showered and dressed up in as much finery as we have with us, for a 6pm guided tour of the castle, followed by cocktails / pre- dinner drinks with appetisers on the castle wall, then a wonderful three course meal with matching wines in the historical castle dining room. It was another late night, but it seems that is the way of the Italians with an evening meal, but when in Rome as they say...It was another wonderful evening after a long day in the bus, with some nice scenery along the way. Just a shame that Noel is unable to enjoy all that is on offer, but she is feeling a little better again today (Maybe 4/8 cylinders). 

Farewell Stresa  - Overlooking Lake Maggiore

Peschiera del Garda

Peschiera del Garda

Peschiera del Garda

Peschiera del Garda

Peschiera del Garda

Peschiera del Garda

Peschiera del Garda

Peschiera del Garda

Peschiera del Garda

Peschiera del Garda

Castelbrando Views

Our Royal Suite 

Castelbrando Views

Castelbrando Views

Castelbrando Function Room

Castelbrando

Castelbrando

Castelbrando Views

Castelbrando - Lots of steps inside this hotel


Castelbrando


Castelbrando Views

Castelbrando Views

Castelbrando

Castelbrando

Castelbrando

Castelbrando Views

Castle Tour

Castle Armoury Museum

Castle Armoury Museum

Castle Armoury Museum

Armour - in the museum (this one has taken a few strikes). It's not known why the family had the 'George' Cross on their armour as they had no known association

Inside the Castle function room - each painted emblem (and there were a lot around the room) represents a marriage within the family. The right side represents the male side the family, and left side represents the female side of the family. 

View from the Castle

View from the Castle overlooking the township below

Castle Towers

Inside the Castle Church - Ceiling

Inside the Castle Church

Inside the Castle Church

Pre dinner drinks and appetizers in this wonderfull setting

Pre dinner drink back drop

A wonderful dinner

A wonderful meal with good company in the most magnificent setting




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 7 - Thu 04 Sep 25: Zurich

Image
Thu 04 Sep 25: Zurich I had trouble with the internet last night, and eventually gave up on doing the blog. When I woke this morning at 6am I found that I had no internet, and my eSIM was no longer working. I spent the next couple of hours fault finding and problem solving with tech experts back home in Australia, but eventually, they conceited defeat. Solution - delete the current problematic eSIM, and Simify Customer Service sent me a replacement. Thankfully, after lots of frustration, I had data again. At breakfast we met 2 other couples who are doing the same rail tour as us, so we joined up for the days activities. First up, we caught a train about3 minutes out of Zurich to the small town of Kilchberg, then walked another km to the Lindt Home of Chocolate for a self guided tour, and lots of chocolate tasting. After our fill of delicious chocolate, we returned to Zurich by train, bought some lunch then caughta tram to the Ferry Quay where we did a very pleasant and relaxing 90 minu...
Read more

Day 39 - Mon 6 Oct 25: Rome

Image
Mon 6 Oct 25: Rome Noel had a sleepless night with a nasty chest cough, and she conceited defeat  this morning  - time to consult a doctor. At 06:20 while laying in bed, I googled English speaking doctors in Rome, and by 06:55 (incredibly only 35 minutes later!) she was having a virtual consultation on Wattsapp with a doctor through 'Doctorsinitaly'. By  07:15 Noel had a d iagnosis (Bronchitis relapse), and had 2 scripts emailed to her. Her consultation and scripts were provided for a very respectable sum of only €35 ($62AUD), much better than the  €300 quote for a house doctor ($530). After getting sorted out, Noel decided to lay low in the room for the day. Unfortunately, and understandably, she wasn't up to doing the Vatican tour that I had booked for this morning, so I had to forfeit her $280 ticket without refund. I also woke feeling ordinary with a very sore throat, but felt I was able go ahead with the tour anyway. After Noel finished her consultation and had ...
Read more

Day 16 - Sat 13 Sep 25: Interlaken (Jungfraujoch)

Image
Sat 13 Sep 25: Interlaken (Jungfraujoch) After a good sleep, we woke to a beautiful clear morning with stunning views up to Jungfrau and Mönsch from our bedroom balcony.   Slightly out of view was the mighty Eiger as well. We had breakfast at 07:00, not that we needed it after the substantial, and very tasty, Indian dinner last night, but because we wanted something to get us through the day. Today a trip to Jungfraujoch. I planned different routes up and back to make the most of the experience, starting with a train from Interlaken Ost to Grindelwald Terminal, then we boarded the Eiger Express tricable gondola to the Eiger Glacier Station, then transfered to the Jungfrau Railway (a cogwheel train) to Jungfraujoch - the highest-altitude railway station in Europe (3,454m).  Stepping off the train, the first thing we noticed was the icy cold temperature which bit hard at the face, and the thin air. Two hours seemed such a long time, but it disappeared quickly, and I wished we co...
Read more