Wednesday
Dear Elsie
Today was the day we visited a 750 year old castle. When we arrived in Arona, one of the buildings that dominated the view was the Castle at the neighbouring town of Angera. Yesterday, when we arrived back from our long day in Switzerland (7 hours on the train), we both were commenting we didn’t need to see Angera after all. We were so tired, but this morning when we woke up and the rain was only forecast for this afternoon, we changed our minds and hopped on a ferry for the town. It’s not an island. It’s attached to the mainland but it’s quickest to take a ferry. Leaving Arona behind…
A few minutes later, we arrived in Angera with the object of our curiosity at the top of the hill.
We had received varying reports about walking up to the castle. One person said 8km – another said it was gruelling. We set off through very quiet streets…
The walk was very short – about 1.5km with some uphill and a very picturesque short-cut through a copse, so neither gruelling nor 8km!
Pretty Angera houses…
We debated about paying the 15 Euro entry fee. We hadn’t gone into the castle at Isola Bella, and there were very few people at this one, so we decided to pay the entrance fee and in we went. We are so glad we did. It was worth every cent.
The history of it is so long. I looked it up online afterwards to see if it really was almost 750 years old. It seems so. Some of the art work dates back to 1277. This information came from https://www.illagomaggiore.com/en_US/26190,Poi.html. I hope it’s big enough to read.
So that’s what we were to experience. We just didn’t know it yet because we began in the gardens which were absolutely amazing. I didn’t take enough photos of them.
Massive stone walls dating back hundreds of years and still standing.
We then went to the toy museum which was really where we should have ended. It was mind-boggling. All the time we were looking at the rooms filled with dolls that were 100 years or more old, we were looking for teddy bears. There was display after display of intricately painted porcelain dolls. It was just incredible.
Cars and train sets… 
There were about 7 rooms dedicated to the toy museum. And finally, teddies!
We thought that was it, but then we discovered the real history. We passed through this interesting hall. I thought the artwork looked really strange until I read the write-up.
These are parts of ancient art works that were in a museum in Milan when it was bombed during WW2. These remains were reframed and relocated here.
This is one of the oldest parts of the castle. I think this is known as the Ala Visontea
The stair way leads up to a number of levels which eventually come out at the top tower.
From where the views are absolutely breathtaking.
That’s Arona across the lake.
We were amazed that it is so well preserved.
And here’s the video from the very top…
What a morning! By the time we left, it was beginning to drizzle. We walked back down to the ferry station and caught the ferry back to Arona. By then it was umbrella and raincoat time…it wasn’t that cold. About 18C
While writing this, I was looking for a photo I thought I had taken the other day and typed Maggiore as that’s this lake. To my amazement a photo I had forgotten about came up. It’s Mike’s Dad (Great Granpa) rowing on Lake Maggiore. This must have been just after the war ended.
Colmegna is a town far north – if I had found this earlier, it would have been possible for us to visit. Great Granpa was in Italy during WW2. He probably came down to the south of the lake & maybe even visited the castle we visited today.
He loved Italy and always wanted to bring Granny Eve here. We are so blessed to be able to visit.
Psalm 102:18
Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the Lord..
It’s not about now – we are only passing through.
Keep the smile going.
God bless you.
In His Grip,
Gran xx 🙂