Above: Hotel du Parc, Stresa.
Leaving England
We woke at 0515 at Wendy’s place and drove to my sister’s place at Downham Market, getting there at 0620. We said goodbye to sis and Mike. [Edit: This turned out to be the last time I saw her.]
Mum and step-dad joined us for the ride to Heathrow Airport. While it took us 2h15 in the opposite direction, today it took 3h due to some traffic. Mike had suggested 4h driving time to us, which was good, because we didn’t have to rush with dropping Mum and step-dad at Terminal 3 for their flight back to Malaysia. And it also meant we could have a cheap leisurely takeaway lunch from the suburbs, eaten by one of the runways.
We also went to the airport’s visitor centre which had exhibits about the new Terminal 5. That will be larger than Terminals 1, 2, 3 and 4 combined!
Finally, we returned our car to Avis and took the shuttle to Terminal 1 for our 1345 British Airways flight to Milan Malpensa. Airside in Terminal 1, it was scorching. The gate for our flight was announced only 30 mins prior to departure, but despite that, everyone boarded the B767 promptly and we departed 5 mins ahead of schedule.
The plane was old and rattlier than expected for an airline like BA, with quite narrow legroom. This appeared to be a shorthaul aircraft because business class was just economy seats with the adjacent seat blocked off. It must be a post-9/11 feature to have cameras mounted throughout the cabin, some of which mounted in what used to be magazine racks on the bulkheads.
A hot sandwich, Kit-Kat, fruit salad and plus a box of water was provided for the 1h55 flight. We landed at 0440 at Malpensa where it was 33degC, according to the Captain.
In Italy
Arrival formalities at Malpensa were swift but luggage took a while. Our rental car turned out to be a Ford Ka. It’s rather funny we get a British car in Italy but an Italian car in Britain!
The drive to Stresa took 1h15 despite leaving the motorway early, instead taking the normal road that hugged the lakefront.
The Hotel du Parc, where we’ve booked for just one night, was very clean but a little spartan in the room. The public areas and dining room were very nice though. Located on the edge of town, parking wasn’t a problem.
We took dinner at Caffe Torino near the square and Hotel Elena, where we would probably move to tomorrow. We had a nice dinner of a seafood pizza and tuna salad.