Once a year my friend and I go on an organised tour and this May we visited the Italian Lakes and the Borromean Islands on Lake Maggiore. We were based in Stresa in a glorious hotel overlooking the Borromean Islands and most evenings we enjoyed aperitifs and nibbles on the balcony. We also visited them all during the course of the tour.

The weather was varied, which was fine for me as I love moody clouds wherever they appear, but the mix of sunshine and clouds provided interesting backdrops to the fabulous scenery.

Actually there was quite a lot of sunshine during the week but it appears that it didn’t manifest whilst we were on the Borromean Islands. It was still a fabulous place to visit!