Getting there is half the fun. We decided to go to see the famous 20th century botanical gardens of Villa Taranto the hard way, hiking overland and up over the hill on the peninsula from the Pallanza ferry dock. As it turned out, our map wasn't as clear as it could have been, and it took us about two hours but, in the process, we stumbled onto some neat stuff. Thus there is a strong case to be made for leaving the beaten path when travelling, and letting yourself get a bit lost. Maybe that applies to life in general.
For example, we found this 1000 year-old church on a dead-end, on top of the hill overlooking Pallanza. I wrote the name down, but cannot find that scrap of paper.
More photos of this hike on continuation page:
People and kids! Downtown Pallanza. Great little village, like Baveno:
St. Leonard's Collegiate Church, Pallanza (1535):
A peek into somebody's garden courtyard along the way:
A peek into another courtyard:
Most of the villas up on the hillside are perfect:
A lane with some more modest hillside villas:
The water garden at Villa Taranto. The formal parts of the gardens are mowed daily with greens mowers:
A perennial allee at Taranto:
If you love gardens, here's a link to the Taranto Garden photo site.
The Verbenia ferry dock on the way back from Taranto to Baveno. Or is that the Intra dock? I forget.
