Lago Maggiore was the cherry on top!

 To top off what has been a great time already, when we left Torino, Max had rented a car, and drove with us up to Baveno, where we planned to spend the next three days.  Angie and Sophie decided to spend a couple of days with us there, as well.  Baveno is every bit as lovely as we had remembered.  We stayed at the Hotel Romagna, which is right on the lake, and Angie was across the way at the Grande Hotel Dino.  We relaxed and just enjoyed ourselves there as the weather was beautiful.  One of the evenings, Max arranged for us all to go over to the Isola dei Pescatori for dinner.  They send a water taxi for you, which is just great.  

After Max, Maryel and Angie left, we had one day left, which we spent doing the "Lago Maggiore Express", which consists of taking a train to Domodossola, then a panoramic cog wheel train to Locarno, Switzerland, at the northernmost end of the lake, then a ferry for a three hour ride back to Stresa, just south of Baveno.  It was a beautiful day and a great end to our Italian summer adventure.  The only thing that went slightly swry was that I had bought the train tickets to Domodossola while still in the states, and there was no train, due to some construction work being done.  We ended up speaking with a couple with young children who seemed to know what was going on, and they let us know that while the train wasn't running, a bus would be taking us to Domodossola.  Not my favorite means of travel, but we got there.  It turns out that the couple was from ghent, Belgium, and they couldn't have been nicer.  They helped us navigate the whole trip. On the last leg, the ferry ride, Martine came to me with her name and phone number written down, in case we should find ourselves in Belgium and need anything.  Her husband is a doctor, and she wanted us to know that they would be happy to help us out if we needed it.  So nice.