Andrew Harper’s H ® JULY 2013 | OUR 35TH YEAR AndrewHarper.com SEDUCED BY THE ITALIAN LAKES PLUS: A DRIVE IN UNSPOILED WALES { traveling the world in search of truly enchanting places } This Issue THE RAVISHING ITALIAN LAKES 4 Shopping: Three Lake Como Finds 11 Sightseeing: Unmissable Gardens 17 Restaurants: Local Favorites 26 Cities: Historic Verona 30 WALES AND THE WELSH BORDERS 34 Sightseeing: A Land of Castles 56 Culture: The Ancient City of Chester 58 Food: Dinner in Ludlow 60 IN THE NEWS 64 NEW ZEALAND TOUR 65 LAST WORD 66 COVER The enchanting town of Bellagio on the shore of Lake Como, Italy OPPOSITE View from our room at Bodysgallen Hall towards distant Conwy Castle and the snow-covered hills of Snowdonia National Park PHOTO BY ANDREW HARPER ITALIAN LAKES Sunset over the Borromean Islands on Lake Maggiore SUPREMELY CIVILIZED RETREATS A Return Visit to the Ravishing Italian Lakes THE ETHEREAL SCENERY AND CALM INDIGO WATER OF ITALY’S alpine lakes — Maggiore, Como and Garda — have had an irresistible appeal since Roman times, when aristocrats and artists began summering on their shores. Author and lawmaker Pliny the Younger wrote ecstatically of his view of Como, while the poet Catullus lived in his family’s villa at Sirmione on Lake Garda. Eighteen hundred years later, the British Romantic poets, chiefly Byron and Shelley, put the lakes on the map as a mandatory part of the Grand Tour. (Shelley wrote of Como, “This lake exceeds anything I ever beheld in beauty … and has the appearance of a mighty river winding among the mountains and the forests.”) Each generation falls in love all more beautiful or more profoundly over again: Ernest Hemingway was civilized. It is a recurring and undi- besotted with Lake Maggiore; today, minished pleasure to visit the exquisite George Clooney has a villa in Laglio gardens and villas; to sail aboard the on Lake Como, keeping the region’s ferries that enable an easygoing, car- glamour current. Every time I visit the free day; and, each evening, to settle lakes, I conclude that few places are into one of the area’s superb hotels. 6 hideaway report | July 2013 LIECHTENSTEIN AUSTRIA SWITZERLAND TREMEZZO LAKE ITALY MAGGIORE 2 LAKE 4 3 COMO STRESA 7 BELLAGIO COMO LAGLIO 6 LAKE SALO GARDA 1 5 MILAN VERONA 0 30 60 MI MILAN VENICE 030 60 KM FLORENCE HOTELS REVIEWED – RATING 1 Villa Arcadio – A90 2 Grand Hotel Tremezzo – A95 ROME 3 Relais Villa Vittoria – A92 4 Grand Hotel des Iles Borromees – 87 5 Due Torri Hotel – 88 Palazzo Victoria – 86 Harper Italian Lakes Classics 6 Grand Hotel à Villa Feltrinelli – A98 7 Villa d’Este – A98 July 2013 | hideaway report 7 ITALIAN LAKES he lakes provide a perfect time- finding a charming and comfortable Tout during a tour of Italy — being place with good service and more less than an hour from Milan and sensible rates that we arrived at the about three hours from Venice — 18-room VILLA ARCADIO . but I regard them as a destination in Occupying a stone convent, their own right. On a recent trip, we much of which dates to the 14th picked up a car at the Verona airport century, the hotel is surrounded and drove for 50 miles through by 27 acres of orchards and olive countryside pink and white with groves, and is perched on a hillside blossom to Salò, a resort town on that affords panoramic views of the the western shore of Lake Garda. lake. It was originally bought by Although the nearby Grand Hotel à an Italian-Finnish couple, who had Villa Feltrinelli in Gargnano has long intended to make it their holiday been one of my favorite Italian hotels, home, but soon decided to convert it has become extremely expensive it into a hotel instead. The prop- — something that doesn’t seem erty opened two years ago, and to trouble its increasingly Russian today, it is a place of tremendous clientele — so it was in the hopes of charm, with exposed stone walls, Waterfront in the town of Salò PHOTO BY ANDREW HARPER 8 hideaway report | July 2013 Caption goes here. PHOTO BY ANDREW HARPER PHOTO BY ANDREW HARPER Our Junior Suite, and pool loungers at Villa Arcadio July 2013 | hideawayPHOTO reportBY ANDREW HARPER 9 ITALIAN LAKES whitewashed beams, beige stone light reds such as Groppello and floors, wheat-colored linen uphol- Bardolino. Cooking classes are avail- stery and a stylish mix of traditional able on request. Amenities include and contemporary art and furni- a fitness area with a Finnish sauna, ture. Our air-conditioned lakeview plus a menu of massage and yoga. Junior Suite came with an extremely The hotel has a classic mahogany comfortable bed, fine linens and a Riva Aquarama Special speedboat smallish modern bath stocked with for picnics and full- or half-day trips. Erbario Toscano olive-oil toiletries. (Lake Garda is 32 miles long, so it Overall, the suite’s simple design presents many opportunities for scheme and neutral colors served to exploration. However, it is the most emphasize original features such as popular of the Italian lakes with massive beams, terra-cotta floors and domestic tourists, so is best visited 600-year-old frescoes. in the shoulder seasons of May-June The hotel’s excellent (and reason- and September-October. The south ably priced) restaurant comprises of the lake becomes particularly two elegant rooms with vaulted ceil- crowded with pleasure boaters from ings and marble fireplaces, which Brescia.) extend onto a sublime terrace where wrought-iron tables are tucked he following day, we headed amid vine arbors. I particularly T west to Lake Como, a 100-mile, enjoyed the house-made ravioli two-hour drive. My hope was that stuffed with Bagoss cheese, made our next stop, the 97-room GRAND from the skimmed milk of the cows HOTEL TREMEZZO , would be just that graze the alpine pastures around as delightful, and might also provide nearby Bagolino. Lake fish such as an alternative to the eye-watering pike are frequently to be found on prices of Como’s famous Villa d’Este . the menu, and the wine list features The 1910-vintage Tremezzo is built local wines that include enjoyable CONTINUED ON PAGE 12 10 hideaway report | July 2013 SHOPPING Lake Como Finds Abbazia di Piona — Tucked away 1 in an 11th-century monastery, this charming shop sells goods made by the monks, including excellent limoncello and mandarin orange liqueur, perfume, and toiletries such as skin creams and beeswax soap. VIA ABBAZIA DI PIONA 57, COLICO. TEL. (39) 0341-940-331. Vanini Osvaldo — You’ll spot Vanini olive 2 oil at many of the best restaurants in and around Lake Como, since it is prized for its delicate artichoke-and-almonds taste. The Vaninis have been producing oil since 1850 and PHOTO BY ANDREW HARPER won a gold medal at the turn-of-the-century Paris Exposition. Demand has since invariably outstripped supply. VIA SILVIO PELLICO 10, LENNO. TEL. (39) 0344-55127. Orefice — Run by the same family since 3 1856, this haberdashery in Cernobbio carries a superb selection of the finest Italian fabrics and has made suits for everyone from Clark Gable to European crowned heads. VIA REGINA 16, CERNOBBIO. TEL. (39) 031-512-053. July 2013 | hideaway report 11 ITALIAN LAKES on a steep lakeside plot, so on our well-designed, faced in cocoa-colored arrival, a brigade of porters ushered travertine and fitted with a whirl- us to the elevator that takes guests pool tub and a stall shower. The best up three floors to reception. Service feature of our suite, however, was a at the front desk was charming and huge private terrace with a Jacuzzi, efficient despite the recent arrival two sun loungers and a table and of a wedding party, and we were chairs. It had a spectacular view over promptly escorted to the new, fifth- the lake and was completely private, floor all-suite “hotel within a hotel.” thanks to a screen of bamboo and a Unlike the opulent period décor thick frosted-glass wall. elsewhere, these Rooftop Suites The hotel’s grand and vibrantly display a refined contemporary colored public areas included a hand- design by architect Venelli Kramer, some billiards room, a huge lounge featuring dark-stained pine floors, and an excellent bar with a cocktail putty-colored walls, and a clever mix list that included notable grappas. of modern and traditional furnish- The main La Terrazza Restaurant ings. Our suite comprised a sitting offers sublime views of the lake room with sofa and armchair, and a and the town of Bellagio directly white marble-topped table. A library opposite, but we found the menu wall unit in walnut veneer housed to be overcomplicated and head- a flat-screen television and a Loewe spinningly expensive. (It is overseen sound system — I never figured out CONTINUED ON PAGE 16 how to work the latter, despite the assistance of two hotel technicians who were similarly baffled by its Our suite’s terrace had a complexity — plus a selection of spectacular view over the lake sumptuous art books. Two heavy “and was completely private, pocket doors closed off the bedroom. thanks to a screen of bamboo The bath was rather small, but was and a thick frosted-glass wall. 12 hideaway report | July 2013 Junior Suite terrace at Grand Hotel Tremezzo Our suite at Grand Hotel Tremezzo Bedroom of our Junior Suite under the eaves PHOTO BY ANDREW HARPER hideawayPHOTO reportBY ANDREW HARPER PHOTO BY ANDREW HARPER July 2013 | 13 14 hideaway report | July 2013 Spectacular pool at the Grand Hotel Tremezzo July 2013 | hideaway report 15 ITALIAN LAKES by 83-year-old Gualtiero Marchesi, court and a well-equipped fitness widely considered to be the founder room.