a tour of Lago Maggiore

Advantages: very nice sightseeing locations
Disadvantages: none

...: Isola Bella (Beautiful Island), Isola Madre (Mother Island) and Isola Pescatori (Fishermen Island). In the Isola Bella you can visit Palazzo Borromeo (XVII century) that lays in the center of Italian style garden. On the Isola Madre you can visit a botanic garden with flowers and trees from all over the world. The Isola dei Pescatori is famous for its narrow streets and for its restaurants where you can sample local lake fishes. All the three islands can be easily reached by boat from Stresa or any other city located along the lake shore. PALLANZA 30 km norther of Stresa you reach Pallanza famous for the Villa Taranto gardens. The gardens have been built-up by a Scottish captain, Mr. Neil McEacharn, between 1931 and 1936 and includes thousands of rare and extotic trees coming from all around the world. SANTA CATERINA DEL SASSO...

traveller55 30.04.2003 · Read review
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Review of Lake Maggiore (Italy)

Oscar Wilde's obsession with books

Advantages: Full of fascinating information about Wilde's life and love of books
Disadvantages: None really, except maybe best enjoyed by those with some prior knowledge of Wilde

...from two biographies in his library. And we mean literally made up, the vandal. He had taken a pair of scissors to the relevant texts from his books and pasted them into his handwritten notes. In his defence, it must be remembered that one did not have a photocopier or scanner in 1886. Even so, shame on him? I found this biography fascinating. It is in part a cradle-to-grave account, but the life story is fully integrated with observations about his reading and writing, his likes and dislikes. When he was only three, his father asked him to fetch him a book from his personal library. Needless to say, it took him little time to retrieve the required volume from the book-lined room. He took not only after his father but also his mother, who was happiest with a good book and a good fire. When his little sister Isola died at 11, he sought...

JOHNV 24.11.2009 · Read review
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Review of Oscar's Books - Thomas Wright

The Guernsey Literary Society will make you want to read too!

Advantages: Unusual format and a novel storyline
Disadvantages: Sometimes the plot was a little far-fetched

...was always a good place to stop; I didn't have to get to the end of a chapter! I felt that the characters were beautifully written and certainly made me feel that they were correct for their time, their use of language and the way their thoughts were expressed definitely seemed right for the time. The writing drew you in to the story perfectly and the skill of the writer sent you from being amused to horrified within the length of one letter. The author Mary Ann Shaffer was taken very ill whilst writing this book and it was finished by her niece Annie Barrows. I do not know how close this story is to the original intention. I found that towards the end of the book the story seemed to get a little bit silly with additions to the tale that I felt were unnecessary and also not believable. There was also one character Isola who I...

Meggysmum 10.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows

Careggine

Advantages:
Disadvantages:

...After leaving Castelnuovo, driving along the SS 445, we come to a detour for Careggine. This popular summer holiday spot is located in a wonderful panoramic position on the Apuan slopes of Mount Sumbra. The origins of this ancient town go back to the earliest times of the IX century. We can still admire the walls with the two entrance gates; from the main gate we enter the parish church dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul, founded in the VIII century and remodeled on numerous occasions. Isola Santa, an ancient medieval village in the vicinites, was chosen after the Second World War (l948-49) as an ideal location to build a dam. And so today Isola Santa rises on the banks of an artificial basin. During the Middle Age a popular hospice was to be found in this small hamlet. It is believed that the Countess Matildehad it built...

giannit 30.09.2000 · Read review
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Review of Tuscany (Italy)

Latin Metal at it's Best

Advantages: Individual sound that will appeal to those who like something a little different and who prefer their rock/metal with vocals that can be heard.
Disadvantages: It's definately not for everybody and not a mainstream album. I had a little trouble finding it so the best bet is to buy it online.

...Ok, so maybe I am biased because Breed 77 (pronounced seven-seven, or siete-siete) are my favourite band, but I am here to tell you why that is. When you pick up the album, at first it may seem a little dark and imposing, but take a closer look at the artwork, and you will see an immediate reflection into the band's music. The cover art, by Breed's front man Paul Isola, has layers to it and these can be heard when you listen to the album. It begins with "Voices"; an into track, it sets the mood for the fist song. Immediately now, you can hear the incredible, spine-tingling and purely individual sound of Paul Isola's vocals that, so unlike many Metal bands, are audible and clear over the music, and do the thought-provoking lyrics great justice. The music is of a good quality, with riffs that are imaginative and not simply the basic...

McVinster 09.05.2006 (25.10.2006) · Read review
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Review of Cultura - Breed 77

FIND THE MAGIC FISH

Advantages: nice fish without haveing to clean them
Disadvantages: takes a long time to bulid up money

...I first came across this game while searching the web and decided to download the free trial version and got compleatly hooked so decided to buy the full version which cost around £14, and all i had to do to get the full version of the game was to type in the registration key which i got in an email after paying for it. The graphics on this game are very good the fish do look very real and the sound quality is also good you can realy hear the fish swimming arond and the game also has a screen saver mode if you want to beautifi your computer. The idea of this game is to find the 7 magic fish of isola and believe me it may sound simple but it's harder then you think basicly you have to purchase fish eggs from the store put them in your tank and wait for them to grow it takes about an hour for baby fish to grow into adult fish...

LILL07 05.05.2006 · Read review
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Review of Fish Tycoon (PC)

Costa Smeralda costs a fortune!

Advantages: Beautiful beaches and rugged scenery
Disadvantages: Expensive around Costa Smeralda

...watched as they set off for a days racing. Around the marina are hotels and restaurants were you pay dearly to sit and enjoy a coffee, small shops and boutiques selling everything the holidaymaker may need and souvenirs to take home, were all over priced even the postcards! I only looked in the window of Cartier and Armani, as I didn't feel I was dressed smartly enough to step through the door, but strangely enough rubbing shoulders with these expensive shops was a common or garden Supermarket! Looking down on the busy scene is the church, called Stella Maris which is the home of a beautiful painting by El Greco called Mater Dolorosa. Here you can look out to the Isola Lunga with its famous beach. There are golf courses and tennis courts for the energetic, and although the car parks can be busy, it wasn't too difficult to park. If you are...

jo145 04.10.2005 · Read review
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Review of Santa Teresa di Gallura, Porto Cervo, Costa Smeralda, Sardinia

The Magic of Maggiore

Advantages: Romantic breathtaking scenery
Disadvantages: Expensive

...Lake Maggiore or Verbano as it is called locally contains three islands called The Isola Borromeos. We stayed in Stresa, which is a very elegant resort on the western side of the lake where you get a wonderful view of the three islands, and in particular Isola Bella. When we first visited the lake a few years ago we stayed at The Astoria Hotel and had a room at the front with a balcony overlooking this island. It was wonderful to wake up in the morning and see the statues and towers of the Pallazo Borremeo suspended in the blue of the lake. The lake is 65km long and 372metres at the deepest point. It stretches from Locarno in Switzerland to Arona Italy. This time (Sept 03) we stayed at the Regina Palace which has wonderful food and service to match but it is more expensive and we could only get a room at the back overlooking the hills...

silver40 17.01.2004 · Read review
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Review of Lake Maggiore (Italy)

Padlocked Precinct

Advantages: tough, terse, laconic
Disadvantages: none

...When I was on Majorca last May, I had problems with my reading matter, I had finished the first book too quickly and realised after some pages that the other book I had with me didn't appeal to me. Panic! The resort was too small for a bookshop but some supermarkets had German and English books on offer and I spotted the paperback edition of 'Hark!' by Ed McBain, fresh out of the printing room. Relief! I knew what I'd to expect and I also knew that I wouldn't be disappointed. How come? I can't remember exactly when I got to know the author Ed McBain, I think it was in the 1960s or 70s; although it has always been my habit to swap thrillers with other readers in order to save money, I kept some of them and even re-read them (I've found out that after about eight years I've completely forgotten the plot), all in all I may have read...

MALU 30.07.2006 · Read review
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Review of Hark - Ed McBain

Time for a change

Advantages: "No time like the present?...."
Disadvantages: "....There's no time but the present." (Ben Reich)

...time for lunch. "Now can I talk to you about the time machine?" I asked, in what I considered to be a remarkably mild tone. "It's a brand-new top-of-the-range Future Perfect with every imaginable extra, together with comprehensive insurance, and enough fuel to take us up to ten thousand years, backwards or forwards, the first off the production line today, or rather in six years' time." "Yes, dear. If you say so." "And it's standing outside our front door now. At the touch of a button I can whisk you away to anywhere, any time, in the recent past or unforeseeable future. All you need to do is choose the time." "Well, not this afternoon. I really do want to get those hardy geraniums in. Strictly speaking, it's a bit late to be planting them as it is." "But I could bring you back to a second or two after we left, so you'd...

torr 30.06.2003 (14.04.2009) · Read review
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Review of If you had a Time Machine where would you go?