An American Family in Italy: Lago d'Orta

Today, Saturday, we went to lake Orta or Lago d'Orta. In the morning Dad went to get our rental car. We got an Opel Astra. We drove to the lake and when we got there we were amazed at how beautiful it was. We parked just outside of the town and walked in. The town was charming and we spent a while just walking around. We saw some cool houses and a nice view of the lake. After the nice walk, we went back to the main town square and looked at some restaurants for lunch. We settled on one and ordered. I had a sandwich with ham and cheese. After a pleasant lunch in the shade we decided to get on to a boat to the island. We went to one that was loading people and paid for our tickets. The boat ride was fun, I sat in the back. The seats were cushy and it was warm outside, I really enjoyed the boat ride. When we got onto the island we first went to the church which was just a thirty second walk from where we got off the boat. You could see its door from the dock. We walked up and into it. It was small but very pretty, there were old frescoes on all the walls, and it was very serene. After we looked around the church, we went downstairs to where the churches patron saint, San Giulio, was sitting in a box. Unlike the popes in Milan, he was covered, and we did not have to see his hair, hands, or pope ring. We took some pictures and headed out. The first thing we did when we came out of the church was go to the bathroom. It was a little smelly, but we lived with it. After that we began to walk the loop of the small island, and we soon discovered that there were signs at periodic intervals, telling us about silence, and why it is good and stuff. We walked the whole way around and Griffin talked while we quietly read about silence. We stopped in what seemed to be the only gift shop on the island, and mom bought a tea towel with the lake on it. We then walked the loop in the other direction and realized that the other side of the signs had messages about meditation. We read them while Griffin talked some more and then got back on the boat to go back to the island. The boat back was more full but still pretty nice. When we got back to the island we walked a bit more, then got our car and left Lago d'Orta. Goodbye, I'll post again soon.