Buon Giorno (mahalo ko hono faka'itali ia 'o e malo e lelei). We (me and Kara) have been sitting here for almost a week of holiday. Lago Maggiore is Italian for 'big lake' and the lake is about 65 km long and on average 5 km wide. That makes it bigger than the island of Tongatapu. As I've indicated with the blue arrow on the map below, we are right next to the Alps:

The next two pictures should give you an idea of the landscape around this freshwater lake. I took these from a boat. There are 3 small islands on the lake, all owned by the Borromeo family, one of Italy's richest and most powerful families. For those of you in the Catholic tradition, this is the family where Saint Charles Borromeo came from. But there lives also around this lake a certain George Clooney and his house is also a major tourist attraction:

Where we're staying, built in 1863 by the Borromeo family, the oldest hotel around the lake:

The same hotel close up (Grand Hotel). The mild climate year round allows for these exotic flowers, very pretty!

Forgot this photo yesterday: it's the renown gothic Cathedral of Milan right at the heart of the city, the fourth largest church in the world. Believe it or not, building it took 500 years, from the 15th to the 20th century AD.

We flew from Brussels to Milan (1.5 hour flight) and then from Milan we took the train to Lago Maggiore (about an hour by train). You see here Kara getting ready to board the train in Milan for Lago Maggiore:

Still recognize this guy? Well, even if you don't, 'ofa atu 'aupito and ciao from Lago Maggiore, uncle Tavo & Kara