Going to Italy

Anne Lister wrote her travel journal every day, and sometimes some of the contents flowed into her personal journal. What follows is our summary - day by day - of the two travel journals used by Anne Lister in Italy, with daily highlights and some notes in Anne's writing.

Quotation links (e.g., SH:7/ML/TR/1/0037 ) lead to Anne Lister's actual journal pages on the WYAS site from which they were taken.

This work was first published in Italian on Anne Lister Italia's Instagram page in 2021, in the exact days of Anne Lister's trip to Italy.

Let's "go to Italy" with Anne Lister!

Anne enters Italy via the Splügen Pass. On the ascent, she sometimes walks beside or in front of the carriage, using her umbrella as a unit of measurement. Here the “width of road from 3 to 4 umbrellas” and there is still snow on the edge, which Anne tastes while enjoying the landscape. At 8.40 a.m. they reach the top, “should have been at least 5 or 10 minutes sooner but for stopping to make notes and look for the carriage”. Then the rather dangerous descent begins, “rails much broken here and all along”. At 9 o'clock their passports and luggage are checked at the Austrian customs (the Congress of Vienna had established the Kingdom of Lombardo Veneto as a state subject to the Austrian Empire): “very civil – merely opened 1 portmanteau, and gave us no trouble”. On the way down, Anne sees lots of cows, small villages of stone houses and little waterfalls descending from the snow-capped mountains. She admires the Maira while looking down, into the tremendous precipice at the side of the road. Leaning out of the carriage, she doesn’t notice that the door is not properly closed and almost falls out, but “luckily no harm done but tearing  off 1 of the buttons of my boot and bruising my leg a little”. “Magnificent” is the most frequent adjective used to describe this entry into Italy, and the landscape as far as Chiavenna, where they will stay the night, after their first real Italian meal; the innkeeper warns them that they have - Anne writes in Italian - “molto poco” (very little): rice soup, with grated parmesan cheese, some very good “Bologna sausage cut very thin” (perhaps salami?), then some pigeon and boiled beef, cold red trout and potatoes, then some roast fowl and veal olives, and, for dessert, some cherries, gooseberries, some pears, figs and apricots, and some sponge biscuits; the bread and red wine were excellent, a little less so the white wine. All in all a “very fine day”.

In Chiavenna Anne meets Giuseppe Tini the “Oste al Cavallo Blanco” an innkeeper who lived eight years in England and still speaks good English. He offers to guide them to the Acquafraggia waterfalls and the ruins of Piuro, also to look for the picture showing what the place looked like before the catastrophe of 1618. The man, very civil according to Anne, even gives them some asbestos (!!) a mineral mined in the area, anc refuses to be paid for his services, except - after Anne's insistence - just the expenses for the horse. The evening draws to a close with the thunder and lightning of a heavy thunderstorm. Another very fine day.

Image: Representation of the city of Piuro, in Grigioni, before and after the catastrophe of 1618.

They reach Riva on the shore of Como Lake: a place which Anne describes as the unhealthiest on the lake, where one could easily fall ill from the “mal aria” (unhealthy air). On the way, they meet a French- speaking gentleman, Monsieur Tornaghi, who tells them that - thanks to  wine production (which is “very good” as Anne herself writes)-  the Valtellina area earns the Emperor almost a million Francs a year, half of which is reinvested in the territory to maintain the roads, etc., and, indeed, the roads are better kept than at Splügen, also confirming to her that the people here are much happier to be under the Austrians than under the Swiss. Tornaghi is well aware of this: he lives in Morbegno, and is a chief-inspector of the Austrian province of Valtellina. He also offers to take care of the post stops for Anne and her companions, allowing them to enjoy and note down all the navigation on the lake, from Riva to Gera and finally Domaso, where they stop for lunch and more chit-chat with Tornaghi. They then reimbark and cross the lake in half an hour to reach Colico, where they are joined by their carriage and coachman - who were on another boat - and set off for Morbegno, where they arrive at La Poste at 9pm: Anne agrees the price of their overnight stay, managing to pay half of what they had asked her, and concludes by writing the last 11 lines of her diary in a very warm room. Another “Very fine day - very fine evening - the air on the lake delightful”

They leave Morbegno at 5 a.m., Anne describing it as a really pleasant journey. They stop in Sondrio at the post office and Anne goes in vain searching for a map of Italy. She also notes having received a letter of recommendation from Tornaghi, for the people of Bormio to give her an extra pair of horses to get to the top of Mount Braulio without doubling the price: “10/. would be enough to give”  On the road again, they pass Tirano where they also meet a coachman who explains them in German that they are only halfway to the destination, where they will in fact only arrive at 10.05pm. finding themselves “ at a loss – all speaking Italian – rooms very dirty”, but still closing another “very fine day”.

Image: Mountain View at Bormio, John Singer Sargent (1869). © www.metmuseum.org

On leaving Bormio, Anne has an argument about the cost of the horses: despite Tornaghi's letter, they want to charge her at least 16/. After a long negotiation, also helped by two ladies who had acted as her interpreters in French the day before, Anne tells the post office manager that if he is not happy with what she wants to pay, he can keep his two extra horses. And so he does, leaving them at the ascent with only one pair of horses. On their way up they stop to visit the cathedral, the church of St John and St Protasius, while Anne continues to measure the roads, bridges and tunnels they pass. For a while Mrs B- and sometimes Jane too walk along the carriage with Anne. The precipices here are not as scary as at Spluga, thankfully! The landscape is still quite green, but with fewer and fewer trees and plenty of grass for horses and cows, which they see scattered here and there while reaching the 4th station just in time to avoid a downpour, which occurs while they are eating. At the 5th station they have to show their passports again and, due to another heavy thunderstorm and darkness preventing them from proceeding safely, they decide to spend the night there.

A bad beginning for Anne’s day, who finds her thermometer broken! At 5 o'clock, they regain their ascent to the summit of Monte Braulio, seeing “everywhere leading wood for new posts and rails”, which are broken everywhere or even lacking due to the snow. The road is so bad that the coachman asks them to get off and walk, and the passage is so frightful that Anne is once again glad they did “not attempt to go forwards last night”. They move on from descriptions of the crevasses in the ice to the splendid view of the Ortler group, as they proceed downhill, crossing wooden and stone bridges several times. They begin to see settlements here and there, a little whitewashed church (the first of many) at the top of a hill between pastures and wheat fields. After Pradt (Prato allo Stelvio) villages and hamlets become more frequent and visible, Anne counts 10 or 11 of them and the valley to her “seems the midst of harvest”. They cross the Adige (which Anne notes with the Atesine name of Etsch) after passing another wooden bridge to close the carriage because of the rain, they continue to Merano, where they arrive at 7.20: a “singular looking town”, fortified and with a “ long wide street – channel of water  running along the middle of it”; a few houses built on the arcades of a narrower street and plenty of churches. At 7.30 they arrive at the “La Poste, a good Inn”, where they will stay for the night. Before dinner Anne is still writing the latest page of her travel journal and after eating, she is too tired even to write!

Anne and her travelling companions set off at 12.25 p.m., after having “plenty of excellent strawberries at breakfast”. While paying the toll on the way out of Merano, Anne admires the Trautsmandorff castle towering the town, and then the enchanting landscape takes over: the Adige in this area is a broad river and accompanies them through beautifully wooded hills. Lots of pretty whitewashed churches, sometimes close to small picturesque villages of a few houses that give her an impression of order. Lots of fruit trees, laden with apples and pears, just like the day before. In this late July heat, the grasshoppers (more likely cicadas) are incredibly noisy, and are the main animal presence along with the cows (only a few sheep, Anne notes, just outside Bormio: perhaps she has not seen any since they entered Switzerland). They cross these valleys rich with ripe fruit (Anne even tastes some fresh walnuts, “very good to open with a knife, and then eat with a little salt”), a “perfect vine-garden” all the way to Bolzano, where they stop for a tour of the town and dinner (the very civil innkeeper of the Poste also gives Anne a postcard of the inn, which she will keep in her travel notebook) before setting off again for Neumarkt (Egna), where they arrive at 10.20 in the evening: it is not even 11 when they fall into bed, tired after another “very fine day”.

Image: View of Bolzano and the Catinaccio group in the background.

The day starts with an early rise (at 5 ¼ a.m.) and an upsetting breakfast: “bad bread – i.e. can get none without carraway seeds in it”, no fruit and the boiled milk so bad that neither Maria nor Jane could drink it, plus the beds had been barely comfortable. Better leave! Luckily in Lavis Anne manages to stop just long enough to take a peek in the church and buy 2 pounds (about 1 kg) of cherries and finally arrive at the Europa inn in Trent, where she is reconciled with an excellent meal (although yesterday's was better). However, the most exciting thing for Anne is a road map of Tyrol and Vorarlberg published this year that she manages to buy from one of the waiters for 6 Swanziker. After eating, Anne and her travelling companions hire one of the waiters for a guided tour of the city, visiting the church of Santa Maria - which she accurately describes - where the Council of Trent was held in the mid-16th century, an event also celebrated by a painting which she doesn’t fine particularly impressing. They then come across a cocoon shop, something they’ll become familiar with, since the cocoons and silkworm trade was very flourishing in north-eastern Italy at the time. Leaving Trento, Anne is absolutely delighted by the landscape: a”'perfect garden” of green hills dotted with hamlets and villages. At 7.40am, they reach the “Cheval blanc, a very handsome looking large house” in Rovereto, which to Anne seems “the most stylish Inn we have seen since leaving Paris”. This very fine day comes to an end after writing down everything in her travel journal, and settling yesterday's and today's accounts.

ImImagemagine: La raccolta dei bozzoli, Giovanni Segantini (1882). © Wikimedia Commons User: Sailko / CC BY 3.0

The hotel in Rovereto may be very nice, but during the night Anne was  “bit by bugs last night, 1st  time since leaving home”. Lucky enough they are still travelling in that perfect garden like yesterday. They pass Ala and Vo', while they have to stop in Borghetto for the horses. Anne decides to take a stroll and, besides the usual glimpse of the local church, she stops to observe some women spinning silk and preparing the cocoons for processing. Along the way Anne often marks the presence of mulberry trees, whose leaves are the main food for these precious insects. Despite the great heat the air is good and not oppressive, and Anne slumbers a lot during the journey. Past Ceraino, the landscape gradually changes and the hills open to a wide valley. They stop at St.Ambrogio di Valpolicella to feed the horses: there’s no hay at the inn, but luckily the coachman has a personal supply with him. Anne takes the opportunity to update her travel notes, noting the “redness of the soil” and “summits with snow peeping up in the distance”. Only a few villages in sight - no more than three - and the countryside seems sparsely populated. The roads here, especially after Parona, are nice and wide (perhaps 42 feet, about 12.5 metres) “and good as a good English road”. As they approach Verona, Anne observes the people and their clothing, shocked that no one is wearing stockings! At 6.40 a.m. they arrive at the gate of Verona, where they have their passports checked and the coachman is asked to pay a duty for his supply of hay (a narrow escape the soldiers don’t find the oats under their seats). Verona appears as a “singular looking town” to Anne, who is impressed by what she can already see of the squares, on arriving at the Hotel Grand Paris. After negotiating the price of their stay and meals, Anne can finally sits down with her journal. Another “very good dinner” at 8 o'clock to close this very fine day.

Anne wakes up a little after 6 a.m. and is busy writing until 9.25 a.m., when she joins Maria and Jane for breakfast and then together they go out . The first stop is the Church de Sainte Anastasie, then to the cathedral (S. Maria Assunta) and from there to the Bishop's Palace. Anne also notes the underground passages connecting various parts of the city, describing the mosaic floors near the church of St Helena. From there they reach the church of St. George (where the best paintings are kept) and then to the Palazzo della Ragione where. After climbing to the top of the tower (dei Lamberti), Anne describes the beautiful view of the city and of the boundless plain to the south and south-east, while to the west and north are M.t Baldo and the Tyrolean mountains, with the closer ruins of Castel San Pietro (destroyed by the French). On the way back she passes by “the tombs of the Scaligeri family” (the Arche Scaligere) outside the church of St. Maria Antiqua and crosses Piazza delle Erbe. Anne is “much pleased with Verona” (and also with their “capital inn”). After dinner, Anne goes hunting for a guidebook and then to see the amphitheatre (the Arena), “ even now a wonderful building”, and then to the Teatro Filarmonico, to see the Maffeian collection. While strolling around Anne realises that they will need “an express permission from the police” to go and see the Garda Lake, their passports being for the Venice direction (the opposite way): it is Mrs Barlow who will take care of this in the evening, together with their guide, while Anne is busy with the last lines of the journal of this 'very fine day', although it’s beginning to be “very warm”!

Image: Piazza Erbe, Verona (1883).

Anne sleeps very little: she’s awakened during the night “by some of the gentlemen of the town serenading their loves”, then the early start at 3.20 a.m. to go to Garda lake. Mrs Barlow is unwell all day, but goes anyway (in Anne’s personal journal we read that she probably ate something that made her sick). First stop at Peschiera del Garda, passing both the town's drawbridges and the bridge over the Mincio: Anne would have left the carriage here to reach Sirmione and Desenzano by boat, but the deep blue, beautiful waters of the lake were too rough and she barely has time to buy the first grapes she eats this year (excellent, though still not quite ripe, and Mrs. B- doesn't touch them lest she feel worse). They arrive at Sirmione at 9.35, when the waters have calmed down, but Mrs B- is still not well and remains with Jane and the carriage while Anne hikes to the Grottos and “the villa and baths of Catullus”, enjoying the view and the “delightful situation”. On the way back to Verona, Anne points out that one good thing about Italy (never seen in France or Switzerland) is that the names of towns, provinces and communes are written “generally up the 1st and last house-side in the place”. Another curiosity for Anne is represented by the Italian cabriolets, “a sort of clumsy, old-fashioned looking, wooden arm-chair mounted on 4 wheels”. On the way back to Verona, they stop to visit S. Zeno and the empty tomb of Charlemagne's son Pepin. Before returning  to the hotel, Anne still wants to see Castelvecchio bridge (which, however, is not accessible and is guarded by soldiers), then they pass along the corso and go through Porta Borsari: what an unusual way to close off a street. As soon as they return home - their hotel is not far from the Porta - Mrs B- goes to bed still suffering from the illness that has accompanied her all day. Her last note of the day is for the houses in “place des herbes”, which are built on arcades, while few others are. It is now 'very hot' indeed, but the air is still pleasant, all in all another 'very fine day'.

Letters, accounts and journaling today for Anne. It’s been raining since morning, a light shower at first and then a proper thunderstorm. Mrs. B- is better but not entirely well yet, and Anne keeps herself busy settling her travel accounts, updating her private journal and -of course- writing a couple of letters to her aunt Anne and to Mariana, to tell them about the journey. She tries to post them, but finds the post office closed, since it is “not a foreign post day, or it would have been open till  5 or 6”. In the evening Anne begins to pack for the next day.

While leaving Verona, Anne and her travel companions face the sad view of Austrian soldiers seizing fruit and food from the country people arriving in town. For the first time it’s the sun that makes them close the carriage to protect themselves. Scattered across the landscape they see small fortresses and a few castles. In Vicenza, while Mr B- and Jane are resting at the Etoile d’or inn, Anne hires a laquais de place for a tour of the city. She immediately goes to see the so-called Arco delle Scalette and then under the Palladian arcade she climbs up to “the celebrated church of Madonna  del monte”. From there she moves on to Count Valmarana's gardens (Giardini Salvi), which she knows as the most beautiful in Italy. The next stop is the villa of Marquis Capra, also known as La Rotonda: a splendid Palladian villa, empty at the time, which Anne describes accurately, appreciating it despite the slight decay state, and musing that, of all the places she has seen so far, this is the one she would take as a model if she were to build a house for herself! She returns to Vicenza appreciating the shade of the porticoes, at a fast pace as always. Before catching up with her travelling companions, she makes another stop at the Basilica Palladiana, then at the Teatro Olimpico, which is under renovation (on the way she also comes across the house of Palladio), until she arrives at the former cathedral: it used to be the church of S. Lorenzo, but Napoleon sized it and turned it into a barn. Anne can’t help but think that this is much more beautiful than the present cathedral: why did Napoleon not choose the other as a warehouse? Anyway, she decides not to bother with any more churches (here, as in Padua, they close between 12 and 5 p.m.) and joins Maria and Jane for what is described as a miserable dinner (only 6 little pears and some parmesan for dessert). She takes a look at the Red Hat: that's where they should have gone, like all the English do (according to her guidebook)! Parading off, they pass the Theatre and Palladio's house, to allow Maria and Jane to see them, and off to Padua, where they arrive at 7.50am at the Etolie d’or. Another 'very fine day', although very hot: had lemonade and went to bed.

Anne posts her letters, then starts touring the town. She walks under the porticoes of the University and further on, almost to the church of Saint Antoine (the Basilica del Santo) then back to the Palais de Justice, where she just peeks in the main hall to admire the busts of Titus Livy and Lucretia de Dondis (“the paintings all round the sides of the room, not much worth” to her, but she also admits she's “no connoisseur”). She changes her mind again and decides to return to the Basilica of St. Anthony for a proper visit (“certainly a very fine church”) and to the école de Titien (the Scoletta del Santo, perhaps named after Titian “because 3 or 4 of the fresco paintings on the sides of the walls are by him”). She’s then in Prato della Valle, which used to host horse races, just in time to watch two chariot races (in Roman style) and then reaches the Botanical Garden nearby (among the many plants, she is admired by the great magnolia planted there in 1786, still splendid nowadays). From there, she crosses the town centre to reach the old amphitheatre, now just the ruins of a round perimeter wall, the inside of which is used as a meadow. On the opposite side there are 2 or 3 houses and a church, which Anne describes as frescoed by someone she “forgot whom, but a goodish painter” (it is the Scrovegni Chapel, entirely frescoed by Giotto). Before returning to the hotel, she buys some “tolerably good” peaches  and at 8.10 they return, Mrs B- not feeling very well. At 10.10 Anne takes half an hour with her journal, closing another “very fine day”.

"Arqua [Arquà Petrarca] a poor little village – Petrarch’s house now occupied by a farmer who had 9 oxen in his stable and was thrashing corn in what must have been the poet’s porte cochère – still a goodish house - must have been very comfortable in its day – lovely view from it of the Euganean mountains and the rich plain towards Este and Padua – the garden of the house and of the whole village full of vines, pomegranates etc olives too as we had come along – olive trees look just like willows, and the pomegranate bushes very like privet, but a brighter green – the rooms in Petrarch’s house still bedaubed round the tops of the walls with fresco paintings of himself and Laura, meeting parting etc Laura living and dead in one of these daubings - his tomb outside on the north close to the neat small church – just below is what is called his fountain, now the common fountain or well of the village – pested to death with children clustering about us and the carriage – could not stir without them."

[SH:7/ML/TR/1/0051, SH:7/ML/TR/1/0052]

Image: Petrarca and Laura in a fresco in Petrarca's house.

The farewell with Padua is not the best: all three are not very well, perhaps they drank bad water at dinner (it seems trivial for us today, but drinking water was not such a commodity!). They pass through Stra and Dolo, and at 12.30 Venice appears in the distance, ten minutes later they can also see the Adriatic Sea when they arrive at Fusina: it is simply a police post with customs, but here Anne and her travelling companions leave the carriage and the coachman, giving them an appointment in Mestre a few days later. The customs officer looks at their passports, does not check their luggage, and gets them a gondola to Venice. He is as kind as the gondolier is unfriendly, and during the journey he tries to extort more from Anne than the agreed service charge (in vain, of course), but despite his threat to take them ashore he eventually desists and leaves them at the Hotel Europa: 'the first sight of Venice, approaching, is impressive'. The hotel promises well, Anne describes it as not particularly flashy, but with good rooms and location (and very courteous staff). Good service pays off, as it is still there today: it is the St.Regis, formerly the 'Europa and Regina'. After an excellent dinner, Anne hires a local guide and from 7 to 9.10 starts to get a feel for the place, going first to St Mark's Square, then to the Rialto Bridge and from there to the Giardini (now the Giardini della Biennale). "What a unique city!", it is very hot, but certainly another 'very fine day'.

Anne's enthusiasm for Venice subsides in the humid heat: "I wouldn't live here for anything in the world!" She feels like she is in a sauna, but nevertheless rents a gondola for the day and begins to explore the city, of which she sees so much. The first stop of the day is at the Arsenale, which had its original shipbuilding function back then, and then at the corderie next door (she mistakenly attributes them to Palladio, whereas they are by Da Ponte, the same man who designed the Rialto); she is very intrigued and spends a lot of time observing the buzz of activity in these places and reasoning about how much the workers in these yards earn. Among other things, she also admires and describes a splendid model of the Bucintoro, probably the same one that is now housed in the nearby Naval Museum). From there he goes to the Basilica of S. Maria de' Frari, where he enchants himself in front of Bellini's Virgin and Child and Canova's funeral monument, without disdaining Titian's tomb, of course. Then visit the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, with its magnificent rooms and Tintoretto's Crucifixion: what a masterpiece: 300 completely different figures! Finally, they all do a bit of shopping in the area, in a goldsmith's: this is where they buy their gondola brooches! And speaking of this boat, Anne complains that with only one gondolier they don't go very fast, perhaps barely as fast as Mrs. and Miss B- would go on foot. After dinner, they go back on board and enjoy a nice tour of the main canals: the Giudecca canal (she notes it as Canal Giudaico), they pass under the Bridge of Sighs and under the Rialto bridge, which leaves Anne admiring, because she realises it is a bridge only from underneath: the shops and buildings above make it look like a normal street. They return to the hotel at 9am and rush to bed, exhausted from the many Venetian novelties of this "very fine day"

Image: Veduta del Palazzo Ducale, Canaletto (c. 1730). 

Already on board the gondola at 9 ¼ a.m. to visit S. Maria della Salute, which stands on the Grand Canal almost opposite their hotel: Anne is impressed by the superb altar pieces and paintings. Thence they go to the Redentore where, although she likes the church very much, what attracts Anne's attention the most are the dirty clothes of the monks and the anecdotes about the artworks saved from the French sack. On the islet nearby, the Basilica of S. Giorgio Maggiore awaits her: Anne points out that Napoleon was crowned by Pius VII in the south transept. The church is majestic and splendid, even the guidebook describes it as the most admired in Venice, but the humidity is such that all the paintings are ruined and, now that Sirocco is blowing, the floors everywhere are so slippery you can hardly walk on them. From one S. Giorgio to another, to the Orthodox church of S. Giorgio dei Greci, and then a little further on to St. Laurent, with its brick façade. Anne and her companions continue on to Sts John and Paul’s, which is the oldest building and it’s also known as the church of kings because of the monarchs buried there. Anne doesn't like it much - too full of decorations for her taste - but she lingers at the Vivarini stained glass window, the only one they have seen so far. Among the many works she also describes the paintings of the Virgin and Child by Bellini and the Martyrdom of St Peter by Titian (destroyed in the fire of 1867). From here they move on to the Doge's Palace, of which they visit the imposing halls (Gran Consiglio, Scrutini, Bussola etc.). Next, they visit St. Mark's Basilica and then return home for dinner. After their meal, back on the gondola, they see one of the 2 Turkish frigates under construction here, as they make their way to the Giardini, strolling along Via Eugenia (today Rio Terà Garibaldi). The evening ends at the S. Benedetto Theatre, to see a play by Goldoni (perhaps the Jealous Miser, from the plot he describes) of which Anne says she has understood a little, more than she expected. They return to the hotel and it is hotter than ever, Anne suffers a lot at night, but it is still a 'very fine day'.

Image: Piazza San Marco, Canaletto (1723-1724). 

Anne, Maria and Jane start the day at the palace of the Marquis Manfrin (Palazzo Manfrin), where there’s a fine collection of artworks: among the many, Anne notices Titian, Bellini, Carlo Dolci (whom we know is one of her favourites), a preparatory cartoon by Raphael and a terracotta by Michelangelo. From such an Art gallery they end up at the Piombi: the infamous prisons of the Inquisition (‘the very name is appalling’) inside the Doge's Palace. Anne describes the frightening access, worthy of the blood she still sees on the walls; she personally measures the narrow cells, the equipment and the openings, and she’s astounded: from these cells even passing through the narrow Bridge of Sighs is a relief! Her local guide often accompanied Lord Byron (we are following Anne's steps, but she also followed someone else's!). While Mrs. B- tries to meet her banker, they go on to the goldsmith's shop and then to the Church of the Scalzi (St. Mary of Nazareth, now attached to the station), where they stop for 10 minutes. From there, they head to the Academy of Fine Arts (the Accademia Galleries) where, in addition to Titian's works, it is the floors that enchant Anne, who not only describes them accurately (they are similar all over the city, even in their hotel) but also writes down their construction process. From the Accademia they reach Palazzo S. Stefano and in the campo of the same name Anne finds a Galvani Pharmacy where she goes to ask if they know Madame Galvani (her French and Italian teacher in Paris), but she is disappointed: no one can give her any information about the woman. They proceed towards La Fenice Theatre, which was then rarely used except for Carnival or other festivities: Anne finds it acoustically excellent, but very dirty. Anne then leaves Maria and Jane at the hotel, waiting for the banker, and with the guide climbs to the top of the clock tower in St. Mark's Square. On her return, the banker has already passed by Mrs. B- and Anne closes this ‘very fine day’ with some currency exchange considerations.

The morning is particularly warm and Anne lingers dozing a little, leaning back in bed. The last day in Venice begins with a visit to St. Mark's to see the four horses, now brought back from Paris: beautiful sculptures, they deserve all the praise they get. Another look at the Salute church and then they try to meet the British Consul, Mr. Money, but in vain. They take the gondola again and make their way to the island of S. Servolo, where Anne appreciates the pharmacy and laboratory of the hospital for the mentally ill. They also see a few patients, at least the women, whose conditions they find more than decent here. On the opposite side there is St Lazarus of the Armenians, where Anne has a friendly conversation with the abbot of the monastery - formerly Lord Byron's master - who guides them by speaking in very good English. On seeing that Jane is writing the man begs her not to note down anything she says, fearing political repercussions, as has happened in the past because of Lady Morgan. After reassuring him, they leave an offering and set off towards the Lido: it is here that the good society goes to the beach and Anne observes how people bathe in a very composed manner. They walk a little on the shore, among the shells and cuttlefish that also abound in the water, and see the hut that Lord Byron used when he came here every afternoon. From the Lido they pass around Forte S. Andrea and head back towards the city, where they witness the creation of glass beads, made by cutting the long rods of coloured glass produced on the nearby island of Murano. They are in the area of today's Fondamente Nove, so they also see the Jesuit church, which Anne describes as very beautiful and welcoming, still decorated with festive drapes. On their way back to the centre, they pass under the Rialto Bridge several times in their gondola, and then climb over it too, measuring it carefully. On the way back to the hotel, a thunderstorm breaks out: lightning illuminates everything and Anne finds it beautiful, staying to watch the spectacle for almost an hour. Despite the final rain, it was a remarkably fine day.

Image: San Lazzaro degli Armeni, Walter Mittelholzer (1934). 

Anne, Maria and Jane leave Venice early in the morning, landing in Forte Marghera. The day got off on the wrong foot, because here they have to pay the toll of 1 Svanzica that would have fallen to the gondolier. Shortly afterwards they reach their coachman in Mestre, but he had stayed too long in Fusina and caught a malaria fever that still afflicts him. Anne - like the best doctor - enquires what medicine they have given him and pays for his treatment, after which they set off again. They stop in Dolo - Anne always keeping an eye on her man's health - and arrive back in Padua. It is very hot and they stay at the ‘Etoile d’or’ where they do not receive particularly thorough treatment, perhaps because they will not be staying overnight. They take the opportunity to take a tour of the university courtyard and then to visit the cathedral of S. Maria Assunta where the only thing worth seeing is a bust of Petrarch (who had been a canon there). They get as far as Piazza dei Signori, where at no. 47 they find a pastry shop that Anne is pleased by, and then they return to the carriage: as decided on the way, they will stop to sleep in Battaglia Terme. When they get there, their room is not yet ready and they are put up in that of a sick man from Ferrara (!). A hearty dinner rewards them for the long day: ‘2 soups – vegetable and rice, and macaroni soup – beefsteaks and stewed roll of beef and fried potatoes – then cutlets, roasted chicken, quails very excellent and large very good pudding covered over with custard (very good) yelk [sic] of egg beaten up with wine – Good dessert of melon, peaches, pears and parmesan cheese’. Anne feels that, however, it is not a place where one should stay: the rooms are quite run-down, the hotel is full of sick people and it feels like standing over hot springs (and indeed...), but I am there now and it was still a ‘very fine day’.

Image: Mestre, Canaletto (1750-1752).  

They leave Battaglia Terme and pass through Monselice: a beautiful ruined fortification on the hill and the church of St. Paul which they go to visit. Anne also notes down another very beautiful church, coming in from Este, probably the Parish Church of St. Justine. From Monselice onwards the road is bad and every now and then they even get out of the carriage to walk alongside. The coachman, however, ‘sick, courageless coachman how shall we get on?’ and refuses English medicine, ‘the fellow is so stupid’. Anne occasionally sees him slumping on the driver's box, and when she asks him what's going on, he tells her he must rest: ‘this would never do – told him he must go on, and if he could not drive I should’. The man recovers a little and they arrive at Montagnana in the early afternoon, at the ‘Antico Albergo del Paradiso’: there Anne entrusts the coachman to the care of the innkeeper, who - she believes - seemed an intelligent man. To round off a difficult day, Mrs B- is not feeling well either: better than yesterday, but after dinner she goes straight to bed, with a slight fever. Anne is happy, however, because she has time to devote to completing yesterday and today's entries of the travel journal in this inn, which she says is very comfortable: it is still a ‘very fine day’.

Image: Piazza S. Tecla and Duomo, Este (1930).  

After a sudden awakening and an altercation with the coachman who wanted to decide when to set off, Anne takes matters into her own hands and in the end - of course - they all do as she says. There being no breakfast available, they take leave, even though Mrs B- still isn't very well. It is very hot, and Anne notices the changes in the landscape: the wooden bridges in Italy are never covered, as they are in Switzerland, and there are many wheat crops, creepers on the trees and more and more mulberry trees as they approach Legnago. On departing, Anne had agreed on the various costs and prices, including ‘buona mancia et tutto’ but in Sanguinetto she has to discuss the price of changing horses again and gets a price of 9/. ‘all be compresso [sic]’, all inclusive. She takes advantage of the stopover to write a page to Tib (Isabella Norcliffe) and as she prepares to leave, Anne has a great argument with the innkeeper who asks her for a fortune for the little she has given them. She threatens to go to the police and even finds a soldier to go with her, but he is frightened off by the innkeeper and, in the end, amidst fits of anger and bargaining, they compromise and depart. They arrive at the Crown in Castel d’Ario at 8½ o'clock p.m.: a small hotel that welcomes the end of this ‘very fine day’.

After a night plagued by mosquitoes, leaving Castel d’Ario, Anne curiously discovers what happens to the many frogs she has noticed in this area. Roads are a little narrow, but well-maintained, and Mantua is soon in sight. On entering the city at 7.05 a.m.. Anne admires St. George bridge and half an hour later they are at the hotel ‘La Fenice’, opened just three years earlier. After breakfast, Anne hires a local guide and begins the city tour: first to the Basilica of St. André, where she notices Palladio's admiration for Greek architecture: ‘never saw anything so perfectly Corinthian’. From there she goes to Doge's Palace, whose furnishings she appreciates, but she finds it a bit of a downer: the chapel is not worth seeing and she can’t visit the theatre, better the New Court. She leaves the palace and passes by the theatre in the Piazza Virgiliana, then heads to St. Bernabé (which she erroneously notices as St. Marguerite), where she sees Cignani's Wedding at Cana and Giulio Romano's tomb, desecrated by the French. From there she heads towards Palazzo Te, passing Giulio Romano's house and the church of St. Sebastian (used as a powder magazine). While visiting the Palazzo Te, she admires the great work of Giulio Romano, noting the rooms of ‘Amor and Psyche’, that of the Zodiac, that of the Giants and the Honour court. After touring the whole palace, she arrives at the Secret Garden apartment, whose river pebble floor Anne finds ‘pattern very pretty – take the hint for something of the kind at Shibden’. After leaving Palazzo Te she passes the slaughterhouse and takes a look at the Jewish Synagogue, then goes to the museum (Palazzo degli Studi), which she finds full of people and religious people (‘the priests are sprucer here and smarter in their common dress than I have ever seen them’). From there she goes to the Mill Bridge, which she measures accurately (265 steps x 9), and to the Citadel of Porto, until she gets back to the hotel. After dinner, Maria and Jane take their guide with them and go to see St. André and the Doge's Palace (while Anne was wandering they had evidently been resting after such a very early rising!): the Barlows find some women guarding the decorations in the churches and they are told that because the Viceroy is expected the next day, they fear some thefts. ‘Very hot’, but another ‘very fine day’.

An eventful night for Mrs B-, but not as she hoped (and she seems to complain about it enough these days, according to Anne's personal journal): she killed 19 mosquitoes and 6 flies before going to bed. However, on leaving Mantua, Anne thinks that there is a bit too much water around and it is a bit swampy, but that she likes the city better than any she has seen so far, everything seems more beautiful than elsewhere: the houses, the passers-by, the shopkeepers, in short, everything! They stop at the Sanctuary of Madonna delle Grazie (in Curtatone): in 10 minutes Anne notices the outer portico and the decorations inside the church (especially the mannequins), which she repeatedly describes as unusually grotesque. (A note. It may be that Anne was in a bad mood: she strangely overlooks the famous stuffed crocodile that was -and still is- hanging from the church ceiling. Maybe it's a bit because of the disagreements with Maria and Jane these days, or the bowel problems she notes in her personal journal the next day). After exactly 35 minutes of this detour, they set off again for Cremona. In Anne’s eyes everything seems better from Mantua onwards, even the pastures along the road: those of Castellucchio are as beautiful as those in England! Along the way, they stop in Piadena to dine at the ‘Pellegrino’. When they are about to sit down at the table in the canteen, a group of Italians arrive, well-dressed but too noisy: Anne requests to dine separately and the choice turns out to be a good one ‘'sure such a dinner was never heard – we thought it a great dinner on 1st dining at Bataglia [Battaglia Terme] – nothing to this’). At 7 ¾ p.m. they enter Cremona and arrive at the hotel ‘Il Cappello’. For the first time Anne tastes ice cream... she likes the lemon one, but for fear she decides to melt the chocolate one in hot water (!!!). Lightning and even some thunder at the close of this ‘very fine day’.

A thunderstorm in the night, but already at 5 ½ a.m. Anne goes to see the Cathedral of Cremona: a strange façade (‘mixed Gothic and Grecian?’) with a decidedly Gothic interior, but she doesn't get to climb the Torrazzo. A fruit market is being held in the main square: the square is completely and exclusively covered with watermelons! After breakfast the travellers leave Cremona - a beautiful city with some beautiful churches - passing under a Corinthian-style arch. They pass a few drawbridges over the Adda River and through Pizzighettone, Malleo and Codogno. They stop for dinner at Casalpusterlengo, where they realise that one of the horses is sick and cannot continue: they are forced to hire another lighter and much smaller carriage - a kind of phaeton - on which they and their luggage can barely fit; the coachman will join them tomorrow. Thus, crossing the last stretch of tidy, well-watered countryside, they manage to reach Lodi. Anne immediately takes on a local guide (who speaks terrible French) and goes to see the Duomo and the church of the Incoronata (pretty) where she admires Perugino's Madonna and Child. Before returning home, Anne goes to see the Lodi Bridge over the Adda, now the Napoleon Bridge; the one Anne sees and measures (300 x 9 of her steps, or about 6 ¾ umbrellas wide) will be destroyed in 1859. A not too sunny day, with a few brief downpours, but all in all a ‘very fine day’.

Early in the morning, Anne hires a guide and begins her exploration of Lodi. The first stop of the day is Count Barni's large cheese dairy, where she is told she has arrived late to watch the curdling, but in ¾ of an hour they give her a tour of the entire facility, allowing her to note down and minutely describe all the stages of cheese production and ripening. From there she takes a walk to the Duomo, trying in vain to find some fruit. Back at the hotel, she discovers that she was not late for the curd, but early! They usually start around 11 a.m. and she is recommended to another dairy (Mr. Stabilini's). At lunch they are served by a particularly attentive waiter who, by the way, advises them to stay at the Falcon in Milan, instead of the Britannia as all the British do: it is much cheaper! At 3¾ they leave Lodi: Anne writes that it is the first place - since they left Paris - in which she could very well live: she finds the Lodi countryside very beautiful, the greenery and the cows and horses ditto, and the canals by the roadside seem almost navigable. She wouldn't mind a place like that, just a couple of hours from Milan! She stops at Melegnano to feed the horses, here she writes how much the Lambro reminds her of the Calder; she sees the farmers threshing and is struck by the extent of the farmyards, and there are no cows around, because the farmers keep them in the stables during the day. As Mrs B- notices, all that is missing is an English cottage! They arrive in Milan, and at Porta Romana they are very kind: they could have searched their luggage from top to bottom, but they took their word for it and did not examine it. As recommended, they stop at the Falcon to see what it is like and are satisfied with it, so at the end of another ‘very fine day’, they decide to lodge there.

Image: Napoleone nella battaglia di Lodi, Louis Lejeune (1804).

After so many days of travelling, as soon as they arrive in Milan, Anne and her travelling companions take a day to relax. She was told yesterday was the hottest day ever in Lodi, yet it had not seemed as sweltering as, say, in Padua. One thing she notices is that they cannot find really good water to drink. The only place they found it so far was Venice, and that was filtered rainwater. It is worth remembering that drinking water was really a commodity, especially in summer when even the wells were in danger of running dry. People often suffered major health problems precisely because of bad or badly purified water. In any case, Anne is never idle and spends the day keeping her travel journal and account book up to date and writing letters: one to Mariana Lawton and the other to Isabela Norcliffe, in which she tells her the latest on the journey (the illness of the coachman and Maria) and warns her that she will not be able to return on the 20th of the current month, but more probably in the middle of following month (‘if all well, and deo volente, should certainly be in England next summer’). All things considered, even without going out, today is another ‘very fine day’ for Anne.

Image: Old map of Milan, 1827, Giuseppe Pezze.

First a trip to the post office to send the letters written yesterday, then a stroll around the Duomo to the archbishop's palace. The Duomo factory is still buzzing and, according to Anne's guide, there are 5,000 statues inside and out, large and small. Many labourers are still at work and the floor of the nave has just been finished: the others will only be finished in 1906. The jovial priest who shows them the tomb of St. Charles asks for something more than the Svanzica Anne offered him, and ditto the man who opened the crypt gate for her. Greedy! From the cathedral, our travellers do some shopping, but they find the straw hat shop expensive too. After dinner, Anne manages to buy some good silk stockings, and they continue their search for straw hats, but even Maria agrees that they are too expensive here: between the hat, shipping to Paris and duties, they would pay three times what it is worth. They then go on to the church of St. Fidele, and from there they carry on to admire the façade of ‘La Scala’, then to St. Stephen (‘neat church – not light enough to see pictures, but they did not worth much to us’). A walk in the beautiful cloister of the Ospedale Maggiore (‘the finest, largest hospital we ever saw – must see the interior’) and then to S. Nazaro in Brolo and S. Caterina alla Ruota. Shortly after the Palazzo Annoni, she finally finds some fresh fruit (and does a bit of maths on the currency exchange, which here sees 1 franc of Milan worth 15 French francs), and notices how the city streets are marked. Back at the hotel she settles her accounts, then writes the last 28 lines of the day and concludes another ‘very fine day’.

Image: Veduta della Facciata e Fianco Destro del Duomo di Milano (1816).

A calm awakening for our travellers: at 11.10 a.m. they are in the carriage. The stockings purchased yesterday have satisfied Anne so much that she decides to stop and buy some more, and while she's at it, she also takes her watch to be fixed. Then their tour begins: first to the Sforza Castle, demolished by Napoleon, of which two towers and part of the body of the building remain and little more. From there they make the tour through Porta Como [now Porta Garibaldi], Porta Nuova and Porta Orientale [now Porta Venezia], where they pause at the Lazzaretto (Anne measures the south portico, 454 paces long and 4 wide, which is occupied by merchants) ‘‘twas here that St. Charles Borromeo went about administering the sacrament to those dying of the plague’ and at the adjacent St. Gregory cemetery, whose church was deconsecrated by the French and is used as a warehouse for wine and wood. Then they head for the Royal Palace, which Anne finds ‘merely comfortable’ and, in any case, ‘nothing very royal’. They go to retrieve the keys that Maria had left in Verona and were delivered to the hotel ‘La Città’ and they even consider moving there, but ‘much better where we are [...] – none of the bedrooms so comfortable as those we have’. They visit Palazzo Litta and then go to S. Maria delle Grazie, in whose refectory they find ‘the famous last supper of L- [Leonardo] da Vinci almost gone'. They take the road again to St. Ambrose, which has a beautiful portico, and in one of the chapels a group of Milanese ladies have just erected a monument to the saint, but the gate is from the 11th century and cannot be the one Ambrose closed in Theodosius' face (it is very heavy, as Anne says by trying to move the door!). From there some more shopping: Tornaghi had told them that they would find elegant straw hats at Madame Gianelli’s in Milan, but Anne considers her to be a mere milliner rather than a designer (‘does not think we shall meet with hats as fine as we wish’) and they return to the hotel, where after dinner Anne concludes this 'very fine day' by writing her journal.

Image: The Lazzaretto seen from the top of the bastions of Porta Venezia (1880) with the arched viaduct of the railway line, built in 1861.

Anne gets up early to go and see the bakers at work in the bakery near the hotel - ‘very hard work’, which she carefully describes. Maria joins her and, after breakfast, they go by carriage to Mr. Stabilini's cheese factory, which she had been told about. She is not particularly impressed: perhaps the one in Lodi is better, where - as she repeats several times - everything was certainly cleaner. From there they go to the Ospedale Maggiore, and Anne finds it interesting that in order to be admitted, sick people simply register in the offices, so the hospital can see if they are destitute, and they are immediately admitted. 36 doctors and surgeons and beds for 2000 patients. They also visit the extensive archive of the hospital (with records since 1460), and from there they move on to the kitchens, offices and the pharmaceutical laboratory, where they carry out all sorts of preparations (just to check, Anne even tastes some castor oil!). On leaving the hospital, they go to the Brera Academy and Art Gallery: some very beautiful paintings, in particular Raphael's Marriage of the Virgin: 'the jewel (my favourite picture of all I ever saw in my life not excepting la Belle Jardinerie à Paris'; they also visit the numismatic rooms, where they are entertained by a very kind Mr. Cattaneo [we don't know whether it is Carlo or Gaetano], then ½ hour at the observatory. Anne reaches the top, and observes from above the botanical garden, which from there she judges not worth a visit. They pass on to S. Maria della Passione, which she finds the most beautiful they have seen here so far, and then go to the hotel where they leave Jane, who has sprained her ankle, so Anne and Maria take a walk under the arcades of Piazza Duomo, where Anne buys some prints and more stockings, but finds the goldsmiths are not very good (better the ones in Venice) and here everything is very expensive. They stop by to see St. Sebastian and the colonnade of St. Lawrence, which is quite beautiful, then they go to have a look at the Hotel Royale and the Britannia, which Anne doesn't think are so great: they are fine where they are now. They return at 8 o'clock for a ‘very fine evening’.

At breakfast they study the guidebook to decide what to see today, and start with the Ambrosian Library: the first room covered with books from floor to ceiling is already a real treat for Anne. They show her some very old volumes (a copy of Virgil's works and an ancient Greek manuscript of the Orations of St. Gregory of Nyssa dating back to the 6th century). The French took away Leonardo's Codex Atlanticus and the manuscript of Virgil's works that belonged to Francis Petrarch, and regarding Bruegel's 4 Elements they only returned ‘Water and Fire’: ‘the other 2 lost, or, as some say, at the Museum at Lyons’. They also see the preparatory cartoon of Raphael's School of Athens, which Anne says is better than the painting itself (in the Vatican). From there they proceed to the Church of Sts. John and Paul, which they do not see much of because the priest was doing catechism. At that point they pass through Porta Sempione (or Simplon gate), where they see at least 50 workers in the work in progress of the Triumphal Arch [started again in 1826]. They arrive at St. Laurent, where they are approached by many beggars, and then go to see the marvellous Bramante's sacristy of St. Satyrus. Through the courtyard of the courthouse they reach the ‘La Scala’ theatre, ‘very large, magnificent house [...] performances begin next Thursday – Mrs. B- [Barlow] and I almost tempted to think seriously of going to the 3 lakes, and returning for Thursday night’. A 25-minute walk and they are at S. Maria dei Miracoli near St. Celsus, all adorned with crimson silk panels trimmed in gold, ‘we said the handsomest we have seen here’. Although they have seen so much, the local guide does not satisfy them: at the end of the day he also asks for something to drink in addition to their pay and Anne, scandalised, says that it is the first time this has happened to her and refuses to give him more than the agreed amount: they have never had a worse guide, he is too old and has even made them go round in circles getting lost, and this must have really upset her, because she doesn’t end with her usual ‘very fine day’.

Image: a page of Leonardo da Vinci's Codex Atranticus returned to the Ambrosiana in 1815.

After breakfast - ‘we have been very comfortable at the Falcon’ - Anne and her companions leave Milan passing through the Porta Nuova. For a while the road runs along a canal, then hedges begin at the side of the road and the ‘Colle di Brianza’ can be seen from afar. They make a stop in Monza at the ‘Posta Vecchia’ and take the opportunity to visit the cathedral and its treasure, but in order to see the original iron crown they have to require a permit, which they ask to obtain, therefore in the meantime they go visiting the English-style gardens of Villa Reale, with their greenhouses, grottoes and waterfalls. They also get a glimpse of the interior of the Villa, which Anne thinks is in need of some renovation, but apparently the Viceroy is more interested in the plants in the garden (a fine collection) than in the furnishings. Anne is surprised: she has never seen a quieter palace, despite the 400 people working there (of which she is told that there are as many as 90 gardeners alone). Later they return to the cathedral, where they finally get to see the original iron crown, which Anne describes in detail, and get back to the post inn where they also stop for dinner, but the place is so dirty they would never stay there! They set off again, passing through Cantù, which Anne finds a fairly large town, but with very narrow streets, and after a very picturesque and pleasant journey they arrive in Como, where the coachman initially mistakes the inn and then finally leaves them at the Angel (which, however, according to Anne, does not have much better rooms). They have a lovely view of the lake below, and a breeze picks up as this ‘very fine day’' also comes to a close.

Image: the Iron Crown preserved in the Cathedral of Monza. © Wikimedia Commons User: James Steakley / CC BY-SA 3.0

The day begins by embarking at 8 ¼ a.m. on a beautiful boat, it is so comfortable that there is even a table, a pity Anne has left her journals otherwise she could have written. At 9 ¼ they reach Villa d'Este in Cernobbio, where they are taken for a tour by a local. Anne indulges in gossip: she tells them about the alleged affair of Caroline of Brunswick with Bartholomew Pergami [whom Anne erroneously writes down as Bergami]: their guide is the son of one of the witnesses in favour of Caroline, but he does not speak of it. On leaving, they meet with their friend Mr. Tornaghi for a minute or two and then embark again. They pass by Colonel Lindsay's house and, when they pass Villa Tanzi, which they will see more clearly later, Anne does a bit of counting in the owners' pockets. They arrive in Torno, a pretty little town: the lake is a table and Anne couldn’t imagine anything more delightful than this, in fact it is a delightful day all round! After admiring the crates dotting the shore, they arrive at the Villa Pliniana, of which they only see the outside, then return to see Villa Tanzi. On the way back, Anne appreciates the beautiful view of Como from the lake and she’s amazed. The town appears to be set in a natural amphitheatre, between wooded hills and the Baradello Castle. On arriving in Como, she immediately goes to see the Duomo, which she finds one of the most beautiful churches she has ever seen. They leave there at 5 o'clock and an hour later show their passports at Chiasso, for a passage through Swiss territory. They pass through Mendrisio (pretty, but the roads are very narrow) and finally see Lake Lugano. At 8.50 p.m. they embark at Bissone and this time they even stay in the carriage, everything is loaded as it is: a 20-minute crossing, for which Anne pays 3 Svanziche (they had asked her for 2, but she was evidently in a very good mood), and after another 4 miles they arrive at the Svizzero hotel in Lugano. By now it is too dark to see anything, but it is another ‘very fine day’.

Image: Villa Pliniana, Johann Jakob Wetzel & Johann Hürlimann (1822).

Late in the morning, Anne, Maria and Jane board the boat again, but this time the boat is not as beautiful as yesterday's. The first stop is at the Cantine di Caprino (or the Gandria caves), natural caves in which the inhabitants of Lugano store food and wine, which Anne tastes and finds ‘just tasted the wine, cold as if iced’; this comes from the cave of a butcher who also stores much of his meat there. Near some of the caves there are inns where one can stop for a meal, and indeed there is a bustle of boats full of people. There are lots of lizards, Anne notices that in fact these small reptiles can be found almost everywhere in Italy, but fortunately there are no vipers: those can be found on the slopes of Mount S. Salvatore. There is a man in Lugano who catches them, because they are apparently very useful for making dressings, but he won’t reveal to anyone how he catches them without hurting himself. She is told that there are many English people who climb Mount S. Salvatore to enjoy the view, and that there is a little church where they celebrate four feasts a year (Easter, Pentecost, Ascension and...). The travellers are pleasantly surprised to find this lake more pleasant than they thought: Lugano is really well positioned and beautiful to look at from the water. They reach Ponte Tresa, where they show their passports again and go through customs as they enter Austrian territory. Anne notes down a woman who seems to be suffering from cretinism: everyone, even that woman and the children, is pale and looks old, with hollowed-out, ugly eyes. After passing Ghirla, they proceed into the valley of Ganna in a succession of pools of water. Anne complains about the many hours of travelling: they had told her it would take 3 ½ hours today, but it has already been 6. By now it is dark to see anything more and they arrive at the Angel at Varese at 9 ½ p.m.. A ‘very fine day’ all the way until 8 o’clock, after which it started raining.

The incessant rain from the night before forces them to stay in the hotel, as they wanted to leave early to go and see the Madonna del Monte. Anne devotes herself to writing and doing some accounts. The hotel is quite good, but the beds are very badly tidied and she cannot sleep well. She keeps her account book and travel journal up to date, while in between she teaches Jane how to do division, with some fairly easy calculations. She also writes to her Aunt Anne, telling her that - as she has already written to Isabella Norcliffe - they should be ‘at home on the 20th of next month, but all would depend upon what I heard from my aunt at Geneva’, presumably in five days' time.

The badly-made bed has not given Anne any peace, therefore she has not slept much. At 8 ½ a.m. they make a tour of Varese and go to see St. Vittore (simple and small, but well kept) and then set off again, but they must have taken a wrong turn, because at 11.05 they are still passing through Gallarate! They arrive in Somma Lombardo, where they see the thousand-year-old cypress tree in the corner of a small garden next to the road. They only begin to see the Ticino at around 12.35 p.m. and have it on their left, close by, when they enter Sesto Calende. The little town is not much, but at least Anne can post the letter she wrote the day before to her aunt (and they even charge her for the postage, something that had not happened either in Padua or Milan!). They have lunch at the communal table together with four Italian priests and another very courteous gentleman and then set off again. They cross the river in 11 minutes (on board with them a blind gentleman who plays the violin very well) and then again a customs crossing on entering the Kingdom of Sardinia. These customs officers also trust them and do not search them, letting them continue. They pass Arona, mistaking it for Dormelletto and finally, after Belgirate, ‘Borromean islands in view!’. They reach Domodossola in the rain, which had been chasing them since morning and at 7 ½ p.m. a thunderstorm came down, but overall, it was a 'pretty fine day’.

Rainy night, and the morning is still not very clear, but Anne is already busy negotiating the price for the boat passage to the Borromean Islands: they ask her 9/, but she gets 6/. plus 1/. tip. At 10.40 a.m. they land at the palace on the Isola Bella. The palace and the decorations in the garden leave Anne astonished to say the least: in front of the Pegasus, she doesn’t hold back and describes the whole thing ‘grotesquely ugly – i.e. a gorgeous violation of good taste’. The plants are better, but even the heated greenhouse is ‘very poor’, just a beautiful Bignonia Catalpa tree (like the one she had seen in Padua). On leaving Isola Bella, they arrive at Isola Madre [or Isola Superiore]: a triumph of vegetation with flowering caper bushes (beautiful flowers), locust and prickly pear trees, rubber and oak trees, cypresses, agaves and beautiful, fragrant tea roses - the palace has been uninhabited for 47 years and is now in ruins. Anne and her travelling companions return to the inn at 2 ¾ p.m. o'clock, where they dine and take off again via Baveno and Feriolo. From village to village, they cross several stone bridges. At Premosello Anne notices a little whitewashed church and many bundles of hemp leaning against the walls to dry. After passing yet another stone bridge, she thinks what a beautiful valley it would be, if only they had not seen so much and better before! At 7 ¾ they finally arrive at ‘La Poste’ in Vogogna, where they will spend the night.

Anne, Maria and Jane leave Vogogna (what a hotel!) crossing the beautiful 6-arched wooden bridge over the Toce. The mountains are completely hidden by clouds. Passing through Villadossola, they then arrive at Domodossola, where the innkeeper of the Grand Hotel advises them to get something to eat for themselves and some oats for the horses, as they will find nothing from there to Iselle. There are still 3 ½ leagues to go, and Simplon is after another 3 leagues (then another 6 leagues to get from there to Brig). Domodossola is nicely situated, pretty and well-built. Every Saturday there is a nice market that gathers people from the surrounding area. Excellent inn. They arrive at Iselle customs at 11.40 a.m.: they show their passports again and are taken at their word as usual by the customs officers, who do not search them. This is the last village on the Sardinian border. Anne Lister, Maria and Jane Barlow thus leave Italy. Anne thinks back to when they arrived over a month ago and makes a quick comparison ‘as Mrs. B- [Barlow] observed like a garden walk, no frightful abyss yawing beneath us – no look of danger – nothing appalling – no piercing cold – no walls of snow – nature seems to have formed this pass for man to make use of; and he seems not as on monte Brauglia [Braulio]’. The roads are once again beautiful and well-maintained, the retaining walls are solid and made of large stones, the bridges are exceptional, and there are solid blocks of red granite to mark the roadsides, not railings as at Spluga and Mount Braulio. But here there are no overhangs and no debris on the road as at Chiavenna. The Spluga is close, but completely different: even the innkeeper at Simplon, a Frenchman from Lyon, confirms this. The inn is very nice but also expensive, because everything is brought there from Domodossola. The rain has accompanied them most of the day, but by now it is almost clear and a ‘tolerably fine evening’ is in sight, a discrete evening that, after a good dinner, Anne concludes by writing the last notes of this journey that has seen her finally ‘going to Italy’.

Image: View of The Gallery of Issel, Rudolph Ackermann (1809).

They are in Münster (in Switzerland) and Anne's window looks south-west as the view closes in on Mont Rosa, with the summit of Mont Blanc behind it looking like a huge haystack. Before leaving the inn, Anne finds herself arguing about the price (and scolds herself that she must remember to agree on it first, everywhere!). She and Maria walk for an hour or so, then mount the saddle and continue along the course of the Ägene river. After half an hour, Maria's mule stumbles, and she continues on foot; Anne decides to dismount and make the ascent together. The route to the Gries glacier is arduous and they are almost at the top when Maria's mule puts its foot in a small crevasse, causing her to slip as well. As she climbs over the crevasse, Anne remarks that if the crevasse had been a little wider they would have lost both mule and Maria! Throughout the crossing of the glacier the poor woman does not get back on the saddle out of fear, as Jane does, while Anne reflects that it would do no one any good if she dismounted as well, so she remains on the mule, meanwhile admiring the landscape of snow-capped peaks that is unforgettable for her. At 12 ¾ p.m. they begin the descent, this time all on foot along a mule-track that can barely be seen as far as Bettelmatt, where Anne arrives five minutes before the others. Here Maria finally manages to take off her shoes and socks, now soaked after crossing the glacier on foot, while Anne walks here and there admiring the landscape. They descend over Morasco and Riale through a beautiful valley dotted with villages, as far as Formazza, where they arrive at 5.35 p.m.. Just enough time to agree on the price (in advance, this time!) and they are faced with a lavish dinner. The menu includes soup, mutton, cheese, house wine and... marmot, which reminds Anne a little of hare stew: a little too savoury, but very good! And that was a very fine day too!

Image: Val Formazza, 1931.

From Formazza to Airolo. Anne Lister, Maria and Jane Barlow set off again on a beautiful, sunny morning. As on the day before, the women at work in the fields wear a red kerchief on their heads and have an attire that Anne finds very characteristic. Our travellers walk from Formazza to the Toce waterfall, which is really beautiful, and then resume the ascent to St. James Pass. By now at high altitude, Anne is intrigued by the crampons worn by the men they meet: boots with 3 spurs on the heels and others along the edge of the sole, attached to the shoes by 2 laces reinforced with a bit of leather at the bottom. At 12.5 p.m. Anne Lister, Maria and Jane Barlow leave Italy again, crossing the pole marking the border between St. James Pass (Austrian territory) and Canton Ticino. The Alpine panorama at high altitude is splendid and Anne dismounts from her mule to walk from here onwards enjoying the view of snow-capped peaks and glaciers. The reflection of the snow on the mountains all around is dazzling. On their way down to the Bedretto Valley they stop at a rest stop where Anne tastes goat's milk for the first time, freshly milked: it's delicious! At 3.35 p.m., they set off again under a blazing sun, tackling another really dangerous descent down a very narrow mule-track overhanging the rushing waters of the river bubbling beneath them. Anne climbs on and off the mule continuously, doing her best to keep up with the others (slower than her, of course!). They arrive in Airolo at 6.35 p.m., in the midst of a herd of about 200 goats running between the legs of their mules, towards the stable. Their inn is very large and cosy, and is where the English travellers usually go. This short jaunt of Anne, Maria and Jane to Italy also ends on a 'very fine day’.