We got up early hoping that we would be able to get across town and view ‘The Last Supper’ before our drive to the lakes district. We found our way over, found an expensive car park, and then wandered up to the convent and joined the queue. About half an hour later, we found out we would not be able to get inside until 4:00pm (5 hours away). So, sadly, no Leonardo for us. If you are going to Milan, pre-book tickets to get in to see this – I am sure it would be mind blowing.
Back in the car, and we headed for Gorgonzola – land of smelly cheese! However there is not actually anything to see (or do) in Gorgonzola! We were also given the “who-are-these-bloody-tourist” looks from the locals – it may be possible that we drove down another one of those streets we were not meant to as well. There was a very pretty church beside a flowing stream, but that was right at the ‘dirty looks’ point of the drive, so we decided it may not be a good idea to stop for photos.
Gorgonzola behind us, we headed for Lake Como. We came in from the south-east, and so the first place we hit was Lecco. We were stunned with how beautiful this was, with no idea of what was to come. We stopped at a little marina to take some photos and decided to have lunch there as well. It was quiet and peaceful, which made a somewhat boring foccacia, a little more interesting.
We drove on towards Bellagio – along what we later learnt was the ‘scenic route’. A skinny, windy road, barely wide enough for one car, with the lake on one side of the road, and the mountains on the other. It was kind of hard to watch where we were driving due to the amazing views on the right hand side of the car. We stopped here and there (when there was somewhere to stop on the side of the road) and took some photos – there were little pebble filled inlets with people swimming in the lake.
After an amazing, and a little scary, drive – we arrived at Il Perlo Panorama – a place we would strongly recommend a stay at if you are ever in the area. We checked in and the owner of the hotel (Piera) welcomed us and was tremendously gracious for our entire stay (as were most of the staff). She pointed to a photo on the wall, and said “this is your view” and it WAS exactly as in the photo. Mind you, I think that was the view for all the rooms on that side of the hotel anyway! The view was… well, the view was out of this world. We were halfway up a big hill, and directly in front of us was the mound that is ‘Bellagio’. Lake Como is shaped like a big wishbone, and Bellagio is on the convering ‘V’ of that wishbone, so it was as if the entire lake was laid out before us. The bed was directly opposite some lovely French doors that led to the balcony, and so we left the doors open all night so we could keep looking out and also wake up to that amazing view. Mark had hit the jackpot on this hotel, Il Perlo was a ‘pearler’.
We stood out on the balcony for a while just taking it all in, and then jumped on the hotels’ shuttle bus service into Bellagio. We knew there was a laundromat in town (again, thank you Google) and so that was where we were headed. The one thing that Google doesn’t tell you, is how steep the 100-odd steps to the laundromat are!
Washing done, we headed back down the steep steps into the town. The waterfront is lined with shops, and they all pull these huge blinds down in the afternoon to keep the sun off them (it was very hot). So you walk along the footpath, which is like a tunnel. There were all sorts of shops, lots of clothes, but more than anything, jewelry shops. More specifically, jewelry stores selling cameos. Cameo brooches, cameo earrings, cameo pendants, cameo rings. Some of them were gorgeous, but even the smallest of small cameos were over €200.00.
After much cameo-swooning, we decided it was time to eat and drink, so we wandered over to one of the hotels on the foreshore and sat down for a pre-dinner drink. It was really only pre-dinner because we were too early and the restaurant wasn’t open yet! So, we grabbed a plate of mozzarella and parma, and a drink each – beer for Mark, caprioska for Michelle. The Italians really have no idea about adding anything other than alcohol to a cocktail – what they brought me was actually just a bottle of vodka in a glass with a lime thrown in for good measure. We sat there sipping (and in my case, giggling) as we watched the sun go down. This was all made even funnier by a couple of American tourists who thought that because the waiter couldn’t understand what they were asking him for, raising their voices and speaking more slowly, repeating the word ‘Merlot’ over and over again (and then syllable by syllable, and then almost letter by letter) would make the poor guy understand. They eventually gave up (after saying ‘merlot’ at least 30 times), and just asked for red wine. Once it arrived, they decided it was merlot after all and couldn’t work out why the guy had so much trouble understanding what they wanted in the first place. (It really was funny, no offence to my American friends!).
We moved down to the restaurant after 7:30pm… which was a move of about four tables. We both ordered fish, and a bottle of local red (which may, or may not have been merlot, but it was certainly red) and demolished the meal with gusto. The fish was pretty good actually – it was lake fish, and we had seen plenty swimming around every time we looked into the water, so kudos to them for not overfishing the lake. Dessert was the now-regular ‘crème brulee’ and ‘tiramisu’ and then it was all about finding a taxi to get back to the motel.
Narrow, windy streets, and a taxi driver that knows how to drive (he must have been practicing for the nighttime world rally championships) – all adds up to the need for some of that Limoncello we bought in Cinque de Terre to calm the nerves and act as a nightcap. So we sat out on the balcony, looked at all the little lights, in all the little towns scattered around the lake, and sipped on our Limoncello. As previously mentioned, we left the doors open while we slept so we could watch the sunrise over the phenomenal view!
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