You may remember we wrapped up our stay in Verona with a quick day trip to Venice, and we were ready for cooler climates. Thankfully, getting the car out of the hotel's parking deck, was much less of an ordeal than putting it in, and didn't require as much clenching and sweat. :) Most of the journey to Como was highway, but everyone else had the same idea, and the traffic was stopped in spots. After about an hour, we started to see the Alps again (which were a welcome sight!) It only took us about another hour to get to Como, where the streets narrowed and we head into the small town.
We made our way through snaky streets (and even the wrong way down a 1-way street - OOPS!) Luckily we only got honked at once. Finally, I recognized the street from Google maps (Google Streets) and knew we were in the right place with tree-lined streets on the lake and hotels.
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Our hotel, the Albergo Terminus, was even more beautiful than I'd read about, and as we pulled into the parking lot, I knew we were in for a treat. There were three Ferrari's in the deck (2 430's and a 599), along with a Porsche and Range Rover. The staff were very kind and helped us with our luggage to the room. The room ranked as probably my favorite room in any hotel, and I was immediately sorry we weren't staying for longer than a day. The elderly gentleman belhop couldn't speak any English, but went and opened the window, and the lake breeze and views spilled into the room. We overlooked a plaza, diner and the lake and were literally across from the ferry port. It was magnificent.
What a bathroom!
The view out the window...
We unpacked, and put on our linen shorts and a comfortable shirt, walked over to buy our ferry tickets, We asked what they recommended, and told we should take the slow (two hour) cruise to Bellagio (the town at the center of the lake). Lake Como is shaped kind of like an upside down "Y" and is surrounded by mountains, and Bellagio is seated at the intersection of the Y. We got a picnic lunch from the diner under the hotel and waited for the boat to arrive.
Most everyone grabbed a deck chair early, and seated themselves at the front for a grand view. Cara and I kept to the the middle, away from them, mainly because it was in the sun, (and we'd had enough sun in Venice).
Cara and I moved our "deck" chairs around a lot, as the light changed, often staying to ourselves.. relaxing and snapping pictures.
I struck up conversation with a kind English gentleman named Colin (also sporting a Canon 40d) and we enjoyed chatting about our hobby. He and the "Mrs" were on a bus/train tour of the Alps, and he regaled about the road over the mountains to the lake. I smiled knowing how much I was looking forward to the next day of driving :) (Colin, if you're reading, I look forward to seeing your pictures. ) He was generous enough to take this picture of us (one of our few together!)
All of the towns had so much color and attractiveness, you wanted to stop at each and explore.
As I was sitting in my seat as we were porting at one town, I thought the city looked framed like a picture.
You may remember this villa from two films. One, Star Wars Attack of the Clones - Padme and Anakin scene, "I like it here, there's no sand, it's rough and irritating, and gets everywhere. Not like you, You're soft and smooth". (Has to be one of the worst lines in film since "Nobody puts Baby in the corner"). Also, this was used as the sanatorium for James Bond (Daniel Craig) after his torturous encounter in Casino Royale (where he and Vesper start their love affair). It was very picturesque, and I took dozens of pictures which I'll spare you, but here's one of the better ones... The amazing thing was there were hundreds of villas like this one, some even grander and more beautiful. It was hard imagining being able to just drive down to your palace on the lake for the weekend. (Or fly in George Clooney's case)
The lake was lined with amazing mountains and geographical oddities, which I thought rivaled the Napali coast in Kauai. We thoroughly enjoyed the "sail", cool breeze and sites. We dreamed of coming back, and made a failed attempt to call my parents and Grace. Unfortunately there was too much wind, and it was hard to talk.
Here's one of the many cities/towns on the edge of the lake, each having it's own character and beauty. The lake was much larger than I had anticipated, and it was hard to imagine that we were only seeing one section of the "Y".
After two hours, we arrived in Bellagio as the sun was starting to wane. We wandered around the steep sidewalks, and happened on a crazily narrow road with cars. There were beautiful shops, including a gelateria which of course we stopped for. Cara and I found a beautiful little soap shop and wooden toy store where we bought gifts (not really knowing how we'd get them home).
The town was filled with restaurants, magnificent hotels and beautiful people. So much so, that I didn't think we were appropriately dressed for dinner and decided to make our way back to Como. On a side street, we even spotted an Italian family sitting at the dinner table outside on their back lawn facing the lake. What a place to live.
The ride back to the hotel was much faster, (less than an hour) and Cara and I dozed some on the way.
After we returned, we were both pretty zonked, and hoped we could eat at the hotel's acclaimed restaurant, which was literally down the hall from our room. As we stepped into the restaurant, the maitre de came up and asked if we had reservations. We sheepishly responded no (since we decided not to eat in Bellagio). He huffed a bit, and said he'd try to find something. We were surprised since there were only about four couples in the entire restaurant. Thankfully, he ended up seating us, the food was very good. The cool lake breeze was terrific.
About a half hour into the meal, we realized his discomfort with seating us. A crowd of the Italian rich and famous seeped in. One man in particular, in his late thirties, with long curly hair, well tanned and shirt unbuttoned was greeted by everyone. Literally, all the women and men came and gave him a kiss, or hug. Italians typically dress extremely well and are good looking, but these people were something to behold. Cara and I joked the man had to have a Ferrari. It was very entertaining to watch them eat, talk and be together, and we were thankful for the experience. As we finished our meal, we strolled out into the parking lot on our way to the square, to our amazement, there were three more Ferrari 430's out there. (two red, one with stripes, and a navy Modena convertible). We met another couple from Australia also gawking at the cars, and learned they were at dinner too! They agreed how entertaining the people had been.
After dinner, we got some cash, since I was a bit worried about being able to get gas on a Sunday. I was told that although most places take credit cards, American cards don't always work! So we definitely got prepared. We wandered around the square, where a band was playing, people were milling about, and enjoyed the lake.
As we walked back to our room to get some rest, we passed a beautiful sitting room, which we sadly never got to use...
Como was a wonderful experience for us, and again, it was difficult to leave it so quickly, vowing to return... Some how I was able to tear myself away knowing the drive we had to come the next day. :)
