Lake Como, Italy

"Buongiorno," do you have any warm jackets for sale? All I had was my red raincoat, and I was freezing. Italy was not supposed to be this cold! I was in the little town of Bellagio on the beautiful Lake Como, and all I could think about was finding a place to warm up.

I packed sufficiently for my Italian trip but forgot to bring winter clothes (like a sweater and a warm jacket), anticipating a modestly warm climate. I didn't count on a cold front. Inna got her ski jacket, which suited her well.

In the little town of Bellagio, all the clothes for sale were oriented toward summer, so there was absolutely nothing to buy. Inna did manage to find a sweater in one shop, and I wore it for the rest of my Northern Italy trip. As usual, I packed incorrectly, bringing too many items I didn't use (too many t-shirts).

But, the story begins in Varenna - a little coastal town on the northeastern shores of Lake Como. We arrived at the small village of Varenna on Lake Como at about 6:30 p.m. The train station at Varenna-Esino is tiny, and there were no taxis to take us to our apartment in Varenna. 

 Since we had clear walking directions from Chiara (she provided a detailed map and directions), we walked some distance with our luggage to our apartment rental in downtown Varenna.

We rented a one-bedroom apartment called Sandrahouse, located on Via Venini 5 in the Varenna downtown.

Despite getting lost and arriving somewhat late (we took a few wrong turns), we were met by Chiara, who helped us understand the rules and instructions for operating the Italian appliances in our room (washing machine, heater, etc.).

The apartment was well located in downtown Varenna, and we could see the beautiful Lake Como from outside our window. After exploring the narrow cobblestone streets of Varenna, we decided to get dinner at Ristorante Vecchia Varenna.

This was a nice, quiet restaurant by the shore of Lake Como. We enjoyed our Italian dinner there.

After a delicious dinner, we went home and went to bed.

Sunday, April 5, 2015

After waking up around 8:30 a.m., we decided to get breakfast and take the ferry to the village of Bellagio, just directly across from Varenna on Lake Como. We chose a small shoreline restaurant - Bar Il Molo - to get our breakfast croissants and cappuccinos. It was still freezing out, and we huddled beside a heat lamp.

 

After a quick breakfast (Italian breakfast tends to be relatively light affairs), we took the ferry to Bellagio.

We purchased an all-day boat pass and waited 45 minutes for the next ferry.

However, we only used the boat pass for two ferry trips (from Varenna to Bellagio and back). Generally, Lake Como ferries do not maintain an exact sailing schedule, so be prepared for significant delays.

Arriving in Bellagio, we strolled through the beautiful town (already packed with many tourists) and decided to explore the beautiful gardens of Villa Melzi.

Although few flowers bloomed, we liked Villa Melzi’s well-tended gardens, beautiful trees, and well-manicured hedges. We did not go inside the Villa but saw the nearby church, which seemed tastefully decorated in gorgeous Italian marble.

After exploring the gardens, we headed back to Bellagio, where we strolled and decided to get lunch. Since the weather forecast called for showers in the afternoon (around 2:00 p.m.), most people were sitting inside (with minimal seating). It was also unseasonably cold, and many people (including me) were unprepared for the cold weather and were hoping to sit somewhere warm.

At first, we stopped at Trattoria San Giacomo, which was highly recommended by Rick Steves in his Italy 2015 travel book. However, the wait for indoor seating at the Trattoria was an hour (due to the freezing weather), and we decided to try another restaurant. 

We stopped by Baba Yaga (a surprising name in Italy as it is a Russian Fairy Tale character). The wait at Baba Yaga's was at least 30 minutes, so we signed our names and decided to explore further. Rick Steves also recommended "The Florence Ristorante" across from Hotel Florence. However, Hotel Florence appeared to be shut down, and the Florence Ristorante was nowhere to be found.

We were getting exhausted in our search for indoor seating but finally found an indoor restaurant - La Goletta - inside the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni. It was more expensive than the other restaurants, but we were tired and hungry. We had a nice lunch at La Goletta, which had quick and attentive service.

The overall price was higher than the other restaurants we tried, and the entrees were of average quality.

After lunch, we discovered that the Villa Serbelloni Gardens had daily tours at 11:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. We decided (since we were already there) to do the 3:30 p.m. tour (hoping that it would not rain).

We walked around Bellagio until 3:30 p.m. when we met our guide and walked as a group on a steep incline up to Villa Serbelloni's gardens. These gardens are now maintained by the Rockefeller Foundation, which hosts artists and other academics in 2-4 week residency programs at their retreat in Lake Como.

The views from the top of the hill were spectacular, and one could see both sides of Lake Como.

However, the actual gardens were poorly maintained, as if no one had a passion for gardening.

 

Villa Melzi’s gardens were far superior. Except for the views, there is nothing exceptional to recommend Villa Serbelloni’s gardens.

For dinner, we returned by boat to Varenna and had dinner at the well-regarded La Contrada restaurant (located in the beautiful Villa Cipressi).

Inna had her usual Italian Prix Fixe dinner with Italian white wine. I had a light spaghetti Bolognese entrée. The entrees were delicious.

After dinner, we enjoyed our walk back to our apartment on this freezing night.

Monday, April 6, 2015

In the morning, we got our usual breakfast at Bar Il Molo, by the shore on Varenna. Inna and I ordered croissants with jam, while Alex ordered a cookie-looking pastry.

The croissants were delicious but not filling enough for me, so I also ordered scrambled eggs. These came quickly (in yellow and orange colors). See, is Inna wearing her ski jacket? She is comfortably warm!

The Italian version of scrambled eggs adds a lot of cheese (and tastes a lot better than its American cousin). Alex also drank some hot tea while we sipped our Italian cappuccinos.

After breakfast, we walked to the boat dock to purchase our tickets and start our journey to Villa Carlotta and Villa del Balbianello.

Villa Carlotta is located near Tremezzina, and we would like to get there quickly by the first available boat. Unfortunately, the boats were not very frequent. It took us a long time to reach Villa Carlotta (it was the 3rd stop after Bellagio and Intermezzo).

We found that the boats were often late and did not sail frequently. Consequently, one must carefully plan boat departures to minimize waiting time. We misunderstood that boats came every 30 minutes, but in most cases, these boats were not for the destinations we intended.

We eventually arrived at Villa Carlotta (near Tremezzina). We purchased tickets for the Villa and the Gardens and started our visit. There were many beautifully tended trees and flowers.

As it was April, many flowers were blooming and alive with color.

Both Inna and I enjoyed strolling the extensive gardens and taking numerous photos. We saw a long stream crossing the gardens and a Chinese Bamboo garden.

After we toured the gardens, we stopped at the Villa Carlotta itself to look at the sculptures and paintings on display.

I liked many of the fine sculptures that were on display. The second floor featured a Tea exhibit, and we learned more about black and green teas. Inna and I sampled some green teas but did not care for the taste too much (as I prefer Jasmine green tea).

After finishing exploring Villa Carlotta, we decided to get lunch. We strolled to the Villa’s café, packed with tourists. We sat down and waited but were not getting much service. It looked like there was one waitress servicing a lot of people. We decided we would lose too much time at this tempo, so we tried our luck in another restaurant.

We also wanted to find out when the next boat was to Villa del Balbianello and learned it was at 2:50 p.m. We hoped to make it, as missing the boat would have delayed the trip by an hour.

Mindful of the boat schedule, we walked to the nearby town of Terrazino and found Azalea Restaurant. We decided to order our food and asked the waiter to make it quickly.

Alex ordered his usual “Pizza Margherita” (which arrived quickly). I ordered “Crèma di Funghi Porcini,” or cream of mushroom soup, which Inna ate. Inna ordered the “Gnocchi alle Erbette,” which I ate. I liked the Gnocchi, and Inna liked the Cream of Mushroom soup.

Finishing on time, we paid for our lunch and caught the boat to Villa del Balbianello in Lenno. The Villa is located a mile from the boat dock, and we walked uphill for another 25 minutes to the actual Villa.

After paying for the entrance to both the gardens and the Villa (the Villa requires a pre-booked tour with a guide), we started to explore the gardens. The gardens were very well maintained and exquisitely designed. They looked like nothing I had ever seen. We really enjoyed all the beautiful overlooks.

Since our tour was at 3:45 p.m., we headed to the Villa and met our tour guide. She explained how the Villa was originally built by a cardinal from Milan (as a smaller summer residence) to his other Villa, Balbianello. Since then, it has passed through many owners.

The main Villa has many secret doors and passages (for the cardinal) to allow him to escape in case of danger.

 

The furnishings of the Villa are relatively plain, with office furniture based in an English style, while the bedroom is furnished in French.

After the tour, we returned to the village of Leno and sampled some delicious Italian gelato. Inna tried Nocciola and Chocolate. The Chocolate was 70% chocolate and was some of the best chocolate gelato I have ever tasted.

After finishing the gelato, we went back to the boat dock. The attendant at the boat dock said that a fast boat to Varenna would depart at 6:50 p.m. We purchased the supplementary fare for a fast boat and waited. When the boat did not show up, we asked him again, and he said he meant 7:50 p.m. Many boats arrived and departed, but none were bound for Varenna. We started to get increasingly worried. Finally, at 8:15 p.m., a fast boat arrived (bound for Varenna), and we boarded.

We arrived in Varenna (after a few stops in Bellagio and Menaggio) at around 8:40 p.m.

Once there, we decided to get dinner immediately at Hotel Royal Victoria’s grill. Alex decided to try a new pizza – “S. Marzano” - while I ordered an “Insalatone Caprese” and a “Spaghetti ai Frutti di Mare.”

Inna ordered a house white wine with “Trofieto al Pesto” and “Insalatina Piovra.” For dessert, we had homemade cheesecake (the best I’ve ever had).

 

We had a great day in Varenna and the Lake Como area and were sad to leave.

Tuesday, April7, 2015

After our typical delicious breakfast at Bar Il Molo (both Inna and I had the standard scrambled eggs, cappuccinos, and croissants), we returned to our room to pack.

We called a taxi to pick us up and arrived at the Varenna train station at 10:10 a.m. When we could not find a place to purchase tickets, we discovered that tickets were sold at a tourist office away from the station.

I returned and purchased tickets to Bologna (our next stop), and then we boarded a train for Milan (it was packed!). Although our train ride to Milan was uneventful, we did end up standing most of the way to Milan.

We arrived at the Milan Centrale train station on time and boarded our train to Napoli (with a stop in Bologna). This fast train traveled 289 km/h (almost 180 miles/hour).

While waiting, we sampled some Milanese gelato. We were impressed that even a tiny train station in Italy has a higher quality gelato than most U.S. ice cream shops.