E5: Lake Como 20th April

A little preamble…….

Yesterday (Sunday) we re positioned from Orta to Lecco in readiness for today’s trip to Lake Como.  The journey was nightmarish, 70 odd miles of slow and busy roads with barely a straight line longer than half a mile or so before yet another roundabout or traffic light.  The local driving population seem to pay little regard to speed limits or no overtaking lines in the road!  Also we discovered that Italian road planners clearly had a sense of humour when designing road exits and joins to major roads (blink and you will miss them!).  As if this was not bad enough, we had endless ‘arguments’ with our lady Sat Nav who appeared to have a mind of her own and a vivid imagination!  Eventually about four hours later, including a visit to a supermarket for provisions, we got to Lecco and stopped in the ‘Sosta’ for camping cars, however after 30 minutes we realised we could make our way towards Varenna and stop at the Sosta in Mandello del Lario so after a cup of tea we did!

This Sosta is normally €10 per night but as it was Sunday it was free!

 

Before the ‘main event’ I should just mentioned todays (Monday) driving Fiasco.  We left the Sosta around 07:30 and drove to Varenna about 7 miles up the road.  We then found a very convenient place to park at the railway station…….. nice!……… a very helpful local informed us that we could park all day for free (€10 in Summer) so we had breakfast and set off on foot for the days adventure……..

At the bottom of the hill we noticed the ‘no entry for campers’ sign that we missed on the way up!  After a brief discussion (argument!) and yet further advice from another local we walked back to the van to find another place to park and therefore avoid the ‘wrath’ of the local Polizia!

Oh Dear! …….. there was nowhere to park in Varenna and the narrow cobbled streets were playing havoc with my nerves…….. then…… another local said turn left and park up the hill by the hotel……. easy!……..NO, NO, NO it was not.  The lane was VERY NARROW and led to a dead end about 400 metres up the hill….. we met a van coming down the hill about 100 metres from the top!…… he reversed up the hill to let us pass but we could not!  In the end we managed to pull just out of his way and continue to the top where there was just enough room to turn a Fiat 500 (very small car!) around in!  Katy got out and ‘saw me back’ and after approx a 12 point turn we were on our way!

Finally, about an hour later we managed to park by the main road that enters the village from the South…….. after a strong cup of coffee and copious quantities of Ameretti biscuits we were refreshed and ready to go (now 11:00)

 

 

VARENNA

Varenna is halfway up Lake Como’s Eastern shore and considered the loveliest spot on the lake.  The town consists of steep and very narrow alleyways  through old and rustic houses.  We walked up to the Castello di Vezio which sits high above Varenna, to enjoy the views………. and it was certainly worthwhile!

Notice how I still look ‘frazzled’ after all the mornings parking activities!

Then we walked back down into the village and boarded the ferry across the lake to Bellagio (note, if you ever take this ferry, buy the tickets before boarding otherwise the cheeky Italians which charge you at extra €1 per person for the privilege of buying on board…….as we discovered!)

 

BELLAGIO

This has been called ‘the most beautiful town in Italy’ and is situated on a triangle of mountainous land between the Como and Lecco branches of the lake.  The place has a long history.  Pliny the younger had a villa on it’s promontory in the 1st century AD.

 

Plenty more cobbled streets to be found here….

 

The majority of buildings are opulent villas painted in shades of butterscotch, peach and cream.

When is a selfie not a selfie? …. when it’s an ussie haha

This beautiful villa is completely delapidated and past it’s glory days…. 

One of the many villas that are dotted around the lake, this one with it’s own harbour…… nice.

We returned to Varenna on the ferry then positioned ready for the next adventure……Bergamo (this time we stopped at the Sosta in Lecco, not the most salubrious but functional and free)

Ciao for now