The day after the last one… 11, May.
3 days in that the sleep schedule seems to be acclimating.
One of the things that we talked about when we were getting ready for this trip was taking more time to just kick back. Over the past 15 trips we have stayed in, toured,visited well over 100 cities, towns, villages, borgos, etc. This year the inclination was to hang out and absorb and enjoy the little things, to try to notice the breezes, the smells, the little old nono walking his little old doggo along the road in front of the apartment every morning.
It’s remarkably difficult to let go of the go-go-go travel mentality. It’s so easy to say, “we’re here! We should see and do as much as we can!” Over the years I’ve come to realize there is a big difference between seeing and doing and really experiencing. It’s about being in the space and being open to the space…
We stroll into town at about 1pm. Gelato to fortify then explore the side streets… like all 8 of them. It comes as a bit of a surprise every day how small Bellagio is for the size of it’s reputation.
Well then, to the ferry ticket office. We wait in line for a good probably 10 minutes before we get to the window. 2 adults to Varenno please. 9 euro, 20. Not bad. 40 minutes of waiting later and listening to people gossip and complain as the crowd gathers in a typical formless gaggle at the gate. There are vastly different cultural ‘norms’ by country or region when it comes to queuing. I don’t think I will name different countries but see if you can guess the country by the behavior.
There are the orderly line folks, there are the looking around like they are oblivious but are really working their way to the front folks, there are the blatant every man for themselves push or be pushed folks, there are the who cares when I get on I have a ticket so I’ll get there folks (very rare) and there are the everyone gather near the front and peacefully get through when there’s a chance folks.
It only takes about 20 minutes to get to Varenno and it’s a nice smooth trip. Lake Como seems to be a very calm lake even when the wind is blowing. Lake Como at 1390 feet deep BTW, is deeper than all the great lakes including Superior by a good 12 feet or so. It was also on the shores of Lake Como, near a town called Dongo that Mussolini and his mistress were captured by partisans in April of 1945 effectively ending the war in Italy.
Verreno is a charming town spread out along the shore. It’s far less fancy pants and more relaxed than Bellagio. 1st stop, Gelato shop! There are pillows set out on the steps next to the gelato shops for sitting while you eat your ice cream. Very thoughtful I thought. There are a lot of gelato shops in Varenno.
We walk the entire length of the town along the lake shore until we find the primary attraction, Villa Monestero. A former monastery, turned villa in the 1800s, turned museum and botanical garden today.
Not an immense place it has some very interesting quirky things like this crazy bathroom… now I am definitely more of a shower person but if I had a bath like this maybe …
and this embossed leather ‘wallpaper’ is really cool and the art deco theme fits right in right?
A nice leisurely scenic walk back to the ferry dock along the top of the town looking down towards the water. When you don’t have any tours planned or appointments and the ferry runs regularly until 8pm you can stop and look at things… and wonder about why they did this or that or put that gate in front of a solid stone wall… ?
We get to the ticket booth and there is no one in line… how odd. We ask for two adults back to Bellagio. The girl says “Nine euro and 20. 5 minutes at dock 3”. I say, “5 minutes?! No time for a beer?” She says “no, no time.” I push out my lower lip in my most pouty disappointed face and she laughs and hands the ticket through the window.
When we were packing for this trip the extended forecast was low 60s and rainy for at least the first week or so. So far it has been in the high 70s and sunny almost every day. Sooo, I now have 2 new Italian short sleeve polos and a bunch of wrinkly long sleeve shirts still in my suitcase.
Tomorrow we head for the apartment overlooking Lake Garda. This should be an adventure… the address doesn’t even show up on Google Maps or Waze.
Distracted1 