We woke up a little after 8:30 am and had our hotel's complimentary breakfast. We were in no rush so took out time to get ready. Then we packed our bags and checked out of our hotel around 11:30 am. We took the metro subway train to the Milan Central train and then bought tickets to Varenna. The next train was scheduled to depart at 1:20 pm so we had desserts at a cafe. I had a tiramisu and a latte while Samia had a bowl of fruits. The train was on time and after a one hour train ride, we were in Varenna.
Varenna is one of the towns on the edge of Lake Como. It's one of the larger lakes in the Italian Lake District which is an area south of the Swiss Alps mountain range and about 30 kilometers away from the border of Switzerland to its north. We walked to the ferry terminal of Varenna and bought tickets for the next ferry to Bellagio, another town on Lake Como that'll be our base camp for our short stay here. There was some comical confusion in identifying the correct ferry since the ferry that arrived right before the ferry to Bellagio was going to the town of Menaggio! Every person standing at the dock waiting for their ferry asked about the name of the destination town. The poor ticket checker resorted to shouting "Menaggio with an M" after at least two dozen people had interrogated him. We can easily imagine that happening every day and it makes you wonder why aren't the names not changed to make them a little easier to identify! Oh well, the ferry arrived at 3:10 pm and we reached Bellagio (with a B) after about half an hour.
The lake is gorgeous with clear blue water that sparkled in the bright sunlight of a warm day with a backdrop of lush green mountains and snow capped peaks of the Swiss Alps. Our ferry ride was refreshing with a cool breeze providing much needed relief on a warm summer day. The town of Bellagio is famous for its villas with flowery gardens that are so picturesque that people take tours through them. It's also famous for being the location where a great many Hollywood movies have been filmed and is home to a villa owned by George Clooney. Another claim to fame is that the hotel Bellagio in Las Vegas gets its name from this town and its architecture is inspired by the villas of this Italian Lake District town.
We made a strategic mistake in deciding to bring our bags with us and staying overnight in Bellagio. In retrospect, we should've either done a day trip from Milan by leaving early or we should've rented a car and driven here. The train/ferry combo actually takes longer because unlike the highway, it's not a direct route. The warm weather and having to lug two big suitcases up and down stairs at each subway/ferry station is not worth the effort unless you're planning on staying in Bellagio for two or three days. Even in that case, driving is probably a better idea. Our one day stay will probably not give us enough time to do justice to this breathtaking town.
We are staying at the most recognizable hotel in town that is actually a villa itself with beautiful gardens and winding roads. We are staying at one of the apartments in the residence of the hotel which is in a building farther removed from the main hotel building. Our apartment has a living room and a kitchenette in addition to the usual bedroom and washroom. After checking in and resting in our room for a little while, we headed out for a stroll around 6:30 pm. The temperature had gone down by this time and the weather was just perfect. We walked through the peaceful gardens of our hotel and sat at a bench by the lake to marvel at the scene - the blue water with the sound of splashing waves, the chirping birds, the backdrop of the green mountains, the outline of the Swiss Alps, the distant hum of the engine of ferry boats - it was one of those moments in life that live in your memory forever. We continued walking through our hotel's gardens and then stopped at our hotel's concierge desk to get dinner recommendations. After we had picked our restaurant, we walked to its location in the town center.
Dinner was splendid. We had mashed potatoes topped with mushrooms and French onion soup for appetizer. Our main entrees were Basa fish for Samia and chicken in tarragon sauce for me. We finished off the meal with apple crumble for dessert. Every dish was made fresh so dinner was an elaborate affair that took about two hours! Food in Italy is one of the major highlight of the country for foodies like us - the people love their food and any city or town you go to, they always have fresh and local ingredients.
After dinner, we walked back to our hotel and enjoyed a live musical performance of violin and piano specially arranged for the entertainment of hotel guests. Then we got back to the apartment and are going to call it a night now. We will try to wake up early to possibly visit the best garden in Bellagio before we leave the Italian Lake District to travel south to the Italian Riviera, specifically the Cinque Terre region. Tomorrow will be another day with a lot of transit time before our itinerary starts slowing down. You'll find all about that in the next update. Till then, take care!
Varenna is one of the towns on the edge of Lake Como. It's one of the larger lakes in the Italian Lake District which is an area south of the Swiss Alps mountain range and about 30 kilometers away from the border of Switzerland to its north. We walked to the ferry terminal of Varenna and bought tickets for the next ferry to Bellagio, another town on Lake Como that'll be our base camp for our short stay here. There was some comical confusion in identifying the correct ferry since the ferry that arrived right before the ferry to Bellagio was going to the town of Menaggio! Every person standing at the dock waiting for their ferry asked about the name of the destination town. The poor ticket checker resorted to shouting "Menaggio with an M" after at least two dozen people had interrogated him. We can easily imagine that happening every day and it makes you wonder why aren't the names not changed to make them a little easier to identify! Oh well, the ferry arrived at 3:10 pm and we reached Bellagio (with a B) after about half an hour.
The lake is gorgeous with clear blue water that sparkled in the bright sunlight of a warm day with a backdrop of lush green mountains and snow capped peaks of the Swiss Alps. Our ferry ride was refreshing with a cool breeze providing much needed relief on a warm summer day. The town of Bellagio is famous for its villas with flowery gardens that are so picturesque that people take tours through them. It's also famous for being the location where a great many Hollywood movies have been filmed and is home to a villa owned by George Clooney. Another claim to fame is that the hotel Bellagio in Las Vegas gets its name from this town and its architecture is inspired by the villas of this Italian Lake District town.
We made a strategic mistake in deciding to bring our bags with us and staying overnight in Bellagio. In retrospect, we should've either done a day trip from Milan by leaving early or we should've rented a car and driven here. The train/ferry combo actually takes longer because unlike the highway, it's not a direct route. The warm weather and having to lug two big suitcases up and down stairs at each subway/ferry station is not worth the effort unless you're planning on staying in Bellagio for two or three days. Even in that case, driving is probably a better idea. Our one day stay will probably not give us enough time to do justice to this breathtaking town.
We are staying at the most recognizable hotel in town that is actually a villa itself with beautiful gardens and winding roads. We are staying at one of the apartments in the residence of the hotel which is in a building farther removed from the main hotel building. Our apartment has a living room and a kitchenette in addition to the usual bedroom and washroom. After checking in and resting in our room for a little while, we headed out for a stroll around 6:30 pm. The temperature had gone down by this time and the weather was just perfect. We walked through the peaceful gardens of our hotel and sat at a bench by the lake to marvel at the scene - the blue water with the sound of splashing waves, the chirping birds, the backdrop of the green mountains, the outline of the Swiss Alps, the distant hum of the engine of ferry boats - it was one of those moments in life that live in your memory forever. We continued walking through our hotel's gardens and then stopped at our hotel's concierge desk to get dinner recommendations. After we had picked our restaurant, we walked to its location in the town center.
Dinner was splendid. We had mashed potatoes topped with mushrooms and French onion soup for appetizer. Our main entrees were Basa fish for Samia and chicken in tarragon sauce for me. We finished off the meal with apple crumble for dessert. Every dish was made fresh so dinner was an elaborate affair that took about two hours! Food in Italy is one of the major highlight of the country for foodies like us - the people love their food and any city or town you go to, they always have fresh and local ingredients.
After dinner, we walked back to our hotel and enjoyed a live musical performance of violin and piano specially arranged for the entertainment of hotel guests. Then we got back to the apartment and are going to call it a night now. We will try to wake up early to possibly visit the best garden in Bellagio before we leave the Italian Lake District to travel south to the Italian Riviera, specifically the Cinque Terre region. Tomorrow will be another day with a lot of transit time before our itinerary starts slowing down. You'll find all about that in the next update. Till then, take care!
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