The Great Outsmores

After leaving Tuscany, we travelled by train via Milan to Como (the town) at the base of Lake Como in the Italian lakes district. We then hopped a 100+ seat hydrofoil that took us to our home for the next few days, Bellagio, Italy. That afternoon was great, but by evening, thunderstorms threatened to wreak havoc on my plans to climb Mount Grona the next day…

So we poked around Bellagio and it’s neighboring town Menaggio, finding a whole bunch of cool historical stuff, but no mountain tops Best of which was a church in Bellagio shown here:

On Thursday, we thought it prudent to push back our plans to go to Venice, and stay an extra day. It was a great idea (more on that later). We rented a kayak and cruised the lake a bit in the morning, and then caught the ferry to another lake village, Varenna. This one turned out to be a most splendid town, we got two cocktails, two glasses of wine, lunch, and limoncello for $20 euro! Did I mention we sat a couple meters from the water?

Lake Como from the water:

Lake Como from our hotel:

Varenna, Italy on Lake Como:

On Friday, we got to take a bus from Menaggio to Lugano Switzerland. The bus stop in Menaggio is actually situated next to the lake, so waiting on it was even a charm. Once aboard, the bus climbed it’s way over the mountains and then descended next to Piano lake on it’s way to Lake Lugano. The bus ride was spectacular, following the North edge of Lake Lugano all the way over the border with Switzerland, and into the city of Lugano. We only got to see Lugano for a few hours, but it is certianly a place where I will return.

Lugano, on the lake of the same name:

One last photo I caught the morning before leaving for Venice:

A final note about Venice: Even though we arranged a hotel looking over the Grand Canal during the Venice Historical Regatta (which was very cool), I would advise anybody going to Italy to skip it without reservation. It is a dirty, nasty city, blending the worst aspects of the French Quarter and Disneyworld together and they even give tourists menus with higher prices than they would give to others. To that degree, the best part about Venice was the flight out. We flew just south of the alps, at the border with Switzerland, at sun rise. Can anybody pick out the Matterhorn?

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Finally a little caught up with the day job, and thought I’d give an update on our trip to Itlay. The main reason for our journey was my wife’s cousin’s marriage in San Gimignano, or San Jimmy as we affectionately call it. It’s a twelfth century city in the heart of Tuscany, and was like nothing I’ve ever seen. We spent three days there that allowed for a couple hikes and a lot of great, insanely cheap wine.

Here’s the wedding:

Upon arrival, we got to do some walking with wine in hand, and explore our surroundings a bit. Below is the view out our hotel room, on the way to a little walk-a-bout Italian style. Not bad for 60 euros…

Here’s a shot from the ridge above us to the South:

Somehow, after lord knows how much wine I had at the wedding, I was able to get up before dawn and walk off a couple miles among olive trees and grapevines. With the dim glow of the sun growing in the East, I set out for some photos and excercise. What greated me was remarkable, roosters crowed from all over the place, clouds hung low in the valleys, and lights began to glow in the houses all over as my neighbors began to wake to their espressi and cappiciono.

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It’s been a little difficult keeping focused on the new blog lately, my wife and I are leaving tomorrow on a trip of a lifetime. We’ll be in Italy for the week and a half, traveling and taking in the culture (read: red wine & scenery). We’re attending (yes, we’re actually invited) an authentic Italian wedding in San Gimignano in Tuscany, and then we are on to Florence, Venice, and the one I’m really pumped about: Lake Como. If anybody knows any good day hikes in or near Lake Como please comment or send me an email. I’ll be a little out of pocket until Labor Day, but will be checking email sporadically. I look forward to providing some outdoors tales Italian style when I get back, so have a great holiday weekend.

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