Day 0 – 2 Lake Como Area
Varenna
Saturday, October 17, 2015
Varenna street overlooking Lake Como.
By the time we arrived at the Varenna train station, we were pretty worn out, and in need of a bathroom. This was the first true moment of culture shock. We saw the sign for the toilette and hustled over. When we looked inside, all there was was a porcelain basin in the ground, marked by two shoe-shaped indentations. We had encountered our first “squatty potty”! We opted to wait to use the bathroom at the hotel, praying it wouldn’t be the same. We were grateful for a cab down the hill into lovely Varenna.
Our first glimpse of a squatty potty. Not sure either of us have the coordination to make this work.
We arrived in Varenna to find a quiet little village with colorful buildings, narrow, cobblestone streets and warm and friendly people. Our hotel, the Royal Victoria, was at the edge of the little square called Piazza San Giorgio. The hotel room was attractive and comfortable; the staff were kind and helpful. After we unpacked we headed right out to get to know Varenna. We walked through the narrow streets till dark, then found our way into the little Cafe Varenna, a restaurant near the lake. I had some ravioli and Maryann had a salad with tuna. The skies opened up just as we were leaving, so we were pretty damp but happy when we found our way back to the hotel. We ended up sleeping about 13 hours that first night, missing breakfast and never even hearing the 7am church bells. From that point on we were on Italian time with no real jet lag.
The hotel breakfasts at the Royal Victoria were much more than the continental breakfasts we had anticipated! Several kinds of meats and cheeses, coffee, juice, breads, eggs, yogurt and pastries, all mouth-watering. Delicious Italian coffee. We had seen reference to something called ‘Speck’ on some menus in the area. We had gleaned that it was a type of smoked meat. We asked Livio, the attentive manager of the bar and breakfast area, if it was one of the breakfast offerings we had seen. He said no but motioned for us to wait. He disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a small plate containing several slices for us to try. It was good and reminded us of prosciutto.
Lecco
Larger than Varenna but smaller than Milan, Lecco offers a beautiful view and lots of shopping.
Larger than Varenna but smaller than Milan, Lecco offers beauty and lots of shopping. On Saturday we decided to take a short ride on the train to Lecco to get SIM cards for the cell phones. After getting a little lost we found the TIM store. Getting Kerry’s phone working took about 15 minutes once she provided her passport and printed confirmation sheet. We had hoped to get the same plan for the second phone we decided to bring, but it was only available online and the clerk was unable to help with that. We ended up around the corner at another one of Italy’s cellular companies, WIND. The clerk spoke little English and we spoke next to no Italian. Fortunately they had some brochures in English showing a simple plan for a few minutes, but no internet. We settled for that and 25 euros later we had two working cell phones. We were ready!
“An interesting side note: Apparently, surnames are fairly regional in Italy. The young woman who helped us at WIND heard my last name, DeSimone, and guessed it was from Naples. Close, I said. Calabria, actually, but definitely southern Italy!”-M
Varenna from the ferry. The red X marks the Castle of Vezio and the tallest building on the right is the Church of San Giorgio.
Gardens, Birds, and Castello di Vezio
Sunday, October 18, 2015
On Sunday we decided to explore several local places that interested us. We found the local ornithology museum to get a sense of area birdlife, then wandered happily in the Gardens at Villa Cipressi as well as the lovely musuem and gardens of Il Monastero. After a quick panini lunch, we ventured beyond Varenna a bit to climb the hill to Castello di Vezio. We were particularly attracted to the falconry exhibit and were excited to note that, barring rain, one was scheduled for a time we could visit! The hike up to the castle took us a bit longer than some of the local information said it would, but it was very doable as long as we were careful.
A roughly 45 minute hike from Varenna up to the Castello di Vezio made for a great view. There were several of the plaster casts around the grounds. Perhaps for All Souls Day?
What we didn’t realize at the time we set out was that there were two ways up to the castle, and one was much more ‘rugged’ than the other. We ended up going up on the more rugged ‘goat path’ and coming down on the cobblestone path. The roughly 45 minute (each way) walk was beautiful and the views of Varenna and the lake were breathtaking. It was an overcast day, which added to the atmosphere of the old castle and the plaster figures that inhabited it. We wondered if they were meant to signify spirits, since it was almost the Feast of All Saints, November 1st, the day when people honor the dead.
Harris’s Hawk, one of the birds at Castle of Vezio.
The falconry exhibit consisted of the handler and one of the birds, a Harris’ Hawk. About a dozen people watched, mesmerized by the show. The young man spoke in Italian so we missed a lot of background information, but was well worth the walk. In addition to some great photos, Kerry picked up a t-shirt on the way out at the snack bar before we headed back to Varenna. Tonight we were to meet our tour guide and the rest of our fellow travelers, so we left before the show ended..
We were excited to meet our group at the hotel at 5pm, and happy to consume some delicious snacks and champagne while Lisa Anderson, our guide, and Alexis Trucco, her assistant, told us about the tour. As we each made brief introductions, shared what we wanted from the tour, and spent some time chatting, we got our first glimpses of who our travel companions might be.
Then, Lisa asked us to pick our ‘buddy.’ We don’t know if this is a practice specific to Rick Steves Tours or if other companies do the same thing. In either case, it is a great idea. The idea is to pick a buddy that ISN’T your travel partner, if you have one. Rather than having to do a headcount throughout the trip, we had ‘buddy checks’. Each person had to make eye contact with their buddy. If nobody spoke up that their buddy was missing, it could be assumed that all travelers were present.
After the initial meeting, Lisa and Alexis led us on an orientation tour of Varenna. The tour included some local history, places of interest, and our dinner options (we were on our own). A number of us ended up going to one of the places Lisa suggested and had a great time getting acquainted.
Taking the Ferry to Bellagio
Monday, October 19, 2015
Beautiful Bellagio
After a quick breakfast the group met for a short walk to the ferry terminal. These were nothing like the jumbo ferries we have in the Seattle area! These tiny boats hold few cars but carry a fair number of walk-on passengers. Lisa provided us with a day pass, schedule, and a brief lesson on Lake Como ferry travel. She told us about the different attractions in the area and as a group we headed over to Bellagio. After a visit to a beautiful old church, the 11th century Basilica Di San Giacomo we were on our own. (Several folks were on a George Clooney watch! A pair took a boat ride and were treated to a water view of his “compound.”)
Much smaller than the birds we call Robins in the US. The European Robin has a beautiful song.
While some opted for shopping, we picked up a historical tour map at the TI office and set out to get to know something more about Bellagio history. Our favorite stop was the beautiful gardens at Villa Melzi. Even in late October there was a lot of color to behold. We wandered the lovely grounds, imagining what it was like to live there, then sat a while enjoying the glorious Fall sunshine. Our ferry pass meant that we could have visited several other lakeside towns, but after several hours of walking, we opted to head back to Varenna.
“But, as usual, I needed a bathroom first. With appreciation, I saw a sign for a toilette near the dock. So, I walked over and tried to open the door. It didn’t budge. Then I remembered most toilettes were pay toilettes, and tried to put some coins in. No go. A kind woman pointed out the digital display on the wall. ‘It’s still cleaning,’ she said. I was a little confused, but waited until it said it was complete. Then it took my coins and a large, metal door opened. Inside, everything (walls, etc!) was shiny and WET! I had just encountered a self-cleaning toilette. The adventure continued inside. I couldn’t find the toilet paper because, of course, it had to be sealed away to stay dry when the water poured down over everything. I’m grateful I figured out how to access this necessity before the door automatically opened after 15 minutes, apparently to avoid anyone using the space for anything illicit! The encounter gave us lots of laughs on the way back to Varenna”-M
That night a number of us met with Lisa and Alexis in the patio area behind the hotel, overlooking the lake. It was a relaxing way to end a beautiful and active day and allowed us more time to get to know our fellow travelers. Tomorrow we would leave Varenna for a quick day trip to Verona before heading out to the Dolomites. Not wanting to oversleep, it was an early night for us.