We had to take the bus to the Monza train station, but we didn't have any bus tickets. Our neighborhood gelateria sells tickets, but it is not open at 10am. Supposedly, the bus drivers can sell tickets, but it seems to only be when they feel like it. We decided to hop on the bus and see what happened. The driver told us he wouldn't sell any and that we could get them at the gelateria. Hmmm. I told him it was closed. Then a ticket controller walked up from the back of the bus. These controllers hop on various buses to check for validated tickets. I explained our dilemma. He didn't seem to care too much and instructed the bus driver to let us off somewhere down the road. Then a nice lady sitting nearby started argueing with the bus driver, telling him he could just sell us a ticket and not be so stubborn. In the end, she offered us one of her extra tickets. I paid her for it and we rode to the train station.
Our train ride to Como was uneventful. Its about a 40 min ride to Como that costs two of us 4 euro each way.
Once in Como, we walked into the old city center and decided to find the hobby shop. I wanted to know what time they reopened after the lunch break. I had a couple of things I wanted to buy, but didn't want to carry them around all day.
A nice place to take a break, how handy.
High Five!
Once we knew they reopened at 3pm, we headed towards the lakefront. I was really hungry to lunch, but we didn't want Italian food. Good ole McDonalds did the trick. A hamburger and fries are very tasty every once in awhile.
Once again, we headed toward the waterfront. I had promised Brandon that we could rent a paddle boat, so we did. Brandon drove while I took pictures and peddled. We had a great time cruising around the harbor. We had planned on going for an hour, but the attendant talked us into only 30 min. He told us, "MOLTO, MOLTO Caldo" - very very hot. He was right. By the time we pulled back up to the dock we were both very sweaty and hot, but we had an excellent time.
Next destination, Brunate. Brunate is the hill town that sits above Como. Going up there is mostly about the funiculare ride and the views. I've come up with some pretty good ideas on how to build a funiculare in HO scale for my new train layout, or maybe for the club layout.
At the top we shared some drinks, watched the action in the mechanical room of the funiculare, and enjoyed the views.
Part of the funiculare track goes through a tunnel under hillside homes.
Our last stop of the day was back at the hobby shop. I bought an operational scale ski lift for my train layout. I can't wait to start working on my new layout room when we move back home.
We caught the early evening train back to Monza, the bus back to Vedano, arrived home around 6pm. I was even able to catch the last bit of the Tour de France.
We had a great day in Como. Next week we will do a day trip into Milano.
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