Brandon had to be at school by 8:15 for his 2 night class trip to Castello di San Sebastian. It's located in the Piedmont region of Italy, near the French border. He was very excited to go. We packed him up last night and he was ready. I think he's going to have a great time. Two nights sleeping in a castle....how cool is that! I want to go. This morning we recieved a text message from the school that the kids arrived around 11am. This evening we received another text that the weather has been great and the kids have been well behaved. They were back at the castle after an afternoon nature hike with a guide, and were getting ready for dinner. We can't wait to here all about it on Friday night.
In the meantime, Katrina and I were able to go away to our own two night trip to Bellagio, on Lago di Como. First off, I'd like to clear up some misinformation out there. Bellagio is not where George Clooney has a house. His villa is in Lagio, on the other side of the lake.
Katrina and I left the house around 9:30, driving towards Lecco then along Lago di Como towards Bellagio. Once you reach the lake the road becomes very narrow and winding. Not much more than one lane at times, with the lake on one side and the mountain on the other. It was an absolutely beautiful drive, although a little slow going.
We arrived in Bellagio around 11am and met Flavio. He led us into the city center and to some parking near the apartment. We are staying at the Residence Il Borgo. We are staying in the room with the reddish orange comforter - the second floor pictures. We were a little early for check in and Flavio needed to finish cleaning the apartment, so we wandered around Bellagio for a bit.
Bellagio considers itself the 'Pearl of the Lake'. Its an upscale town where shopping and adventure await. It thrives on tourism, yet keeps its cute village charm.
Our first stop was St James Basilica in Piazza San Giacomo. It is considered to be one of the best examples of Lombard-Romanesque style architecture in the whole region. It was built at the end of the 11th century and early 12th century.
We admired the beautiful architecture while working our way down to the waterfront. We strolled along the promenade, then worked our way back up the steps to the room. Flavio was waiting for us. Our room was ready and was quite nice. Its a small studio type apartment with a kitchenette. Everything was very clean and fairly new. Another Rick Steve's guidebook find.
After unpacking a bit, we were very hungry, so we worked our way down to the waterfront again. We found a great restaurant with excellent food. Lunch would turn out to be our big meal of the day. Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of the place. I had pasta with salmon sauce, then trout with vegetables. Katrina had a very tasty risotto, as well as trout with vegetables. We both enjoyed a glass of red wine.
After lunch we decided to follow a 'Historical Tour & Itinerary of the Central Part of the Town'. It was on a brochure we found in the room. It started on the waterfront, where we found a dark stone column with an insription on it giving us details of the level of the lake's waters during the floods of 1829 and 1868. Moving on we passed the Grand Villa Serbelloni. It was once a villa and is now a very high end hotel.
Next we headed to the promontory called the Punta Spartivento, which means the point where the wind divides. This is the point where the lake splits itself into three branches: the Lecco branch, the Como branch and the Colico branch to the north. In a more colorful description, a local poem says, "Lake Como is a man, with Colico the head, Lecco and Como the feet, and Bellagio the testicles." In Italian it rhymes! Some Italians also say this is why Bellagio is called the 'jewel' of the lake.
Working our way back into town we walked past the basilica, since we already looked at it, and worked our way through the upper old town. Katrina stopped to buy a couple of scarves. We also viewed a tower, part of Bellagio's medieval defence system. We also stepped inside St George's Chapel, another 11th century church.
We finished the tour back down on the waterfront. What a great view of Bellagio.
We decided to walk down the waterfront to The Gardens of Villa Melzi. The gardens of Villa Melzi stretch out along the lakeside, harmoniously blending into the hilly scenery of the Bellagio pennisula..." The Villa and its outbuildings were completed in 1810 for Francesco Melzi d'Eril, Duke of Lodi, vice president of the Italian Republic under Napoleon. The architect was Giocondo Albertolli. The scenery (landscape) designer was Alessandro Sanquirico. The English gardens were designed by Luigi Canoncia.
Fountain near entrance.
View of Lago di Como.
Oriental garden with water lilly pool. This made Katrina think of Monet.
Frescoe of Lariana origins on display in the Orangery. The Orangery, once a conservatory for citrus plants in the winter months, now has artifacts on display.
Cannon from the first Italian compaign of 1796.
Keys to the city of Milano.
Gardens behind Villa.
Giant beautiful palm trees, with carriage house underneath.
If I could talk to the animals. I asked this lizard to stop running away and pose for me, so he did - a better reaction than I got from a buffalo in Yellowstone a few years ago!
View from the Villa terrace.
Marble statue from the 16th century.
Dante and Beatrice by the sculptor Giambattista Comolli.
We decided to take a roundtrip ride on a ferry before late evening. We rode to the other side of the lake, with stops at Villa Carlotta, Tremezzo, Lenno, San Giovanni and back to Bellagio.
Beautiful clouds and sun during our boat ride.
Heading back towards Bellagio.
Arriving back in Bellagio we decided to stop for aperitivo - having a drink and snacks, kind of like happy hour. We both had a mixed drink and shared some peanuts, chips and olives.
Katrina decided she would like to head out to the Punta Spartimento again. We walked out to the point and out onto the breakwater wall to watch the sunset. It was a beautiful evening. Unfortunatly, the sunset just did not happen as Katrina wished - for her photos of course. We had a nice time just watching the sun go down and watching the lake.
On our way back to our room we stopped for dinner at a pizzaria. We had a nice 'light' dinner and headed back to our room with very tired feet and bodies.
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