Milan 2012: Varenna, Lake Como

I'm sorry for the sudden absence. The renovation of my house has come to the point where the electricity has to be cut off for the safety of the workers and I have no idea how to connect my modem to the house next door. My gadget whizz kid, Ming, is in Shanghai, together with his siblings. They are in freezing -2 C Shanghai at the invitation of their sister, who is generously paying for everything, although someone told me she saw a video on FB of Wey begging on a street in Hangzhou. Lucky for them, I can't verify that because I have been having limited access to Facebook, during times when my iPad gets connected through Hub's 3G on his phone. So here I am, in Hub's office, finishing the overdue posts on my trip to Lake Como.

All the photos on our trip to Lake Como were taken by the iPad. I had forgotten to bring the charger for my camera to the Lake. Nothing unusual, I do that all the time. If it's not the charger, it's the memory card. Anyway, although the iPad photos aren't too shabby, I do wish I had a proper camera instead. Lake Como and the towns around it are gorgeous, with some of the best sceneries I've ever seen. We were lucky to be there in October when the tourists have mostly gone away. I hear that Lake Como is the summer can be unbearably crowded, hot and searingly sunny.

We bunked in a small hotel in Bellagio and took the ferry (about 4 euros each) to Varenna, one of the prettiest towns on the lake. The ferry stopped along the way, to smaller towns such as Menaggio. Varenna was the fourth stop. All along the way, there were terra cotta houses by the lake and up the hills. The water was mirror calm and crystal clear. I kept thinking how wonderful it would be to live for a couple of weeks in a small house, or just a room, by the lake. I could go for long walks, write that book, read by the balcony, eat at little restaurants or cook my own truffles and pasta. Ah, the ultimate holiday.




This is Varenna, prettiest town I've seen on Lake Como.








The buildings are set on the hills, connected by narrow alleys. Through the gaps, you can see the lake, framed by the yellow, brick and red buildings. Each gap gives a different picture.




Up the hill, the roads are narrow and the buildings are set right on the roads.

We explored Varenna for about 3 hours before taking the ferry back to Bellagio. Although Varenna is very small, without the restaurants and shops of Bellagio, it deserves a whole day of exploring. There's an old church, the village square with a few restaurants around it, the small roads up the hills are lined with beautiful houses and villas, and some movie star just might walk out to throw the thrash. Just sit by the lake or fish for pike and trout, as a man and his son were doing, or strum on a mini guitar or even watch the dogs romancing each other. What a life.