Day 4 - Varenna and Bellagio

Ferry to Varenna. That's
Menaggio in the background.

Up early for breakfast, we were going to find the bi-weekly Friday market and grab some provisions for a picnic lunch. We nixed that when we were told that it was very, very small and no really went there.  Darn the luck. We tried to picnic on our trip ten years ago and never seemed to make it happen. Maybe in Varenna...

We caught the ferry for Varenna, directly across the lake from Menaggio.  It seems inexpensive at 4.6E, but when I remember that a bus ride lasting an hour is only 5E, the 15 minute boat ride seems a bit pricy.  This particular boat also holds cars and the grumpy young guys running the thing will not put up with much dilly dallying around. The ferry leaves the dock and bumbles its way across the lake.  It's only calmed down a little bit from last night when there were some serious whitecaps, some a foot tall.  The wind coming down the valley out of the Alps can be severe and it's pretty nippy this morning.  

Once we docked, we made our way into Varenna proper. Guessing the way to go, we chose the shady lake promenade,  very pretty but very cold. Varenna has not woken up yet, and the town is quiet except for a cat or two and an old man carrying what appears to be an extremely large chianti bottle on his shoulder.  The path is lined with the gardens of villas and interesting statuary. There is a peaceful solitude here. 

We find the main piazza with its requisite church and go in. Like the town, it's very quiet and I find myself putting some coins in the box and lighting a candle, I think for the first time. I say a prayer for a safe trip and an easy way home. We're going to need all the help we can get. 

As the shops are still closed, we wind our way in Villa Monastero at the southern end of town. The house itself is closed but 5E gets you in the medium sized gardens. As it's practically early fall, the flowers are down to begonias, salvia, coleus and a few I don't recognize. But the varieties of palms was enormous and they had some of the biggest, believe it or not, magnolias any of us had ever seen. Like the town, the gardens were quiet. We were the only souls there for the longest time, save several gardeners.

Varenna Local

Knowing we had to catch a ferry to Bellagio by noon, we headed back through the town to check out the stores who were now open.  The aforementioned scarfs were bought and we were now poised and ready to spring into action should we for some reason need to pretend to be British. Still no luck finding picnic provisions.

From Villa Monastero

Varenna is supposed to be more touristy than our little town on Managgio but, on this weekend, anyway,  I disagree.  Maybe it was because the town was still sleeping but I'm not so sure... I ended up in a two sentence conversation with an young American man who said, "Good luck finding anything opened after two as well". Maybe he doesn't know about siesta time, from about 1 to 3, when just about everything closes up. What a beautiful custom. 

(As I write this, now in Asciano, it's seven pm and there are dogs everywhere going absolutely NUTS, some barking and some howling. I think they must be hunting as we've seen several local men with shotguns and Sherre heard shots early this morning).

Bellagio

Approaching Bellagio (the third town in the "golden triangle" of Lake Como) from the water, I find it has the least attractive overall appearance of the three and is certainly the biggest Mecca for the tourists. Shopping here seems to be much higher end. The place is packed to the gills and I can't imagine being here in August.  Crowds, yes, but then add the heat on top of that? Our weather for today as calmed down. The winds have calmed down and it's starting to heat up, here in mid-September to probably 85.  Just warm enough. But even with the crowds, the streets seem to be more  quaint here for some reason. Maybe they're more narrow and there are more flowers. 

An epic fail in the picnic provision search, we each grab a slice of pizza and sit on a bench outside of one of the lesser churches and watch the crowd go by. We're sitting toward the end of town so it's not near as crowded, the simply fantastic classical guitar playing of a busker in front of the church to serenade our otherwise basic lunch. 

Bellagio Water Taxis

Time's a wasting and we'd better get a move on down to the pier to meet Lucca and his Australian wife Jennie at Bellagio Boat Tours for our pre-booked tour of the lake and the Villa Balbianello. I find Jennie and she's talking on the phone to a child with threats about how he best better have everything ready for school. Some things are universal and we discuss the numerous times  we had to make a poster last minute (me) or find a track suit (Jennie).

My name is Lucca...

Lucca, just about as cute as we imagined, almost a stereotype, with his sun kissed, tousled hair and blue and white striped shirt, gives us a bit of lecture on boat etiquette: standing is ok but not bracelets scratching the wooden rail, no knees on the seats and no rocks in your shoes.  It's no wonder. The boat is absolutely beautiful, immaculate polished wood, leather bench seating in perfect shape.

We set off with about 14 in the boat. I thought it'd be crowded but the other passengers (a couple of English couples, two older American women and a small group of Europeans) are pleasant enough.  We do a short tour on a small part of the lake. Didn't see a huge area but Lucca does a nice commentary and his English is understandable.  The boat drops us at the villa and we join Monica for a tour of the house and see the gardens on our own. The most interesting thing about it was that the owner, an Italian man who never married, had a keen interest in traveling and the much of the house was filled with his memorabilia from his travels all over the world. The collection includes a sled from a trip to the north pole made in the traditional way and his gear from a Mt. Everest expedition.  

Villa Balbianello

Lucca picks us up and takes back to Bellagio where we commence some serious shopping. Acquisitions include cruets, hand painted bowls and the requisite t-shirts, cap, magnets. My only purchase was oil and vinegar stoppers. We also have our second gellatos of the day, the first being in Varenna.

Enoteca Cava Turacciolo

Belaggio is complete with a visit to Enoteca Cava Turacciolo, a wonderful find (thank you Trip Advisor and Doug's friend Sarah who lives in Varenna). It's a tiny little place where I discover that cheese is fantastic with honey on top. Who knew?!

We take the ferry back to Menaggio and have dinner at a place we'd previously spotted just around the corner from our hotel. The name escapes me but the service does not.... It was absolutely horrible.  Granted they're busy, but I just can't get use to the Italian way of completely ignoring you until they have time to give you service. Once you get it, it's generally good but the wait can be mind blowing.  The stand out of the dinner was probably Ann's gnocchi with Gorgonzola sauce. Sherre had macaroni type pasta with a simple ragu. I had an insalda mista (mix salad, as opposed to plain lettuce) and a strange thing described as a "typical cake with potato and cheese". It was like a German potato pancake only thicker and slightly less greasy. So so. 

The best thing I ate today?  Ann's gorgonzola gnocchi. Hands down. And I hate Gorgonzola. Oh wait, maybe it was the cheese with the honey.

We take turns the bathroom with the toilet that sounds like either a cat whining or a small toot (I can't figure it out) and go to bed.