Lago di Como: lake and mountains

What a prospect! This is a picture of Lake Como, looking south towards Bellagio and the Lake's split into two branches. Henry took it when he climbed (by himself; I had to nap) up to Castle Vezio, a medieval fortress that overlooks Varenna. Here's a picture I had taken earlier of the castle, from out in the Lake:

In spite of rather persistent hazy air, the Lake and its surrounding scenery are really spectacular. In fact, in some ways the haze enhances the magical nature of the surroundings...

The dramatic nature of today's Lake Como scenery is a result of dramatic geologic forces: the Lake is glacier-cut, and it's amazing to imagine what these young, rugged mountains must have looked like with enormous glaciers cutting through them, where the lakes of this district are today. The glacier that cut Lake Como must have been huge, since it's incredibly deep, one of the deepest lakes in Europe.

It's also rather long, and we only got to see a small section of it, but that was certainly impressive enough.

I wish I'd had the energy to climb up to Castle Vezio with Henry, but we both got some wonderful scenic views on the boat ride we'd taken earlier in the afternoon. 

Most of the pictures in this post were taken during aur trip over to the other side of the Lake, on a vessel like this one...

We wanted to tour one of the Lake's famous villas, the Villa Carlotta in Tremezzo, a small town not far south of the larger Menaggio. (I'll show you what that was like next time), 

But the first stop our boat made was at the more famous Bellagio, a resort town situated where the Lake splits into its two southern branches. (This point of land is called La Punta Spartivento, or the "Point that Splits the Wind"; much more poetic than some other nicknames it has, since if Lake Como is vaguely man-shaped, Bellagio sits at his privates.)

Here's our boat approaching La Punta...

...here's a look at some of Bellagio's extravagant-looking buildings, with even more extravagant mountains in the background...

...and here's a panoramic shot that shows the positions of both Varenna (red line on the left) and Bellagio (line on the right) as seen from further down the western branch of the Lake, near Tremezzo...

The Lake is certainly beautiful, but what makes the scenery especially memorable are the spectacular mountains that frame it. Here's another town, Menaggio, with its mountain backdrop...

Close as we were to Switzerland here—it's just on the other side of this massive ridge—the amazing mountains are what one should expect. (And don't worry, if you want more mountain pictures; at our next destination we got to see even more amazing peaks, and I took lots of pictures there, a selection of which I'll share with you.)

But in the meantime, as a teaser for my Villa Carlotta post, here's a view of the Lake from that estate's extensive gardens...

And I'll close with two more favorite Lake shots. This first is another of Henry's from up at Castle Vezio, and the last is sunset from our favorite perch on the chairs at L'Orso Café, as we had a delightful dinner. 

Knowing we would be leaving this enchanted place the next morning made us a little sad, but our great European adventure was just beginning and we had many more wonderful sights to see and experiences to savor.

But before we leave Varenna, I have one more post to write, about the lovely gardens and rooms of Villa Carlotta.

Lago di Como: more Varenna

After a nice night's sleep and a hearty breakfast at our hotel, we spent our first Italian morning touring Varenna, mostly by way of their handy scenic walkway. It leads from "our" part of town near the ferry dock to the village's main square.

Looking lakeward are great views like the photo you see at the top of this post. (Don't worry, I'll give you lots more lake scenery in my next missive.) Toward the shore are luxuriant vines and other landscaping elements, decorating some pretty fancy residences...

The walkway is labelled as the "Greenway dei Patriarchi," not, apparently a nod to Italian machismo, but rather to the wise elderly of Varenna. And we think we were wise elderly visitors ourselves, so it fits, no?

The Greenway extends further up and down the lakeshore than the snippet that we enjoyed walking, and the views are tremendous, as I think you'll agree.

We took in several interesting sights in Varenna's charming square (as well as a mandatory gelato break on our way home).

The major sight is the Chiesa di San Giorgio, a handsome medieval structure...

(thanks to Henry for this picture, which came out better than mine)

...whose rather plain exterior hides some gorgeous frescoes and amazing stonework on its baroque altar.

I guess at some point I will need to count up the number of churches we visited on this trip, but I

know it was a lot.

It's hard to pass up even one of these structures, knowing the treasures that probably are tucked within. And not just visual treasures but interesting tidbits as well. 

For example, since this church is named for St. George, there's this cute window you see on the left. I'd always associated this saint with England, but he's apparently popular in Italy as well, since this isn't the last time we'll see that dragon slain.

And S. Giorgio isn't even the only church here! There's a lovely baroque chapel—Chiesa Santa Maria delle Grazie—right on the square...

...and another, much older church is just a few steps away: Chiesa San Giovanni Battista.  Would you believe eleventh century?!

That's one of the biggest adjustments you have to make over here: re-thinking what "old" means. There have been people living, working, and worshiping around this fabulous lake for a long, long time.

(BTW, I eventually plan to offer a series of posts featuring all the churches we saw and their marvelous art. So if you're as taken with European churches as we are, be sure to stay tuned!)

Another manifestation of the age of the town are the narrow, steep, pre-auto walkways that count as many of Varenna's streets...

Tiny, and oh, so photogenic!

We didn't follow the Greenway too much farther south than the main square, but we did get this nice view from the lobby of the Villa Monastero, a sight we had decided to pass up.

We had already decided to see another villa across the lake instead, and I'll tell you about that fabulous estate after I show you some of the great lake scenery that we were treated to on the ride over.

Wordless Wednesday: does anybody really know what time it is?

Lago di Como: Varenna

Varenna is this lovely little village, where we first rested our weary heads after a long day of travel from Houston, Texas, to northern Italy. Our connection in Paris was seriously screwed up (more about this when I tell you about all of our transportation adventures) but we eventually made it to Milan, picked up our tiny rental car, and headed north to this gorgeous lake and picturesque Varenna.

It's situated in the scenic mid-lake area, on the east shore. Menaggio, just across the lake, is bigger, and ritzier Bellagio, with its famous name, isn't far to the southwest, where the mid-section of the Como man-shape splits into its two legs. 

After months of debating and studying and planning, we ended up just going with Rick Steves' recommendation, a strategy that's hardly ever steered us wrong. Varenna's his favorite lake spot, and we enjoyed it thoroughly.

I thought I'd show you a few panoramic shots of the town, followed by some specific landmarks that did a lot to welcome us to Italy and soothe our travel-frazzled nerves.

my first shot of Lake Como, over Varenna's photogenic rooftops

the hills that push the village right up against the lakeshore

looking across at "downtown Varenna" from the ferry dock

another look at the village from out in the lake
(we were on a boat ride I'll tell you about later)

Unlike some of the later stops in the driving part of our vacation, we had no trouble finding our Hotel Montecodeno (another Rick Steves recommendation). We even found a parking place right across the street, which was extremely lucky (going by all the folks we saw lugging suitcases down the street over the next two days). Here's the hotel (note the red rectangle) and our little car (thick red line; I'll have a better picture of it for you later)...

Yes, the streets are incredibly narrow! That and the high price of gasoline made the choice of the smallest car we could rent a no-brainer.

The hotel is in a perfect location, just a block from the ferry dock where some of the great views I've already shown you are on offer. There's also a great little osteria/pub right there: L'Orso Café Hostaria...

The red line in the photo below points to the awnings over these tables; this gives you an idea of the great location of this establishment. (The staff are super nice and the food is great. Yes, Rick Steves likes it, too.)

And here's the view as we sipped our wine at L'Orso on our first evening in Italy....

Is it surprising that this tourist, tired as she is, is smiling?

The next morning, after a restful night's sleep, we had a nice [included] breakfast at our hotel and set out to make the most of our one full day in this lovely spot.

Super-trip super teasers

It feels really weird to be home again, after spending almost three weeks on the other side of the globe. (Jet lag seems to hit harder than it used to, as well; has someone researched this?)

But I'm excited to get started telling you about this marvelous vacation, which will certainly rate as one of the best we've ever taken.

Here's a more or less random selection of photos (although in order, for the most part) from the great variety of places we visited, just to give you an idea of what's to come in this space...

looking across Lago di Como from our base in Varenna

Schlern/Sciliar from Kastelruth/Castelrotto in the South Tirol/Alto Adige

mountain villages from a winding road

Torre del Mangia, etc., in Siena

ceilings in the Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

so many grapes! just a snap out the window of some of the miles and miles
and miles of vines along the Autostrada

covered bridge over the Pegnitz in Nürnberg's old town

looking down the Danube Narrows

a sample of exquisite glassware in the Glasmuseum Passau

one of the charming agricultural villages in the Wachau Valley

a whimsical window display at Cafe Demel in Vienna

variety of spire and roof decoration at the Mattias Church in Budapest

Whew! And, in addition to the magic of all of these wonderful places, the second half of our trip was aboard this magical vessel...

...one of the most fun ways to travel that it's possible to imagine! 

My plan is to take you day-by-day through our stops in northern Italy, Germany, Austria, and Hungary. Plus I've envisioned special thematic posts on everything from food to church floor and ceiling art to museums to shipboard life. I hope you will enjoy reading about it as much as I'll enjoying re-living the experience with you.