Trip Report: Bellagio, Milan, Venice, Cinque Terre and Piedmont
Jul 3rd, 2015, 01:30 PM
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Trip Report: Bellagio, Milan, Venice, Cinque Terre and Piedmont
Having traveled to Europe several times (Paris, London, Amsterdam, Prague, Austria, Germany) but, for reasons that now make no sense at all, having avoided Italy, my wife and I, both in our 50s, traveled to Northern Italy in mid-June for 15 days in Bellagio, Milan, Venice, Cinque Terre and the Piedmont wine country. Our itinerary was inspired by this trip report--http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/milan-venice-bellagio-piedmont-wine-country-a-day-in-the-cinque-terre.cfm--which is why I'm posting my trip report here. So, I can now say thank you to john183 for getting us started.
At first, we built the trip around Cinque Terre (because my older brother went there and loved it) and Milan (to go to La Scala) on what was going to be a 10-day holiday. But as our go-to list expanded, so did the number of days, and we finally settled on 15 nights, not wanting to rush through any stop (and not wanting to constantly pack and unpack).
Why not Rome-Florence-Venice for our first trip to Italy? Partly because we didn't want to spend our entire vacation in a tourist crush, partly because we didn't want to spend 15 days visiting museums, historic sites, etc. Put it this way: If we hadn't gone to Italy, we probably would have returned to an isolated island in the Caribbean or Bahamas, where we wouldn't have seen people for days. We hoped this trip would combine scenic beauty with great food and wine with some traditional tourism mixed in, and it did, although I will admit right up front that in 15 days, we visited only two museums, and that's if you call The Last Supper in Milan and a wine museum in Piedmont museums.
I'm pretty sure I'm going to post this trip report on a day-by-day basis, although I might go stop-to-stop. I'll try not to get too long-winded, although I might have already.
Anyway, to get things started, a few overall observations:
1. Driving in Italy. We picked up a car upon arrival at Malpensa, drove to Bellagio, then drove to Milan and dropped off the car. We picked up a car again after Venice, drove to Cinque Terre (with a brief stop in Modena for lunch) and kept it for the rest of the time. I enjoyed driving in Italy. I found the drivers to be aggressive but predictable. I didn't think they were crazy. Some of the roads, especially the last 15 miles to Monterosso, are very winding and narrow with steep dropoffs, but if you stay alert and take care, you shouldn't have a problem. Best of all, having a car enabled us to see and do some things we couldn't have done by public transportation. The hardest part about driving in Italy was figuring out the parking meters. But our rule was: white lines mean you can park there, blue lines mean you have to pay, and if there's a sign in front of the parking space, don't even try to interpret it. Just find another spot.
2. La Scala tickets. Your experience might be much different, and I think our experience was different this year as La Scala is putting on many more performances than usual because of Expo. But we had no trouble getting the seats we wanted for operas on two consecutive nights in Milan. Yes, they were pricey, but no pricier than prime orchestra seats to the Met. For one of the operas, Carmen, I bought center orchestra seats weeks after they'd been on-sale, and our second opera, Cav/Pag, never soldout.
3. We ate our way across Italy. The food was best by far in Piedmont. I'm glad we went there last. If we had gone there first, the food in other areas would have paled by comparison. Milan was second; Cinque Terre third; Bellagio fourth; Venice fifth. That said, we had great food everywhere and were blown away by the pasta.
4. Eating and drinking well in Italy can be very cheap, much cheaper than in the U.S.
5. Other than in Piedmont, everyone speaks English. We tried to open all conversations with a little bit of Italian, just to be polite and respectful, but, other than in Piedmont, everyone responded to us in English. They had us pegged! Some people even apologized for their English. We said, "We're in your country! We should apologize!"
6. Other than in Milan, we didn't think people dressed differently than they do anywhere else.
Well, that's my opening statement! Thanks again, john183. It was truly a memorable vacation.
At first, we built the trip around Cinque Terre (because my older brother went there and loved it) and Milan (to go to La Scala) on what was going to be a 10-day holiday. But as our go-to list expanded, so did the number of days, and we finally settled on 15 nights, not wanting to rush through any stop (and not wanting to constantly pack and unpack).
Why not Rome-Florence-Venice for our first trip to Italy? Partly because we didn't want to spend our entire vacation in a tourist crush, partly because we didn't want to spend 15 days visiting museums, historic sites, etc. Put it this way: If we hadn't gone to Italy, we probably would have returned to an isolated island in the Caribbean or Bahamas, where we wouldn't have seen people for days. We hoped this trip would combine scenic beauty with great food and wine with some traditional tourism mixed in, and it did, although I will admit right up front that in 15 days, we visited only two museums, and that's if you call The Last Supper in Milan and a wine museum in Piedmont museums.
I'm pretty sure I'm going to post this trip report on a day-by-day basis, although I might go stop-to-stop. I'll try not to get too long-winded, although I might have already.
Anyway, to get things started, a few overall observations:
1. Driving in Italy. We picked up a car upon arrival at Malpensa, drove to Bellagio, then drove to Milan and dropped off the car. We picked up a car again after Venice, drove to Cinque Terre (with a brief stop in Modena for lunch) and kept it for the rest of the time. I enjoyed driving in Italy. I found the drivers to be aggressive but predictable. I didn't think they were crazy. Some of the roads, especially the last 15 miles to Monterosso, are very winding and narrow with steep dropoffs, but if you stay alert and take care, you shouldn't have a problem. Best of all, having a car enabled us to see and do some things we couldn't have done by public transportation. The hardest part about driving in Italy was figuring out the parking meters. But our rule was: white lines mean you can park there, blue lines mean you have to pay, and if there's a sign in front of the parking space, don't even try to interpret it. Just find another spot.
2. La Scala tickets. Your experience might be much different, and I think our experience was different this year as La Scala is putting on many more performances than usual because of Expo. But we had no trouble getting the seats we wanted for operas on two consecutive nights in Milan. Yes, they were pricey, but no pricier than prime orchestra seats to the Met. For one of the operas, Carmen, I bought center orchestra seats weeks after they'd been on-sale, and our second opera, Cav/Pag, never soldout.
3. We ate our way across Italy. The food was best by far in Piedmont. I'm glad we went there last. If we had gone there first, the food in other areas would have paled by comparison. Milan was second; Cinque Terre third; Bellagio fourth; Venice fifth. That said, we had great food everywhere and were blown away by the pasta.
4. Eating and drinking well in Italy can be very cheap, much cheaper than in the U.S.
5. Other than in Piedmont, everyone speaks English. We tried to open all conversations with a little bit of Italian, just to be polite and respectful, but, other than in Piedmont, everyone responded to us in English. They had us pegged! Some people even apologized for their English. We said, "We're in your country! We should apologize!"
6. Other than in Milan, we didn't think people dressed differently than they do anywhere else.
Well, that's my opening statement! Thanks again, john183. It was truly a memorable vacation.
Jul 3rd, 2015, 09:13 PM
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One of the details I'd be curious to know is whether you are seafood and vegetable lovers or basically meat eaters. While I think it is difficult to find good food in places as touristy as le Cinque Terre and Venice, I find the meat-and-butter focus of Piemonte and Milan less appealing than the olive oil and veggies of the Riviera, and the seafood dishes of the Adriatic.
Jul 4th, 2015, 03:03 AM
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Wow! Thanks! When we were posting back and forth about various options for your upcoming trip, I remember telling you that I was super jealous. I'm really happy things worked out well for you and that my trip report may have helped.
I love driving in Italy and I can't believe you went to La Scala twice - like I said - I'm super jealous. And the people of Piedmont were so nice and friendly. As others have said above, I'm looking forward to all the details - and your pictures!
I love driving in Italy and I can't believe you went to La Scala twice - like I said - I'm super jealous. And the people of Piedmont were so nice and friendly. As others have said above, I'm looking forward to all the details - and your pictures!
Jul 4th, 2015, 07:19 AM
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sandralist: Maybe we did see white lines with signs in front. We simply avoided parking in any spaces with signs.
As for food, my wife and I like just about everything as long as it's prepared properly. Risotto and osso bucco are among our favorite foods, so we were very happy in Milan.
2010: The people in Milan seemed to have a sense of style even when they were dressed down. It was mid-week and Milan is a business town, so lots of men in suits (although never baggy suites; everything seemed to be tailored).
john183: Don't be jealous. Go back to Italy!
As for food, my wife and I like just about everything as long as it's prepared properly. Risotto and osso bucco are among our favorite foods, so we were very happy in Milan.
2010: The people in Milan seemed to have a sense of style even when they were dressed down. It was mid-week and Milan is a business town, so lots of men in suits (although never baggy suites; everything seemed to be tailored).
john183: Don't be jealous. Go back to Italy!
Jul 4th, 2015, 07:20 AM
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June 10 and 11: Miami to Milan, Milan to Bellagio
When we bought a surprisingly inexpensive roundtrip airfare from Miami to Milan that included a non-stop on the front-end, we knew the only downside was our arrival time in Milan: 6:05 a.m. Since our hotel in Bellagio was fully booked the night before, that left us with the option of slogging through the day or doing what we ended up doing: sleeping for a few hours at a hotel in Malpensa Airport.
Of course, this presented its own challenges. We didn’t want to reserve a room too far in advance. What if our flight was delayed? We’d end up paying for a room we didn’t use. So, we waited before reserving a room, knowing we’d ultimately have two choices: If our flight was on-time, we’d check-in to the Moxy Malpensa at Terminal 2 (Downside: We had to check-out by noon). If our flight was a little late, we’d take a day room at the Sheraton in Terminal 1 (Downside: We couldn’t check-in until 9 a.m.). We lucked out because the day before we took off, Booking.com let us reserve a room at the Moxy for 90 euros without a credit card guarantee.
As it turned out, we touched down at Malpensa at 6:15 a.m. We didn’t have to claim baggage because we’d already made our first good decision: Packing light into two carry-ons, somethings we’d never done. But with five stops on our trip, some of them involving hills and, in the case of Venice, lots of steps on the bridges, we knew this was the way to go. As it turned out, we could’ve packed a little lighter (but not much; we had to pack dress clothes for La Scala).
So, we breezed through passport control in a matter of minutes, easily found the shuttle bus and took the 10-minute ride to Terminal 2. By the way, compared to the Moxy, the Holiday Inn Express is closer to Terminal 1, but you have to use the hotel’s shuttle, which runs much less frequently than the airport shuttle, to get there.
The Moxy is across the street from Terminal 2 and very convenient. We grabbed about four and a half hours of sleep and, refreshed, took the shuttle bus back to Terminal 1 to pick up our rental at Hertz.
Two things I appreciated about Malpensa: 1. Hotels in the terminals; 2. Car rentals in the terminals. No need to shuttle to your car.
Now, equipped with our cell phone GPS (we purchased an international data plan before leaving), we headed off for Bellagio. We would use Google Maps for all our driving, and the directions were spot-on throughout (much better than when we’d used the rental car’s GPS in Austria).
As I mentioned in my introduction, driving in Italy was uneventful. We decided to take 583 up the east side of the peninsula because it’s supposedly less winding than 583 on the west side. Shortly after heading up 583, we stopped for lunch at Juancito Ristorante outside Valbrona, partly because we were hungry, partly because the view looked great. The restaurant is perched on the side of the road with a view across the lake to a town (not sure which one) north of Lecco. This view was the perfect introduction to the Lake region, but the pizza was a tease: The four-cheese pizza with crunchy crust, slices of parmesan reggiano and clumps of gorgonzola was, by far, the best pizza we would have the entire time in Italy.
After a relaxing lunch, we finished the drive to Bellagio and arrived at our hotel, Borgo Le Terraze, just outside of Bellagio, at around four o’clock. The Suite Bellagio, with its floor-to-ceiling panoramic windows, was our first of four splurges on the trip, and, even on a partly cloudy day, we were welcomed by a stunning view looking across the lake to Tremezzo and north to Bellagio and Cadenabbia. We couldn’t imagine how great the view would be on a clear day (although we would find out).
We drove into Bellagio, parked above town and down the block from Hotel Belvedere, walked into town and, while waiting for the restaurants to open, enjoyed a glass of wine at a small, busy enoetca at the top of the stairs. Then across the street to Trattoria San Giacomo for a so-so dinner: friendly service but so-so ravioli, thin Osso Bucco that wasn’t tender enough and tasteless fried lake fish on bland rice. Good service and crowded, but this would turn out to be one of our worst meals in the two weeks. On the good side, we were introduced to one of our favorite parts of Italy: good house wine for 6 euros a half-liter.
After dinner, it had started to rain, so we drove back to our hotel. We planned to go to sleep, but we were mesmerized by the view from our balcony…and then an unexpected fireworks display in Bellagio. The sun didn’t completely set until 10, and with the lights sparkling across the lake and the fireworks over the lake, we had the perfect ending to a very long first day. Wasn’t it nice of Bellagio to celebrate our arrival with fireworks?
When we bought a surprisingly inexpensive roundtrip airfare from Miami to Milan that included a non-stop on the front-end, we knew the only downside was our arrival time in Milan: 6:05 a.m. Since our hotel in Bellagio was fully booked the night before, that left us with the option of slogging through the day or doing what we ended up doing: sleeping for a few hours at a hotel in Malpensa Airport.
Of course, this presented its own challenges. We didn’t want to reserve a room too far in advance. What if our flight was delayed? We’d end up paying for a room we didn’t use. So, we waited before reserving a room, knowing we’d ultimately have two choices: If our flight was on-time, we’d check-in to the Moxy Malpensa at Terminal 2 (Downside: We had to check-out by noon). If our flight was a little late, we’d take a day room at the Sheraton in Terminal 1 (Downside: We couldn’t check-in until 9 a.m.). We lucked out because the day before we took off, Booking.com let us reserve a room at the Moxy for 90 euros without a credit card guarantee.
As it turned out, we touched down at Malpensa at 6:15 a.m. We didn’t have to claim baggage because we’d already made our first good decision: Packing light into two carry-ons, somethings we’d never done. But with five stops on our trip, some of them involving hills and, in the case of Venice, lots of steps on the bridges, we knew this was the way to go. As it turned out, we could’ve packed a little lighter (but not much; we had to pack dress clothes for La Scala).
So, we breezed through passport control in a matter of minutes, easily found the shuttle bus and took the 10-minute ride to Terminal 2. By the way, compared to the Moxy, the Holiday Inn Express is closer to Terminal 1, but you have to use the hotel’s shuttle, which runs much less frequently than the airport shuttle, to get there.
The Moxy is across the street from Terminal 2 and very convenient. We grabbed about four and a half hours of sleep and, refreshed, took the shuttle bus back to Terminal 1 to pick up our rental at Hertz.
Two things I appreciated about Malpensa: 1. Hotels in the terminals; 2. Car rentals in the terminals. No need to shuttle to your car.
Now, equipped with our cell phone GPS (we purchased an international data plan before leaving), we headed off for Bellagio. We would use Google Maps for all our driving, and the directions were spot-on throughout (much better than when we’d used the rental car’s GPS in Austria).
As I mentioned in my introduction, driving in Italy was uneventful. We decided to take 583 up the east side of the peninsula because it’s supposedly less winding than 583 on the west side. Shortly after heading up 583, we stopped for lunch at Juancito Ristorante outside Valbrona, partly because we were hungry, partly because the view looked great. The restaurant is perched on the side of the road with a view across the lake to a town (not sure which one) north of Lecco. This view was the perfect introduction to the Lake region, but the pizza was a tease: The four-cheese pizza with crunchy crust, slices of parmesan reggiano and clumps of gorgonzola was, by far, the best pizza we would have the entire time in Italy.
After a relaxing lunch, we finished the drive to Bellagio and arrived at our hotel, Borgo Le Terraze, just outside of Bellagio, at around four o’clock. The Suite Bellagio, with its floor-to-ceiling panoramic windows, was our first of four splurges on the trip, and, even on a partly cloudy day, we were welcomed by a stunning view looking across the lake to Tremezzo and north to Bellagio and Cadenabbia. We couldn’t imagine how great the view would be on a clear day (although we would find out).
We drove into Bellagio, parked above town and down the block from Hotel Belvedere, walked into town and, while waiting for the restaurants to open, enjoyed a glass of wine at a small, busy enoetca at the top of the stairs. Then across the street to Trattoria San Giacomo for a so-so dinner: friendly service but so-so ravioli, thin Osso Bucco that wasn’t tender enough and tasteless fried lake fish on bland rice. Good service and crowded, but this would turn out to be one of our worst meals in the two weeks. On the good side, we were introduced to one of our favorite parts of Italy: good house wine for 6 euros a half-liter.
After dinner, it had started to rain, so we drove back to our hotel. We planned to go to sleep, but we were mesmerized by the view from our balcony…and then an unexpected fireworks display in Bellagio. The sun didn’t completely set until 10, and with the lights sparkling across the lake and the fireworks over the lake, we had the perfect ending to a very long first day. Wasn’t it nice of Bellagio to celebrate our arrival with fireworks?
Jul 4th, 2015, 04:04 PM
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davetroy,
my comment was really meant more as added information for others. You won't necessarily see white-lined spaces that are reserved for residents have a sign saying that. In cities like Florence, you are expeected to know. So I am just telling people that generally your rule for Italy will work (park in a white lined space) but always double check if you do because you might be in a town that is the exception to the rule.
It's great you found your way to well-prepared meals in Milan (an underrated eating destination) and Piemonte (an overrated one), and didn't have that experience in other places, but I hope you don't conclude that delicious well-prepared food can't be found in those other regions where you lucked out. As I said, Venice and le Cinque Terre have the problem of mass tourism.
my comment was really meant more as added information for others. You won't necessarily see white-lined spaces that are reserved for residents have a sign saying that. In cities like Florence, you are expeected to know. So I am just telling people that generally your rule for Italy will work (park in a white lined space) but always double check if you do because you might be in a town that is the exception to the rule.
It's great you found your way to well-prepared meals in Milan (an underrated eating destination) and Piemonte (an overrated one), and didn't have that experience in other places, but I hope you don't conclude that delicious well-prepared food can't be found in those other regions where you lucked out. As I said, Venice and le Cinque Terre have the problem of mass tourism.
Jul 4th, 2015, 10:11 PM
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In Florence almost all the white lined spaces are for residents only - non residents can park in blue spaces and pay. In any case, all reserved spaces are marked with signs stating which zone permit you are required; signs are at the beginning of alleys and are replicated after every crossing.
All over Italy, avoid yellow spaces - reserved for handicapped people or for some service. The risk of being towed away is considerably higher than with any other form of forbidden parking.
All over Italy, avoid yellow spaces - reserved for handicapped people or for some service. The risk of being towed away is considerably higher than with any other form of forbidden parking.
Jul 5th, 2015, 12:16 PM
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June 14—Bellagio Day 2
Lake Como is tiny villages that rise out of the lake against the deep-green foothills of the Alps and water that’s a shimmering blue like we’d never seen before. It’s hypnotizing, surreal, the perfect place to decompress and forget about work and real life. As I’d said, if we hadn’t gone to Italy, we would’ve gone to the Caribbean and spent our time staring at the ocean. Opening the trip in Bellagio and closing in Piedmont allowed us to have laid-back and touristy on the same trip.
But we woke up to stiff backs from beds that were a little too hard and overcast skies. This would turn out to be our only rainy day of the trip, a near-complete washout, but if someone had told us we’d have only one bad day out of 15, we would’ve taken it. Besides, even under cloud cover, the Lake and the surrounding villages are beautiful. The church bell in the tower down the hill rang every half-hour, completing the fairy-tale setting.
We went downstairs to the breakfast room for eggs, bacon, meats, cheeses and fresh fruit with a view then hopped onto the hotel’s shuttle van for the five-minute ride into Bellagio. We window-shopped around town before buying an all-day mid-lake ferry pass…just minutes before the rain started. It wouldn’t stop for most of the rest of the day.
The rain had turned torrential by the time the ferry docked at Tremezzo, so we waited for it to slow then ran down the street and ducked into Helvetia di Barella Alfredo for lunch. Our view was of the lake and the rain as we enjoyed delicious penne with four formaggi and Tagliatelle Porcini for 31 euro with three glasses of wine. The penne was rich, cheesy and food-coma inducing, the best mac and cheese I’ve ever had. The tagliatelle was full of fresh, aromatic mushrooms. Now this was the kind of food we’d hoped for in Italy: simple but fresh and delicious. The friendly server commented that the rain wasn’t likely to stop all day but “it will be better tomorrow.” How did he know? “The weather forecast. They’re always right.” We’d never heard such high praise for the weather forecasters in America.
With the rain slowing, we got back on the ferry for Varenna, but the instant we got off, the rain picked up, so we got right back on another ferry to Bellagio. Resigned to the idea that this was not going to be a good day for touring the lake, we grabbed some gelato in town and caught our hotel’s shuttle back to Borgo Le Terraze. We sat on our balcony and stared. Even socked-in by clouds, the view was mesmerizing.
Rather than have dinner in Bellagio, where we suspected the options were touristy and limited, we asked at the desk for a restaurant recommendation and drove south to Lezzeno looking for Ittiturismo da Abate. We drove to the end of town and back, couldn’t find the restaurant, made a three-point turn on a narrow street and finally asked for directions. When we thought we had found the place, we almost walked into someone’s apartment before being directed downstairs to a cozy restaurant with a handful of tables, mostly setup communal style with flowers separating the parties.
This may have been a bad weather day, but it turned out to be a great eating day. Dinner was delicate ravioli stuffed with fish and cheese in a mild butter sauce, then two second plates of lake fish made four different ways and filled with flavor. They offered us each a glass of prosecco to start, and we realized that the prosecco in Italy is much more elegant and less sweet than the stuff back home. A half-liter of house Chardonnay and ice cream for dessert brought the bill to a very reasonable 45 euros. Excellent service in this family-owned restaurant that was the kind of place we’d hoped to find in Italy. It was like dining in someone’s rustic cottage.
Then back to our hotel for wine and more staring at the twinkling lights over the lake. Carol counted ferries on the lake—she counted seven at one point—and then to bed on a rainy day saved by food, views and relaxation. But we still hadn’t been treated to the best Lake Como views of all. They would come tomorrow.
Lake Como is tiny villages that rise out of the lake against the deep-green foothills of the Alps and water that’s a shimmering blue like we’d never seen before. It’s hypnotizing, surreal, the perfect place to decompress and forget about work and real life. As I’d said, if we hadn’t gone to Italy, we would’ve gone to the Caribbean and spent our time staring at the ocean. Opening the trip in Bellagio and closing in Piedmont allowed us to have laid-back and touristy on the same trip.
But we woke up to stiff backs from beds that were a little too hard and overcast skies. This would turn out to be our only rainy day of the trip, a near-complete washout, but if someone had told us we’d have only one bad day out of 15, we would’ve taken it. Besides, even under cloud cover, the Lake and the surrounding villages are beautiful. The church bell in the tower down the hill rang every half-hour, completing the fairy-tale setting.
We went downstairs to the breakfast room for eggs, bacon, meats, cheeses and fresh fruit with a view then hopped onto the hotel’s shuttle van for the five-minute ride into Bellagio. We window-shopped around town before buying an all-day mid-lake ferry pass…just minutes before the rain started. It wouldn’t stop for most of the rest of the day.
The rain had turned torrential by the time the ferry docked at Tremezzo, so we waited for it to slow then ran down the street and ducked into Helvetia di Barella Alfredo for lunch. Our view was of the lake and the rain as we enjoyed delicious penne with four formaggi and Tagliatelle Porcini for 31 euro with three glasses of wine. The penne was rich, cheesy and food-coma inducing, the best mac and cheese I’ve ever had. The tagliatelle was full of fresh, aromatic mushrooms. Now this was the kind of food we’d hoped for in Italy: simple but fresh and delicious. The friendly server commented that the rain wasn’t likely to stop all day but “it will be better tomorrow.” How did he know? “The weather forecast. They’re always right.” We’d never heard such high praise for the weather forecasters in America.
With the rain slowing, we got back on the ferry for Varenna, but the instant we got off, the rain picked up, so we got right back on another ferry to Bellagio. Resigned to the idea that this was not going to be a good day for touring the lake, we grabbed some gelato in town and caught our hotel’s shuttle back to Borgo Le Terraze. We sat on our balcony and stared. Even socked-in by clouds, the view was mesmerizing.
Rather than have dinner in Bellagio, where we suspected the options were touristy and limited, we asked at the desk for a restaurant recommendation and drove south to Lezzeno looking for Ittiturismo da Abate. We drove to the end of town and back, couldn’t find the restaurant, made a three-point turn on a narrow street and finally asked for directions. When we thought we had found the place, we almost walked into someone’s apartment before being directed downstairs to a cozy restaurant with a handful of tables, mostly setup communal style with flowers separating the parties.
This may have been a bad weather day, but it turned out to be a great eating day. Dinner was delicate ravioli stuffed with fish and cheese in a mild butter sauce, then two second plates of lake fish made four different ways and filled with flavor. They offered us each a glass of prosecco to start, and we realized that the prosecco in Italy is much more elegant and less sweet than the stuff back home. A half-liter of house Chardonnay and ice cream for dessert brought the bill to a very reasonable 45 euros. Excellent service in this family-owned restaurant that was the kind of place we’d hoped to find in Italy. It was like dining in someone’s rustic cottage.
Then back to our hotel for wine and more staring at the twinkling lights over the lake. Carol counted ferries on the lake—she counted seven at one point—and then to bed on a rainy day saved by food, views and relaxation. But we still hadn’t been treated to the best Lake Como views of all. They would come tomorrow.
