Tour Day 3 |
Lake Como |
Tuesday morning we walked our bags to the vaporetto at San Marco dock and after a brief boat ride, met our bus driver Sauro at Tronchetta with the comfortable motor coach that would transport us throughout Italy. Cinzia shared information about Lake Como and listened to each travel group for their expectations and plans and answering their questions. There was also time for Denise to update her travel journal while Venice memories were fresh. First stop is an auto-grill where they have a little of everything - like a huge "7/11" including a cafeteria and sandwich bar; then on to Varenna at Lake Como. We checked into the Royal Victoria Hotel located on the waterfront and met our tour manager Cinzia for the short walk to the ferry dock where Denise learned how to read the mid-lake shuttle boat schedule as it was not very straightforward. Bill took a bag of laundry down the street to the overnight laundry where we could pick up our clean clothes by 4pm the next day - we learned to take advantage of this service when we could since it was much better than attempting to wash in our room or doing it ourselves in a self-service laundromat.
We explored the church across the piazza from the Royal Victoria Hotel and had dinner at a fantastic restaurant. This is one town where the best restaurants fill quickly and reservations are recommended, but our early dinner time allowed for us to be the first diners of the evening and by the time we were done, it was full of diners. A leisurely sunset stroll along the edge of Lake Como capped off the day with a brief sit on the hotel patio with new tour friends to watch the lights coming on across the lake.
We explored the church across the piazza from the Royal Victoria Hotel and had dinner at a fantastic restaurant. This is one town where the best restaurants fill quickly and reservations are recommended, but our early dinner time allowed for us to be the first diners of the evening and by the time we were done, it was full of diners. A leisurely sunset stroll along the edge of Lake Como capped off the day with a brief sit on the hotel patio with new tour friends to watch the lights coming on across the lake.
Tour Day 4 |
Villa Carlotta |
Wednesday morning we woke to "7 bells" from the nearby churches followed by "60 bells", enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, and walked to the dock where we boarded the mid-lake shuttle boat to the lake towns and Villa Carlotta where the house and gardens were beautiful. We saw several new travel friends on the boats and in our lake stops.
The house had beautiful interiors, but almost simple furnishings except for the dining room table set for dinner with china, crystal, silverware and the third floor hall that functioned as a ballroom. Every room had a view of either the lake or the gardens.
The garden was planted with a variety of plants and trees including cacti, cedar, pine, bamboo, hundreds of different flowering and foliage plants, succulants, ferns, palm trees.
The house had beautiful interiors, but almost simple furnishings except for the dining room table set for dinner with china, crystal, silverware and the third floor hall that functioned as a ballroom. Every room had a view of either the lake or the gardens.
The garden was planted with a variety of plants and trees including cacti, cedar, pine, bamboo, hundreds of different flowering and foliage plants, succulants, ferns, palm trees.
Bellagio |
As we left Villa Carlotta, we met up with Judy and Myriam on the boat across the lake to Bellagio so we decided to share lunch and explore the town together. After eating right on the water, we checked out the pretty Chiesa di San Giacomo church, window shopped and made several purchases before heading back to the dock for the ferry ride to other villages along the lake, We found a unique woodworking shop with many varieties of handmade wooden articles such as tops and chess sets. Scarves were beautiful as was the jewelry. Bellagio had multiple docks and we didn't find the one we needed for the mid-lake shuttle until after it had sailed so decided to take a snack break while waiting for the next boat at the correct dock.
Bill and Judy left the boat at Varenna while Denise and Myriam continued on to Menaggio before returning to the hotel for our RS tour gathering for happy hour hosted by Cinzia. After visiting with new tour friends, Denise walked down to the beach and dipped her foot into Lake Como - cannot resist a new body of water - before our dinner reservation time at the Royal Victoria Hotel.
Food at Lake Como |
Definitely eat the fish while visiting Lake Como! And, of course, limoncello and gelato!
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