Thursday at Lake Como

We started out today with a trip to the Castillo di Vezio (http://www.castellodivezio.it/EN/home-en.html). They aren’t sure, but they think that the castle was originally started in the 11th century AD. It’s a neat place to stroll. The scenery is breathtaking, but perhaps the best parts are the “ghosts,” made from plaster and gauze and modeled on visitors. They are situated around the castle walls, in the keeps, etc. They are really beautiful. Here are my photos:

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There were beautiful wooden sculptures that were placed throughout the castle; here is one that Dan especially admired.

(Dan - I’ll just add a few more photos here...)

These stone steps caught my eye because they aren’t connected to each other at all. They each rest in a section of stone coming out of the wall.

From the castle, we walked about .6 miles downhill to Varenna, where we caught the ferry to Bellagio. It’s a neat town, with lots of shops, bars, and restaurants. We walked up and down the streets and discovered treasures such as pistachio creme liqueur (nom!)and 6-year-old grappa, aged in oak barrels. We had a delicious lunch; I had fresh pasta with fresh mussels.

After lunch, we shopped in a store where hand-made bowls and rolls from olive wood were sold. We met Luigi, the original owner and artists, who says that he no longer has the strength to do the work, so his son does it.

We decided to take a boat down the lake to Lenno. However, we didn’t get off at Lenno and decided just to stay on the boat because we figured it would head back up the lake to Varenna. We were wrong. It kept making stops that were not on the schedule, so we eventually asked the guys working the boat, and we were told that we were headed to Como. That would have been well and good, except that we would not have been able to get back to Varenna tonight, had we gone to Como. A very nice man who spoke no English helped,us figure out how to get back up the lake, so we did not have to camp out on a pier in Como. Grazie Mille! Here is where we waited to be set in the right direction:

After a lovely dinner in Varenna, our host, Robert, drove down to get us so that we would not have to drag our tired, well-fed butts up a pretty vertical path.

Dan has some beautiful photos, which I hope that he will post here.

Some shots from sunset, both at dinner and afterwards:

Tomorrow, we take trains to Firenze. I am most excited about seeing Michelangelo’s sculptures. We were told today that The Deposition is breathtaking. I cannot wait.