A Day on the Lake

Monday, 12^th August

We got up early so that we could catch the 9:20 ferry that travels from Como to Bellagio. As Cernobbio is the third stop of about 20, there were plenty of spaces to sit under cover and at the top.  We bought the “circulazione” tickets, which is like a pass or hop on, hop off all day.

It was perfect. The sun was shining, there was a slight breeze and it was not too hot. The water sparkled and the beautiful villas and palazzos looked magnificent. The houses climb up the hillsides, just as they do on the Amalfi coast, and the ferry chugs along at a slow and gentle pace – plenty of time for gazing wistfully at the houses and scenery and to take photos.

We had read that George Clooney lives in Laglio, so I photographed all of Laglio. So his house has been captured! We just didn’t know which house. Later on we were told that it is the house next to the green house, and has a tall tree in front. Unfortunately for us George is away on holidays – where do you go when you live in the most gorgeous place on Earth? So, we weren’t able to pop in to say hello. We also saw Richard Branson’s house, which apparently was used in a Bond movie, maybe Casino Royale.

Our first stop was at Isola di Comanico, which is the only island on the Lake. It’s about 200 metres long and about 50 wide, but over time has housed at least four churches, a fort, an artists colony, a monastery/convent and a restaurant and bar. There have been some interesting archaeological finds, and the ruins of early century churches.

Next stop was to Villa Carlotta, a magnificent villa right on the lake at Tremezzo. It was first built in about 1750 and is surrounded by incredibly beautiful gardens over about 10 hectares. There are beautiful sculptures by Canova, unbelievable plaster and marble friezes, and paintings. It all screams wealth and privilege, and was a pleasant way to spend some time.

I have a theory that I will name The Vaporetto Theory. How it works - if you want to get a good possie on the vaporetto or the Lake Ferry and there are lots of people waiting to go the next fabulous place, take a ferry in the opposite direction, get off at a few stops down the line, and get on the next ferry going back. You are guaranteed of getting a seat at the front, or on the top, or even just a seat. For example, in Venice, you get off the train at Santa Lucia, there are 40,000 people scrambling to get on the No.1 ferry on the Grand Canal to St Mark’s – you’ll never be at the front of the line, so get on the ferry going to Ponte Roma (other way and the first stop on the No. 1 route), get off and then get on the No. 1 going to St Mark’s, sitting at the front. It really works. We did this in Venice – excellent results and tried it today after Villa Carlotta. Worked again. 100% success rate.

After Villa Carlotta we caught the ferry to Bellagio, which is supposedly a “must see” town on the Lake. Well, the 40,000 people who filled the vaporetti in Venice had made their way to Bellagio. It was swarming with unpleasant people, half of whom had their dogs with them. It may be a beautiful town, but it was hard to tell with all the people cramming into every spare space.

The ferry terminal was nightmare. 30,000 of the 40,000 all seemed to want to catch our ferry.  I would have put the Vaporetto Theory into practice, except we still had to wait in the same spot for the ferry going the other way, and it didn’t help that the ferry was 20 minutes late.

Anyway, we got on the ferry and relaxed as it made its two hour journey back to Cernobbio. This time the sun was shining in the west, giving us another beautiful perspective.

Aaaahhhhh, Como – heaven on earth.