Lake Como, our final destination

After all the festivities of the truffle festival for two weekends and our travels throughout the week, our stay in Mango came to an end.  Our friends continued on their journey to visit Bologna and other nearby towns and we packed up and drove on to Lake Como. We wanted to finish our trip on a quieter note than spending our last days in the big city of Milan.

Bye Bye Mango

Yes, it is where George Clooney has a villa on the lake and no I did not see him. 😖  I did see what is purported to be his villa from the ferry boat, but that is not confirmed. 

Hello Lake Como

Our Airbnb was located inside the old town, so we had to park outside the town and bring our bags in on foot.  Again, our hostess was extremely helpful and was very keen to speak English with us as she was trying to improve her pronunciation.  She told us she watched English speaking cartoons with her son to help with her practice.  I could watch 1000 hours of Italian movies and cartoons and never figure out the language, but I can't tell you how many Italians told us that is how they learn English.

Our place was very conveniently located in Como.  As we began to explore, we realized Como was much bigger than anticipated.  Designer shopping opportunities were plentiful as well as restaurants and bars on every square and side street.  As we were there in October, it seemed we were on the edge of the tourist shoulder season so it was not crowded, maybe even a little sleepy.  I am sure that is not the case in full summer season.

We walked to the lake front of Como and were treated with the beautiful view of the lake and the many villas and homes dotting the dramatic foothills of the Alps.  Like Lake Garda, there are small towns and villages that site on the 99 miles of coastline of Lake Como.  I doubt my pictures will do it justice.

Our first full day we got up to catch one of the ferries that take you from town to town on the lake. It is not cheap, but you are in a purely tourist destination.  Our stop that day was Bellagio, the Pearl of Lake Como.  The ferry ride was 2.5 hours as it stops frequently like a bus to pick up and drop off travelers to each of the various towns along the way.  It was a overcast, breezy morning, but we got a seat outside on the front of the boat to take in all the scenery along the way.


Bellagio is a commune in Lombardy, Italy known for its cobblestone streets and beautiful building and parks along the lake.  Wine, designer clothing, leather and silk goods shops are interspersed with funky tourist markets along the winding cobblestone steps.  You can easily see why this is the playground of the rich and famous and Milanese looking for La Dolce Vita.  We had a lovely lunch and wandered the day away. 

Abandoned grand hotel along the Bellagio waterfront

We took the faster hydrofoil ferry back to Como, all the same stops, but got back in under an hour. Zoom, zoom.

Looks like a cross between a boat and a space ship

On our last full day in Como we walked further around the lake to see some villas close up.  There is a sidewalk that goes around the lake as far as you can see.  It was a very enjoyable walk on a sunny breezy morning.  After one more typical Italian lunch with truffles at Ristorante di Rina we wandered a bit more in Como and made our way back to pack up for our journey home.  We had a unique dinner at Blacket, a BBQ restaurant near our apartment, the brisket was spot on.  Our waiter was also anxious to speak English with us.  He was a Chicago Bulls fan and loved Ford Mustangs, specifically the Mustang Shelby from the movie Gone in 60 Seconds.  We had a short conversation about Nicholas Cage movies.  Surreal.

Bread delivered in a little brown bag to our table

Alas, it was time for our 11 hour flight home to Tampa.  We drove to the Milan airport and bid Addio to our Fiat Panda without incident.  Our flights were on-time from Milan-Frankfurt-Tampa.  We even lucked out and had a whole row to ourselves again.  All our bags made it home with us, including our wine and other local product purchases.

Our next adventure is currently unknown, we are home for a while but I am sure the glow of  this trip to Italy will be with us for quite some time.  Until next time Arrivederci!