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| Hike affords view down onto Bellagio, Lake Como, Italy |
We
are enjoying a pleasant and productive visit to Bellagio, on Lake Como, a
15 minute ferry ride from Varenna, which is a 45 minute train ride from
Milano. After scoping out a tourist itinerary for Milano and
investigating hotels, we made our first deviation from the original plan and
decided, instead, to stay in an apartment on Lake Como.
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| Shop and House in Bellagio |
At
this point, we are fatigued with bustling densely populated cities and too much
restaurant eating. We hit the wall with each others company the day
before friend Gina arrived in Rome...two weeks ago. On that day, rather than
risk the wraith of my intolerance and sniping at either K or G for very small
yet consistent 'infractions', I buried my face in a book. Gina's stay
with us was coincidentally fortuitous as it gave us the excuse to find mental
space from one another for ten days, while she appreciated all of our
attentions. We are also finding it redundant (to put it mildly) to load
gear, decipher maps, decode transportation systems, translate menus or food
labels, and wear *that one t-shirt or pair of jeans* again and again.
But, there isn't much to be done about all of that at the moment, and we have
only one more destination before returning to Sifnos. Three months fly
by!
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| Prada Shoes on display in Milan |
Fashion
Week is underway in Milano, clogging up our preferred hotels. Besides, we
realized that tourists can see the city's historical highlights in one--very
dense--day. Since Lake Como is conveniently close, we took the train into
the city for a day and have otherwise hovered in Bellagio. We used the
excursion as yet another *teaching moment* and insisted that Karoline take the
leadership to navigate us through the Top 10 "Must See" sights of
Milan. She did a marvelous job of preparing the itinerary, monitoring the
maps, navigating the streets, finding the right train on the right track,
transitioning to the right metro line, buying tickets for transportation and
museums, etc. Despite her complaining and grumbling, I can tell that she
is proud of her practical living skills. I see the boost in her
self-confidence.
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| Galleria Vittorio Emmanuela, Milan |
During
the week Bellagio has been idyllic and quiet. The apartment is perfect
for our needs--new, minimally furnished, well laid out, fully equipped,
comfortable, clean, and only steps from the ferry dock and awesome views.
From the apartment window we can see a church steeple. Its bells ring prettily on the hour and half hour; 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. At 8 p.m. each evening
someone is playing a tune on its carillon bells and we have fun guessing the
name of the composer. Yesterday evening, around 9 p.m., a chorus of
voices sang a hymn while the congregation streamed from the church and down the
street.
At
noon yesterday, a Saturday, we stepped out the door for our jogs and were surprised
to find the harbor brimming with day visitors. The Europeans are still
not accustomed to joggers: Karoline and I had our fair share of arrogant
snide comments from passersby. For some reason, the Harley rider gangs
and clusters of flashy spandex clad cyclists didn't seem to capture as much
attention. We caught up with Gerhard at an outdoor lakeside cafe where he
and Karoline inhaled an ice cream sundae and we watched the glamorously clad
strollers pass by the outstanding view.
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| Milan has become a city for cyclists |
Here
in Bellagio Karoline is making satisfying progress with her studies, Gerhard
and I are completing our U.S. tax return, and I am drafting a new page for the
book. We are
becoming known by the local food shop owners since we do a daily run for our
meal preparations. I am surprised at how well my recalled Italian gets us
through our shopping and general inquiries. Karoline comments that the
place feels so much like Sifnos during the low season--friendly casual locals
have time to make pleasant conversation.
Bellagoio Tip;
apartment: WWW.BORGORESIDENCE.IT
