A day on Lake Como

I slept surprisingly well in the shared room in the hostel. The air was a bit gross though the next morning. I got up very early to catch the ferry to Varenna which was the first stop for my day at Lake Como. I went out of the room to the bathroom and when I got back the warm funny-smelling air hit me like a ton of bricks. Great time to go out and get some fresh air, and some rain.

(My ‘how 2‘ on Lake Como is here. But first, read the story below… 🤓 )

Varenna

I had a ferry schedule and arrived in plenty of time (according to my calculations), only to have to run to get on. Apparently, their schedule is also not worth the paper that it is printed on. The ferry comes when it comes and goes when it goes.

I set foot on the opposite shore in Varenna. It was cool and wet and there I said goodbye to the ships in the night that were the cyclists. The town was super quiet early on a Sunday morning and I had the run of the place. But no running though, unless you want to do a Rocky movie. You can box and run steep stairs to your heart’s content.

Anyway…. I walked through the deserted town, marvelling at the cobblestones and steep stairs. The thought of lugging stuff up and down there every day is enough not to make me want to be a Varennian (if that is even a word). I saw a sign pointing to the ‘Greenway dei partriarchi’. Cool! A walkway, so I started following the pointers. After a while, I came to a cemetery. I don’t think that was supposed to be part of the Greenway?

As far as cemeteries go that one was very pretty. High up on the slope overlooking the lake. Not a bad final resting place. I decided to scrap the walkway as I could not figure out where it was supposed to go. Back down I walked and decided to wait for a ferry to Bellagio. I was lucky enough to hear the call of the church bells. There is just something about European church bells. It sounds way more inviting than the ones back home. But it was not enough to keep me from Bellagio. Varenna was still a bit to ghost-towny for my liking.

Bellagio

I hopped on the first ferry to dock and made my way to Bellagio. On this trip, I stood on the deck looking out over the lake and the snow-covered mountains in the distance. The area is beautiful. Furthermore, the sun came out and so did the people. The moment my feet hit the shore I could see that Bellagio more alive (The Varennians were probably sleeping in). While coming in I saw that Bellagio had a point and decided to start my exploring there. So I did. And walked down to the ‘end of the earth’.Very pretty. It actually calls for a Titanic moment. But I look silly enough without intentionally trying, so no, I did not stretch my arms out.

After that, I walked back into town. In and out of all the charming shops and buildings and again cobbled streets. I crisscrossed the ‘point’ that is Bellagio. From the beginning where the two shores meet to walking down the back of the shore on each side.

On this walkabout, I found a place with deep-fried Nutella calzones. I sat on a tomato slice cushion waiting impatiently for this wonderful chocolaty thing to be made. Waiting I could just people watch and look down the passageways of this very old town.

Finally, I had that goody in my hands and took a bite…..yes and burned myself! I was already so impatient to eat this thing, and then I had to wait for it to cool down. Window-shopped down the stairy street holding on to my prise with one hand and the camera in the other. All the way down to the shore I went again. Found a nice bench overlooking flowers and the lake. Finally, I good eat my sweet. And the wait was worth it because it had a view and I could sit down and savour it.

I hung around a bit after that as I did not understand how the schedule worked, so did not want to gamble a ride away on a Sunday having missed the last ferry. The first ferry that proclaimed that it was Menaggio bound, was the one that I boarded. No gambling on a possible next ferry. Swimming across was no option. A girl from the semi-desert does not do good in water.

Back to Menaggio

I had a bit of a worry after I got on the ferry. My ticket said, ‘Bellagio to Menaggio’ with ‘no intermittent stops’. This lead to worry when I suspected that the ferry was headed back to Varenna and not Menaggio. I did not budget for 4 tickets or a fine. And then the ferry did indeed make its way to Varenna. I squished myself in a corner at the back of the ferry hoping nobody will tell me to get off. This crossing gave me panicky flashbacks to the underground in Germany. I had a ticket for that but was still yelled at by a mean lady in a jack Wolfskin jacket.

This story, however, had a way better ending. No yelling. No throwing off. Minutes later I was back on my way to Menaggio. In the end, the ferry crossings were one of the highlights of my day. You get the best view of the lake and the towns along the shore. You feel the wind your face, and if you are lucky some sun and way too soon the ferries come to a stop making you wish for just 5 more minutes of standing in awe on the deck.

Back on the ‘home’ shore

I decided to swing by the Hostel to leave my backpack. To my surprise the hostel was empty and I took advantage of this. Nobody had been there since cleaning. I sprang into the ‘clean’ shower (the bathrooms were the only iffy part about the hostel).

So clean and lighter, I set out again, this time on ‘home shore’. Menaggio is not as steep as the other 2 towns and it is way easier going. And that was what it was. An easy afternoon stroll. Ok, not strolling, I never stroll by myself, but it was not the speed walking that I normally do. (on that note, I hate walking purposefully just to have to slow down to a crawl when people walk across the whole way and who have no intention of waking like alive people. That always happens when I just quickly need to go to the store. This was now an entire side note).

So back to my ‘stroll’. I had a plan to find a Geocache in each town that I stayed in. Menaggio had one on or in a dock. The promenade was unfortunately so busy that I could get nothing more than a sideways glance at the thing. I scooted nearer and nearer. Taking pictures of ducks trying not to look dodgy. But in the end, there was no way that I could search for the thing without people seeing, so I decided to go back super early the next morning.

Dusk was rolling in and I headed off to the Hostel. I had seen my days worth of sights. At the hostel, I sat on the balcony overlooking the lake and the Alps in the distance. It is just too big to visually take in. One can just sit and stare and never become ‘full’. So I sat there trying to fill my memory with the sites of Lake Como before me.

Third solo day of success. Third day lucky. Fourth…….not so much.

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