We left Venice in the morning accompanied by a thick marine layer, and headed west towards Milan, with our destination being Lake Como. The traffic was nonexistent and flowed nicely, no more repeat performances from the Flying Wallenda’s trick driving academy. We stopped for the required W.C. breaks every five minutes and decided to head towards the picturesque road that skirts the Lake at Como, to get there we had to traverse an industrial environs leading to paradise. After a half hour of nondescript back road driving we finally hit the lake road, it took fifteen minutes before we experienced one of the most beautiful spots on earth. We stopped at Bellagio and had a nice lunch, one young lady had gnocchi, and one had proscuitto pizza, I had spaghetti with clams, and Cindy had a healthy salad. While finishing our lunch we enquired about lodging in the area, what with everything being closed in the off season, and were referred to an incredible hotel/apartment setting. We were led to the lodging by a young lady that worked there, as we parked our car I commented on the lack of a view sarcastically. The picture above this posting is of our view from the terrace. Cindy and I later returned to the sleeping town of Bellagio and walked around the small town on the water. What an incredible town, almost completely closed, a step back in time. The towns and cities of Italy are in need of a little cleaning up and a bit of paint, plaster, trim, and such but none the less quite fetching. We finished our walk and returned to the lodging and I quickly grouped three posts together and posted them on the internet as a triple update on the blog from Florence. Tonight we return to the evening setting of Bellagio for dinner. I would be surprised if even cloaked in darkness, with street lights lighting the town, that Bellagio would not find a way of being more striking. Tomorrow we plan on taking a ferry across the lake and drive the northern route. If possible we may try to visit or see Villa Del Balbianello in Lenno, which was in the later Star Wars movie where the expecting mother of Luke and Princess Leya Character, Natalie Portman and the future Darth Vader are seen in that incredible Villa. We were also told to tour Cadenabbia, another of those pin up type cities. To get a good idea of how well off people here are, just imagine seeing an airplane with floats circling the lake to land, nice getaway commute eh? We have essentially been without internet connections for the last week, and updating the blog, and keeping in touch with family has been horrible. We heard of the 48 people that passed away in the Aquitaine due to hurricane force winds, and flooding from levees and dikes breaking. Even more horrible was an 8.8 scale earthquake in Chile. The weather in the Dordogne, where we are renting the farmhouse, has been horrible, so the good weather we’ve been blessed with really has been a bright spot. Well dinner was even better than lunch, I absolutely love Bellagio, it has a beauty that cannot be replicated, a natural beauty. I will return, maybe a little later in the spring, not in summer when its packed with the uber-wealthy, but when its warmer and deserted, and appreciates beauty lovers. I can’t, and don’t want to, imagine what it’s like here in high season. I know it’s expensive, but here it’s worth spending what’s required to enjoy heaven on earth. I just think it would be Hell with all the crowds. This is a place that spoils you with its beauty, you feel as though you are being let in on a secret. And to tell you the truth, you don’t mind sharing the secret, it’s that good. Tomorrow we will take the ferry across the lake and drive down the northern side to Como, and on to Antibes, France, our old friend, and it’s cousin Nice. Ah familiarity with a different kind of beauty, that of calm unhurried old world pizzazz.
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