Expecting (and getting) some amazing weather this morning, we decided to start off early and catch the morning sun from castle Vezio above the sleepy town of Varenna overlooking the lake. Older (or slightly poorer) than Bellagio, Varenna was just getting the sun streaking down over ancient rooftops as we came ashore. Hardly anyone was awake and we had a nice and quiet hike up the mountain path.
The top greeted us with a small church, old ladies praying, a tiny graveyard for locals, and the castle walls. It turns out that the castle is really just a tower surrounded by walls with the best view around. They also do demonstrations with birds of prey that we didn't get to see, but we did see the main characters, including a beautiful owl named Artu and several hawks.
At this point tourists started to join us at the top so we decided to go down. Little did we realize just how effective the rain was at keeping tourists away! Varenna has a promenade along the lake that was absolutely packed. The few shops and streets through the town were almost as densely crowded. I don't think this little town ever thought it would have so many people enjoying it! However, like Bellagio, the side streets were beautiful with their age and colors. The sun has helped make for some stunning photos today, I can't wait to share them all.
For those who are reading this, it's hard to share more than a few exemplary pictures, but there are many which depict Italians or Italy that are not complimented by a story. I'll have to make a highlights post at the end of our journey I think.
We left Varenna to come back to Bellagio and the fair weather masses. It was interesting to see a large number of shops open for good weather but not rainy, even on a weekend! Clearly catering to visitors. Being our last day here, we decided to have a meal at our hotel's restaurant. The menu looked delicious, with a nice wine list and one of the best views of the sunset in town. Our food did not disappoint and the sunset did it's best to one-up the meal. A perfect end to our visit on Lake Como. (The meal pictured is penne with freshly sundried tomatoes, olives, and a pesto-burrata sauce. Delicious!)
Tomorrow, an early start for the hydrofoil, highspeed train, and vaparetto (ferry boat) to our hotel in Venice!
-NT
Location:Varenna, Italy
1 comment:
So glad you were able to get over to Varenna on a good day (and see the view from the castle). Sounds like it was nice, relaxing walk up as well. :) Hope your travel to Venice was uneventful and can't wait to read more!
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