La Ripa Baveno

Lake Como photos here:
http://www.facebook.com/album. php?aid=163676&id=613699523&l=b 0c583d265

Friday caught the train out to Como for a day trip.
Wandering around Como is really nice and can imagine it would be awesome in Summer, as well as being incredibly busy and crowded.
Caught the funiculare up to Brunate and walked up the ...

When I finally found Lake Como (after a train, then a bus, then a ferry and then a very confusing walk) I was surprised that it was so empty. It was raining (I think the rain is following me around Europe) and there was no one about so I was able to do my exploring easily. Lake Como is a very small place with not too many things to ...

... to go out in the cold again, so then we spent time on YouTube until they got home and made us dinner. Ah, the Italian life. Meghan and I crawled into our beds but didn't sleep for a long time, just talking. We both thoroughly enjoyed the freedom of speaking normally, without adjusting our language to make ourselves understood. She had been accepted that day into an English teaching program in China, and wasn't sure if she wanted to take it or not, so we talked ...

... down in a square. The tour guide told the story of this event which was in fact played out around Como with the bodies being hung upside down in the nearby city of Milan.

As with everything these days I was able to retrieve the picture from the internet and have included it to reinforce the adage that violence begets violence - and on a smaller scale even the young love in Romeo and Juliet is destroyed by family conflict ...

From Dad
To Como

After Lucerne we then had a relatively short drive through the mountains to Como. We went through the longest tunnel in the world, and passed through some very pretty mountain scenery. We stopped near Bellinzona and had a longer rest at Lugarno. These towns are both in the Italian speaking area of Switzerland.

Lugarno was another attractive lakeside town ...

Took the train from Milan to Lake Como - short 1.5 hour trip. The lake is beautiful and there was a speed boat race going on when we arrived. We took the funicular (tram) which has a charming little town at the top and a great view of the lake. We stayed on the south side of the lake (where George lives) and then took a boat north to Bellagio. Quaint town with steep streets filled with great shops. Can understand why George bought a house there!

... Every now and then there is a little town of brightly coloured houses, a beautiful church or an extravagant villa. I met this cute old ouple from australia on the first ferry and bumped in to them on my last ferry.

Highlights would have to have been Villa Olmo at Como which was a stunning cream coloured villa with ridiculously over the top interiors (gold everything!) and villa Carlotta at Tremezzio. the villa was a popular stopping place in the 18th century ...

... Italian. Eventually I did return to reality, but not until after we visited Swiss Miniatur and San Salvatore. Swiss Miniatur is more or less self-explanatory, but I will say it was really cool to visit as a Swiss resident. It gave me and my friend some great ideas for future trips in the country. There are so many castles we never even knew existed! They really captured the great sites and monuments of Switzerland, including mountain ...

Hi friends and family, We were on the road to the Lake region by 8:15 a.m. and made excellent time and arrived in Baveno by 3p.m. As we drove through Italy the clouds moved in and it rained very ************* the highway. Not a great omen for an outdoor concert. Lunch was off the highway at another rest stop. Many had pizza, crepes and salads. Checked into a very cute hotel overlooking Lake Maggiore. Baveno is a very scenic and ...

... this where the manufacturing works is the focal point of the town. But then this is not your normal, bog standard factory. Since the 1940’s it has been manufacturing Ferraris, and from the balcony of our room we could look directly across the street to the factory’s front gates, where we would be presenting ourselves at 9am the next morning to go inside for a tour.

Hoges and I set out on foot to spend the evening exploring the small town, and in only a ...