Varenna - We just missed George Clooney

  Varenna (Lago di Como), Italy
Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Before I begin, I realized last night how horrible it was of me to say "Internet is so hard to find, but we found it," without actually saying *where.* So here's the rundown so far -
Rome: Unknown, we had it in our hotels
Riomaggiore: Second floor of the tourist office as you get off the train station, .08€ a minute.
Pisa: Unknown, we weren't there long enough
Genoa: Ditto
Milan: The only open and working place we found was on Via Valpetrosa, a small street running parallel to Via Tivoli, I think. Either way, Valpetrosa is on the map, and near the city center. Think it was something like 5-6€ an hour?
Varenna: In a wine bar on the south side of the main street, kind of across from the tourist office, but before you get to the monastery. Wasn't working when we were there, and was the only public computer in town.

Leaving Hotel Delizia in Milan was so much easier than finding it in the first place. It was actually a decent priced, nice hotel, if a bit out of the way. They have no internet or laundry as described on the website, though.

The trams in Milan work on pretty much the same principle as the busses in Genoa - you don't really need a ticket, thus no one uses them. We're finding this a great way to see the cities. Also, a line may or may not be going the same way the signs say it is, and you have to stand literally in the middle of the street to catch them. We made it back to the train station, and collapse into our seats. We both nap for a bit, then I wake up and watch the absolutely gorgeous scenery. Some of the prettiest stretches coming into the Alps that I've seen anywhere. That was a *really* good thing, since Varenna is one of the tiny one-minute-if-that stops, and we would have missed it if I'd kept napping, since the Regionale trains don't really do announcements. (Intercity and Eurostar do.) We nearly did as it was, as it came so suddenly that I basically spotted the sign at the last moment, shoved my stuff in my bag, poked Sarah (pretty hard), and no sooner had we made it off than the train was in motion again.

Since Sarah had not seen the beautiful scenery coming in, she looks around blearily outside the station and says "This is gorgeous!" in shock.



The train station is right down the street from the hotel, which is on the north edge of town, Since you can walk pretty much everywhere in town in thirty minutes, we did just that. Hotel Beretta was cute, well-priced, and clean, with a friendly bar downstairs (remember that a bar in Italy is more of a place for people to sit and drink and sip cappucino). We went picture crazy by Lake Como, but none of the pictures really capture how pretty it is. Plus, the slight fog was screwing with the cameras' focus abilities. We tour the town, stop for some pasta, and start the hike to the castle.

That was one of the hardest short hikes I've ever taken. In Wende-and-Sarah speak, "Okay. This is as hard as climbing Coba." We must've hiked for thirty minutes on a severe incline before we reach the castle. Perhaps longer. The Alpine scenery was nice, but not really what I imagined.



I guess I'm used to the Rockies, where it's not nearly as humid. We got to the castle to find it had closed ten minutes before. There was a slight debate about just climbing the low wall surrounding the castle, but gave that up when we realized how many people from the settlement at the base of the castle were wandering around. On the way down, I remarked that it would be a nice spot for a wedding. Very celebrity. The next day, we found out that George Clooney has his villa in a town within walking distance of Varenna (a long walk). And I guess Americans go there to stalk him. I am so glad we decided not to stay in Bellagio with George.

Took a few more pictures of the town - they have some interesting stone placques on the sides of some of their buildings - I found one that was a sort of sundial for the hour of the day, and another that was a sundial that told the month of the year. They also have stairs as streets in places, but nothing like Riomaggiore. It also seems to be a big tourist destination for the French.



In summary - we love Varenna, and would recommend it to anyone. If you're around, go to Varenna.

(Pictures forthcoming)
ETA: Sample pictures are up here, the rest at Flickr. The usual deal.