An entry in the TFS Travel Journal
Ah, back on the luxurious road again! Uneventful flight, but the worst first-class experience we’ve ever enjoyed. Not a truly valid topic for complaint, but the rolls were cold and hard, the drinks were late in arriving and the service was really slow when we just wanted to go to sleep, then in the morning they had run out of bottled water. Finally popped our ambiens and drifted off, more or less.
Beautiful weather greeted us in Milan, Italy and after a looong wait in the Avis line, we packed up our Lancia and headed for Lake Como and Bellagio. Didn’t have the best map, so we got a bit misdirected. We pulled over and asked a couple for directions; we told them we didn’t speak any Italian, but they nonetheless rambled on and on helpfully but the only words we got were “ferry boat”. That, plus much hand-waving, was enough for us, though, and we drove up the wrong (west) side of the lake and took the aforementioned 10-minute sun-drenched boat ride across into town and to this fabulous place.
What new can one say about Lake Como? A deep saphire-blue long, narrow lake nestled in the base of the high, craggy foothills of the Alps, with picturebook Italian villas and small towns dotting the shoreline and rising up the mountainsides. So pristine, the whole scene (especially when viewed from the copious verandas of the Serboloni) seems to exude a timeless tranquility.
We didn’t tarry in the room lest we not be able to leave it again today, and walked into town for lunch. We settled at Bilacus which had been recommended by some forgotten source. Lovely outdoor setting, redolent of an Italian Sukkah! Starters were a mozzerela and tomato salad and a lasagne with a (too) custardy filling. Entrees were grilled trout and penne Bolognese. The fish was plain but fresh and tasty, and the pasta was very good but a bit oily. Dessert was included, so we got creme caramel which was light and eggy and quite good. All acompanied by the house red vino that was so new it was probably bottled this morning.
We stumbled (literally, since it was steep cobblestone steps) back toward the hotel, stopping to buy (uh-oh, we’ve only been here a few hours!) a new (very cool) gatta cravatta. We napped in the room until Milton went out for some fruit and Wendy continued napping. Milton then went down to the lakeside pool to read while Wendy continued napping. Watched the lovely sunset behind the towering hills across the lake, then returned to the room to count the innumerable bugs that now resided on our ceiling (hmm, must have had the same guy do their window screens as in Scandanavia). We then had to go downstairs to the bar to use the only phone line functional for modem access. A bit inconvienient, but a grappa to accompany some email-reading certainly lent a local flavor to the experience!