Tuesday 4 June 2013

The Italian Adventure Continues...

Morning folks,

We're having a bit of an early start this morning.  We're setting off for Lake Garda and hopefully a trip into Verona, to do all the Romeo and Juliet stuff.  We're taking an overnight bag with us so we may even get as far as Venice, who knows.

Isn't it funny how the first week of your holidays seems to last forever, then as soon as you hit that last week, time just flies.  We still have so much we'd like to do so these next few days are going to be a bit hectic I imagine.

Yesterday we decided to take a look at the Lecco side of the lake. In case you don't know Lake Como is like a big upside down 'Y' shape .........


It's huge!  We're staying about half way up the Como leg, in a place called Pognana Lario, so yesterday we set out and drove down to Como, across countryside to Lecco, then up the right-hand side all the way to Varenna.

What a beautiful little place this is, some say it's the nicest spot on the whole lake.  There's no through-traffic, it's all diverted around the town.  Down by the waterfront, there's hardly any souvenir shops, just a cluster of really pretty old houses,  cafes selling the most fabulous homemade cakes and ice creams and a couple of local restaurants.  Of course, we had to stop and try some ........ nom! nom!


The village is split into two halves.  From Olivedo, where the boats and the trains arrive, there's a lovely scenic walkway along the lake to reach the main part of the village .......



Narrow lanes climb up from the old harbour ......

.......... and twist their way around the hotels

up to the main square, where you'll find hotels and cafes and the 13th century church of San Giorgio

Even the trees were pretty,  just look at the bark, reminds me of camouflage ....

After a leisurely afternoon wandering around Varenna, we took the car ferry across to Bellagio and finished the day with another fabulous meal in a lovely Italian restaurant tucked away in one of the old lanes ........ Barchetta 

Apparently this place has been here since 1887 - changed a bit since then though!

Oh well, time to go.  Only 4 days left and soooo much to see.

Arrivederci! for now.  I'll be back on the Indigo Blu DT Blog tomorrow so maybe I'll see you there.

Thanks for popping by today.

Amore da italia

Linda
xx

2 comments:

Jo Rice said...

Thanks Linda for sharing your holiday....I feel like I am there with you..( sorry I am a gooseberry !!!!) fabulous photos . Have you found that superb bottle of red yet? Enjoy the next few days ...we actually have sun here too.....hugs. Jo. X

Sue said...

Oooh Linda what a beautiful place to be, and with a chance of bumping into George. Enjoy your second week, though I know what you mean about it going soooo quickly xx