Italy Trip, Sunday, July 30 (Day 11)

Road trip! After packing up and checking out of the hotel, we headed out for the longest trip yet in the van. Even at that, it was only a couple of hours, so not too bad.

We left Stresa and Lake Maggiore to head to Lake Como, the largest of the lakes we visited. This lake is configured kind of like a running figure (facing left), but with no head. 🙂

We drove through the city of Como on our way to Bellagio, which is right at the figure’s crotch. Como itself is a city of some size, and very busy. Streets are generally small and wind around a lot. I was really glad I didn’t have to navigate! Andrea knew just where to go, so we made it through town A-OK. Several of us did ask for a bio break, but there wasn’t any place convenient to stop, so we kept on.

We drove up the inside of the left leg of the figure on a small, two-lane road. From my vantage point in the second row of seats in the van, it looked like there was barely room for one vehicle, much less two who have to pass–not to mention the walkers and bicyclists! But everyone just kept going. I think we all held our collective breath when we passed some of the large buses, though.

I asked Andrea if this was the only road. He said there is another, but it isn’t any wider. All the traffic into and out of this very populous area has to navigate these roads. Simply amazing.

We finally found a place to stop where there was space to pull the van in. The restaurant had a gorgeous view overlooking the lake, so besides a much-welcome pee break and a coffee/hot chocolate repast, we got some pictures. The first one you’ll see below is a panorama taken with my iPhone. Yes, it looked just like that, and the next photo proves that I was there! 🙂

Then we drove all the way into the town of Bellagio where we unloaded ourselves for the afternoon adventure. I didn’t envy Andrea having to find a place to park, but he did. We had lunch right on the waterfront, then walked around a bit. The picture of the bird on the water is just to show how clear the water is. It looks like the bird is walking on the rocks, but he’s actually floating above.

From Bellagio there are boats and ferries running to both other sides of the lake–essentially it’s a big triangle. Our next adventure was a trip on one of the ferries to a town called Varenna. I got a couple of pictures of the town on the way.

And then we started climbing. This was a pretty easy path (mostly not steps, thank goodness!), but it was steep. And today was probably the hottest day we’ve had yet in Italy. (Really toasty, even for this Texas girl.)

Our goal was the Vezio Castle (Castello di Vezio). Just before the castle, which is a ruin in the process of being restored, there’s a small town and (what else?) a picturesque church.

A few more stairs up, and we’re there! The castle is a pretty cool place, as it’s used for art installations as well as being home to some raptors and a daily raptor demonstration.

The first picture you’ll see from the castle is a “ghost” figure. Two things. First, note as you look at the gorgeous view that we’ve walked this high from lake-level (whew!).

Then realize that this art installation is repeated every year. Volunteers come to have themselves cast in plaster. They choose their poses. It takes about an hour for the plaster to dry, then the dried cast is removed from them. There are figures all over the castle, some in very unexpected areas and interesting poses. (That’s Robyne touching heads with one of them.)

The casts apparently last for the season; then they’re removed and it starts over again the next year. Cool. There are other art pieces scattered around this area, too.

The castle itself is partially restored, but their goal is to restore it all. Even as is, there are some very interesting nooks and crannies. There’s a tower, too. I didn’t get a picture of that (not sure why not!), but I got a picture FROM that down to a corner turret. Also got a good shot of Kim gazing through a window at the top. (Proof she made it up all those stairs!)

We were close enough to the raptor demonstration time that we stayed a few minutes for it. I thought it would be interesting, but I didn’t reckon on the fact that it would all be in Italian. So after seeing one of the raptors fly but not having any idea what the trainer was saying, I think we’d all seen all we wanted to and we headed back down.

Last shot is when we’re back in the bustling town of Varenna. We caught the ferry from here back to Bellagio, then checked into our hotel for the next two nights.

Dinner was a special fish feast. Those of you who know me well, know that fish (or seafood) is NOT on my list of acceptable foods. 🙁 The restaurant was kind enough to whip up an alternative for me, though, so all was well.

Tomorrow is our last full day on this trip. I have to admit that I’m starting to feel about ready to get back home and get some rest. But…kayaking tomorrow!