7/5: Lake Como-bound

On our last morning (of two) in Venice, we had no breakfast except coffee. For 110€/night (over $150), this was a final slap in the face from fair Venice. The city is lovely, but it's like an arrogant supermodel who's too good for you. We were through with her.

Having packed, we made our--strict--10am check out, then hiked all the way back to the train station to avoid the 13€ water taxi. We were bound and determined to prevent Venice from taking us for more coin than we felt appropriate.

Along the way, we stopped once in a piazza to rest and look upon the church of saints John & Paul, then once more to buy some Christmas ornaments(a jointed gondolier and pinocchio for Annie. The trek to the train station felt like maybe 3 miles, with 50+ pounds of crap each.

At the train station, we bought tickets to Como via Milano Centrale, then purhased some ham & cheese sandwiches for the ride. Upon boarding our train, I called ahead to try and secure a hotel reservation while on board--so as to avoid the Venetian debacle.

We switched trains at Milan, taking a short forty minute hop to the Como San Giovanni station. From the train station, we had to book bus tickets to Bellagio, our destination village. I bought the passes in the station bar (cheap at 6€), and we awaited our one-hour bus ride.

Above: Annie occupied herself during the wait by photographing trees.

The ride was far less comfortable than we hoped: the driver refused to turn on the air, and made a couple dozen stops en route to Bellagio, so it was a hot, slow trip north to our village.

Making matters worse, I called our hotel when we arrived in Bellagio, only to learn it was located fifteen minutes uphill and out of town. For anyone looking to book in Bellagio, the Hotel Fioroni is NOT in village limits unless you have a horse or hoverboard.

Above: And this was our best view of the lake from our room.

Hot, sweaty, smelly, and exhausted, we checked into the Fioroni and immediately jumped in the shower. Annie discovered the shower head was broken, so she bathed in a trickle, but I figured out how to make the hand spout work, which was a minor victory in an afternoon of defeats.

Once clean, we walked back down to Bellagio for some dusk sight-seeing before dinner.

Above: Annie tests the waters.

The whole Lake Como area is beautiful: green hills and mountains dropping off into the water, with small villages dotting the water's edge.

After finding the tip of Bellagio with a highly-secured house that we assumed HAD to be George Clooney's, we found a small plaza with a restaurant near the town church. We split a small pizza for an appetizer, then Annie ordered tagliatelle and I had ravioli. We marveled at the waitress's unabashed refusal to serve us tap water (we had to pay 3€ for a bottle instead).

After dinner, we found Annie a gelateria so she wouldn't hate me during the uphill walk home. With lemon gelato in hand, she sidled up next to me and we walked arm in arm back to the Hotel Fioroni, naïvely unaware of the tragic news that awaited us.

Como July 5 Album:

Venice to Como: July 5, 2011

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Location:Venice to Bellagio, Italy