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Arrival in Varenna

We had to get up at 4:30 to make it to terminal 5 for our 7:30 departure, but it all went smoothly. JP was waiting for us when we emerged from our flight in Milan. Together for Father’s Day, we made our way to the train that would take us to Stazione Centrale in Milan where we could get a train to Varenna.

The train took less than an hour, passing by Lecco and giving us tantalizing glimpses of the lake. When we arrived, we made our way down the one cobbled street to our hotel, Alberbo Beretta, happy to have landed and happy with the gimpses of the lake from our windows. We were all starved, so we headed out to find food, which we did in the tiny square in front of the ferry boats.

After we were sated, we explored the charming if a bit crowded village.

Varenna, Villa Carlotta

We slept late and had breakfast of croissants and cappuccino in the hotel café. The hotel was kind enough to keep our bags for us until we could check in to our apartment. We wandered down to the ferry and bought a day pass, hopped on a ferry and headed to Bellagio. We had no idea where the ferry was headed but the last stop was Lenno, where I knew Villa Balbianello was, so we trusted our fate to the wind. One of the stops was for Villa Carlotta, so we got off there and toured the amazing villa and gardens.

We hoped back on the ferry and went down to Lenno. We walked down to Villa Balbianello, but unfortunately it is closed on Monday and Wednesday, which gave us more time to have a leisurely lunch at a restaurant overlooking the water. More delicious pizza, beer and wine.

The ferries seem to come every 20 minutes, so we caught the 1:40 out of Lenno, which took us back to Bellagio and then Menaggio and from there back to Varenna by 2:40, just in time to meet our host at our apartment at 3pm. The three bedroom apartment is spectacular, with views of the lake from every window and a lovely teak picnic table and chairs on the patio.

All of us collapsed for a several hour nap. While the boys continued to nap, Steve and I ventured out to the town square to pick up some essential provisions–wine, beer, olives. No fresh bread until tomorrow morning. Rain is threatening so we may stick close to home for dinner. Luckily, there are several restaurants at the bottom of our street.

We have landed in paradise.

Castello di Vezio and Villa Monastero

I set off on an early mission to find a store I had read about, Antichi Sapori, which I had read about that sold prepared food (and I thought was in Varenna but turned out to be in Bellagio). I took the ferry over to Bellagion, surprised that cost almost 10e just to go back and forth to Bellagio when an entire day pass for the lake was 15e (clearly the better deal). Luckily, after wandering for five minutes, I asked a sweet little old lady who gave me excellent directions (the fifth street off of the covered shopping arcade), and I found it quickly. I bought eggs, butter, cream, bread, croissants, a prepared lasagna and two shishkabobs of chicken and sausages and was back in Varenna in an hour. We packed a picnic of cheese, salami, crackers, biscotti, and chocolate (and of course wine) and got a mid-day start on our hike to Vezio. We stopped at the travel agent adjacent to the train station and bought our tickets for tomorrow to Tirano and were also able to make reservations for the Bernina Express scenic train to St. Moritz (reservation required and 20e per person more expensive than the local train, but what the heck, we’re only here once). We will take the local back to Tirano from St Moritz. Happy to have all of our arrangements made for tomorrow, we headed up the mountain for what we thought would be a 20 minute hike.

We took the pedestrian trail rather than follow the road and even though we passed several hikers coming down the hill from Castello di Vezio, we still managed to get ourselves what felt turned around if not lost. After asking directions several times, we found our way to a 15th century mill beside a river, and already hot and sweaty, the boys decided to explore the river and go for a swim while we rested in the shade and opened the bottle of red wine. They reported finding a waterfall and bottomless pool.

When we finally reached the Castello, our hike was worth it because the views were spectacular.

The fort housed Roman soldiers 2000 years ago when Roman ships plied the waters of Como (the deepest in Europe), supplying troops for the conquest of northern Europe.

They have displays of falconry and we saw a huge owl and several tethered falcons. There was also a bar on top, so we sat and enjoyed a cold beer before beginning our trek down the other side of the mountain, which had been described as much more arduous. The dappled lanes were full of birdsong, and to our complete amazement, we got down the mountain in 15 minutes and landed at the back door of our apartment. Had we only known, we could have started from our back yard and saved ourselves an hour and a half hike (but then we wouldn’t have found the old mill and river).

We enjoyed our picnic lunch in our own dinning room and then set off to explore the Villa Ciprese and Villa Monastero gardens. Unfortunately, a wedding was underway in the Villa Ciprese gardens but we loved the Villa Monastero gardens, originally a monastery and convent dating back to the early 1200’s but closed in the 1500’s because, I read somewhere, too many of the nuns were pregnant. The botanical gardens are stupendous, with breathtaking views over the lake.

On our way home, Steve and I stopped at the Hotel du Lac bar for a martini, surely one of the most beautiful places we’ve ever had a martini.

Our walk back through Varenna was filled with glimpses down narrow streets to the lake.

Jordan making friends with the local cat. Tonight, we will eat on our terrace and tomorrow we will be off early to the Bernina Express to St. Moritz.

Tirano to St. Moritz via Bernina Express

We caught the 7:25 train for Tirano, which gave us about an hour in Tirano to have a cappuccino and pick up our tickets for the Bernina Express. We had one heart stopping moment when we pulled out our tickets, and on the top it said in bold letters REMEMBER TO BRING YOUR PASSPORT. Of course, no one had noticed, and I was the only one with my passport, so for a moment we thought we had lost our chance to see the Alps, but the ticket agent said they don’t check passports, so not to worry. We breathed a huge sigh of relief. The panoramic train was gorgeous but crowded with tourists. The windows, although large, had a lot of glare, so I’m not sure I would recommend it, especially given the extra charge. Our regional train going back had large windows that opened, which meant no glare, and it was less crowded, a better deal all around.

The trip from Tirano to St. Moritz takes about 2.5 hrs of the most gorgeous scenery imaginable. The train traverses bridges and viaducts and gives you a view of snow-capped mountains and glacier lakes.

St.Moritz has to be one of the most expensive places I’ve visited. Our lunch at the Hotel Hauser, recommended as one of the more reasonable places to eat, was delicious but very expensive. We had sandwiches and beer for a total of $120, the most expensive meal we’ve had so far. After lunch, we walked around the

lake and the boys had rock skipping contests until it was time for us to board the train for our return trip.

We returned to Varenna at 8:30, tired but happy.

Bellagio

We had a leisurely morning in our apartment in Varenna. Our next door neighbor, Rina (short for Caterina), a sweet woman in her 70’s, brought a workman by to fix a broken latch on a window and apparently fell for JP, who was bare chested and shaving in the bathroom. Before we left, she brought him ‘un regalo’, a photo of the house with her address on the back and asked him to write her.

We took the ferry to Bellagio where we were met by Monica, the host for our second apartment. She drove us to the apartment, considerably more than 5 minutes from downtown, but in a lovely garden in a quiet neighborhood. We were all starved so we went out looking for a restaurant. We passed an 11^th century church and the tiny port of Lopia where we found a lovely restaurant under an arbor.

We were seated and offered glasses of proseco and had one of the best meals we’ve eaten so far—risotto with white truffles, spaghetti with lake fish, and meat ravioli. We ordered a bottle of proseco and enjoyed the moment.

The restaurant was next to the entrance to Villa Melzi, so we wandered the beautiful gardens in weather that was, unfortunately, far too hot.The villa dates from the Napoleonic era.

The house is not open to the public, but the gardens are lovely, with enormous trees, an oriental garden, grottoes, and statues.

Chapel

When we got back to the apartment, we all had to shower to cool down. The boys napped while Steve and I adventured out to find the supermarket Monica described and came back with provisions for our stay—more wine and beer, white truffle oil, chicken cordon blue, chicken wings, assorted mushrooms, bread, cheese, eggs, juice, espresso—all for a grand total of 56 E, less than we pay for a typical lunch. Dinner was delicious and we decided to venture into town for gelato. We took the advice of past guests who had written advice in a guest book and took the inner road rather than the main road. It was a narrow lane bordered by walls and houses, which had probably been in use for a thousand years. The walk, which took 25 minutes, was one of the highlights of the trip. I’ve never felt so much like I was walking through the middle ages.

Villa Balbianello

We decided to get another day pass for the lake, imagining we would visit both Villa Balbianello and Menaggio. Villa Balbianello, which perches on a peninsula, was spectacular.

The garden paths are lined with statuary, and the vistas are spectacular. Scenes from Casino Royal, Star Wars, and A Month at the Lake were filmed on the verandas, and as the boys said, they felt as if they were on Naboo. The house was built in the 1700 on the foundation of a monastery (only the bell towers remain) but was completely redone by Guido Monzino, a wealthy businessman who was also an explorer who reached the North Pole and base camp at Mt Everest. The house, which can only be visited on a guided tour, was filled with Monzino’s collections of everything from Greek, Aztec, and Chinese artifacts as well as a room full of the artifacts of his explorations, including one of the sleds he used to reach the North Pole. It is not to be missed.

As always, a long lunch restores tired travelers. We never made it to Menaggio, but we needed to recharge our batteries, and once back in Bellagio, we fortified ourselves with yet more gelato and wandered our way back to apartment on our enchanted Medieval middle road.

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