Down here, George! - Lake Como's Varenna

Days four and five and we were in Varenna on Lake Como. I'm not a George Clooney fan, but most of the ladies in the group would wave at the helicopter that would occasionally pass overhead and try to get "George's" attention because he lives in the area. Anyway, enough about him.

 Ann wasn't feeling well, so I set out with Cathy (from San Francisco) and Melanie (from Tooele, UT), two single solo travelers in our Rick Steves' group, to explore Varenna the afternoon we arrived. This community has a beautiful lakeside promenade that we walked, and we stopped to try that delicious gelato at Riva's. Then we headed to Villa Monastero to see its spectacular gardens. We stayed until it started raining. That evening, Ann rallied and we had a dinner I will never forget (and will write about later) with Melanie, Cathy, and Karen and Dana from Texas.

the lake side of our hotel

the view from the shore below the hotel

Just add Erin

the harbor along the promenade

along the promenade

taking the stairs from the main street down to the lakeside promenade

along the promenade

Entrance to the villa gardens

gardens at Villa Monastero

gardens at Villa Monastero

gardens at Villa Monastero

Before traveling to Italy, I had full intentions of taking the boat over to neighboring Bellagio and take a run around Lake Como, but exhaustion set in the moment we got on the bus in Venice to transfer here. I think jet lag, the hustle and bustle of the city, and walking a lot more than I normally do finally caught up with me. And when we finally got here, it was chilly and rainy, exacerbating the exhaustion.

The next day, all I had planned to do was, honestly, sleep in. As The Rick says in his guidebook, there is wonderfully little to do there. I took that as my cue. Part of me regrets not seeing the town and others from the lake, but the other part remembers how I didn't bring warm clothes at it was raining and windy and in the 50's. I got up at 11 (you thought I was joking?) and was out the door an hour later. Ann was really sick and bed-bound for the day, so I was on my own. I got pizza for lunch and then headed up a very steep trail to the castle ruins above Varenna. The view from the top was stunning. This town is beautiful and peaceful - very lush, a mixture of alpine and Mediterranean vegetation (it is in the foothills of the Italian Alps), there are fragrant star jasmine, roses, and honeysuckle growing everywhere, and the prettiest bird songs filling the air. Now, if only it weren't so blasted chilly!

the uphill trail to the castle ruins

the view of Lake Como and Varenna from the top of the hill, just below the castle ruins

the castle ruins surrounded by olive trees

a closeup of Varenna from above; my hotel is the yellow building on the lake side partially covered up by the bell tower of the church

the view from the hotel room window overlooking the square

the church and its bell tower (church covered by the tree, and the castle ruins are at the top of the hill behind it

I really enjoyed hearing the bell chime every hour

I had such a relaxing day, and it was nice after the sensory overload of Venice to have the slow paced atmosphere of Varenna. I walked through Varenna's 12th century church, walked with Ann along the promenade when she was feeling a little better, and got more gelato. I went to happy hour at the corner tobacci shop (these are in every town, and are part convenience, tobacco, pub) where our delightful Italian guide was shocked to discover that I don't drink wine/alcohol ("You DON'T? Like, at ALL?"), and got to meet a few new people from our group.  Later, I was off to another wonderful dinner with the ladies from teh night before. This place was just what I needed.

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