Day 4 - 19 April, 2005: Bellagio, Tremezzo, Como

Man, was it nice to sleep in today. We rushed down for breakfast just in time and promptly went back to our room to get ready for the day. The day started off well enough, with bright blue sky and a few puffy clouds. Our agenda today was to take the ferry over to Tremezzo and see Villa Carlotta and its gardens, built by an Italian nobleman in the 16th Century and continually added to over the centuries. We purchased our ferry ticket and boarded the ferry for the 15 minute trip across the lake.

Lake Como, like the other lakes in the Italian "Lake District" is a glacial lake, meaning that it was formed when the glaciers of the last ice age receded and melted. It is fed now by streams that come out of the Alps and their remaining active glaciers. It was fascinating to see, as we drove south through Switzerland and into Northern Italy, how they've built aquaducts to channel the melting snow from the spring thaw into cisterns and reservoirs. Can I just say that the tap water in that region tasted as pure as any bottled water I've ever had here? The lake is 1300 feet deep at its deepest point, and is about 35 miles long and averages probably 3/4 of a mile wide. It's a but wider right in the middle.

Anyway, enough of the geology and geography lesson. Villa Carlotta was very beautiful, especially the gardens; which basically were a zoo for plants. The collection of "exotic" plants was amazing, especially considering how old the gardens are. There were Sequoias and Torrey Pines from California, some trees from China, Orchids, all types of bamboo, you name it. Our book said that the residents of Villa Carlotta were social rivals of the family that lived in Villa Melzi, right across the lake near Bellagio, and it became a bit of a running battle to one-up each other with a new exotic plant for the garden.

After a couple of hours strolling through the gardens and admiring the sculptures in the actual house, we had a panini from a small sandwich stand and headed back to Bellagio to plan for the afternoon. It was on the way back on the ferry that it started to rain; a rain that would persist the rest of the afternoon. We decided to take the hydroplane ferry down to Como in the hopes that the weather would improve further south.

On the contrary, the weather steadily deteriorated to the point that it was downright pouring when the boat docked in Como. Undeterred, we got out our little umbrellas and ventured to the duomo, which our book said was an excellent example of Italian Gothic architecture. The book didn't lie; the inside of the church was spectacular. We were able to make an impromptu tri-pod for the camera, and I was able to get a great shot of one of the altars using a fairly long exposure. Once we were through with in the church, Angela set out to do what she does best on vacation; SHOP! Unfortunately for her, but fortunately for our credit card balance, all the shops were closed for the afternoon siesta. We did stop into an Italian department store called "Coin," though, and Angela browsed around while I tried not to knock anything over. We found an awesome "pasticceria" (pastry shop) and split a heavenly cannoli that oozed cream filling all over the place when we bit down into it. Back onto the ferry at around 5 for the hour-long trip back up to Bellagio.

It was still raining, although not as hard, when we got back to our hotel, and we freshened up for dinner. We had dinner in a pizzeria right up an alley from our hotel. It was so-so; fairly watery since they use fresh mozzarella cheese that they store in water. It had stopped raining by the time we finished with dinner, so we strolled through the streets; Angela making a mental note of the shops that she wanted to stop in tomorrow.

Sleeping tonight will be a challenge, as there are about 25 schoolkids terrorizing the halls and stairwells of our hotel. We complained to the night manager, and he assured us that if they gave us any trouble that they would credit us for the night.