Today we had a good long sleep in after all
that walking yesterday. It was about
11:30 before we left and drove into Lenno.
At Lenno, we walked along the promenade to the
jetty and went to get the boat ticket, but arrived just as the boat was arriving. I didn’t have enough cash on me for the
tickets, and I thought the ticket man was saying that the EFTPOS was not
working. I asked where the nearest bancomat
was and he said "distance." So I walked
back to town, asked in a restaurant where the bancomat was and headed off to get
some cash.
I got back to port just as the next boat
was arriving and was just able to buy tickets before he closed up the booth and
ran down to the jetty to lay out the gang plank.
Oh, and apparently he wasn’t saying the
EFTPOS wasn’t working, just that he didn’t have enough time to do the EFTPOS as the boat was arriving.
Anyway, got my money and tickets and onto the boat. Oh, and damn you ANZ why
does it take 3 days for funds to transfer between accounts????
We took the boat all the way to Menaggio
today. At the Villa Carlotta a huge
crowd got on board. I seriously could
feel the boat sinking lower into the water as they boarded. As we headed back out into the lake, the boat
was definitely struggling, and I was grateful when they all got off again at Bellagio!
Menaggio is yet another beautiful little
town, when we finally found it. The port was a bit dingy but we followed all the
other people who seemed to know where they were going and we soon ended up in the
town square and lakeside promenade. We
walked around town a bit hunting for a nice non-tourist lunch restaurant, and settled on Il Pozzo which was tucked away in a quiet little corner of the square.
Damn that roasted baby goat was to die for (but then a friend posted a picture of a little goat kid on facebook and I felt so guilty),
and for apèritif I tried a Prosecco which I quite enjoyed. But my favourite apèritifs are still Campari, and especially the aniseed aperitifs from France.
On the terrace there was a mamma with her two twin bambino boys awaiting their papa to arrive for lunch, and
when he did he was so happy and excited to see them, and both their little
faces lit up to see and hear him; pure joy.
Lovely.
We
grabbed gelato at Gelateria Edo, and sorry Lygon street, you lose. Limencello, fig and Passionfruit WHICH WERE
SO FLAVOURSOME AND FRUITY and again to die for.
We walked along the promenade with its beautiful lake views, then went to the port to catch the next boat to Varenna, which was also a car
ferry.
Verenna was truly lovely too. We walked along a gangway from the port to
the city centre, and enjoyed café and Campari with the best view, and free
Wi-Fi.
There was just enough time to run up the
stairs to the town square for a quick look, then back to port for our return
trip to Lenno.
Slowly sailing around the lake again was
just gorgeous.
Back at Lenno, I drove back to the apartment
then went for a walk along the green way towards Colonno, following the old
roman road: Antica Strada Regina.
I could hear cuckoos in the forests above
the path, and as I approached town, the nonnas and mammas were rocking their
bambinos on the porches overlooking the lakes, trying to get them settled for
the evening.
Michelle and I both walked down to the
lakeside, where I returned my plate from the night before. Then we went to Locanda
La Tirlindana for a lovely dinner right on the lakeside.
For a while we were the only ones there,
and shared an appetizer of smoked salmon, baked asparagus and soft cheese
rolled in sesame seeds. Main was fish
from the lake, grilled with some vegies.
Quite tasty. Grappa aperitif was
very strong! I ordered a beer that got forgotten, and just as well as I’d have struggled to make it back up the stairs if I had drunk
it after that grappa. When paying, the waiter remembered
he’d forgotten and gave our coffees for free :-)
Dinner was followed by a walk along the
lake where we finally explored the little town of Sala Comacina that we’d been
staying in the past few days. We bumped
into Geraldine and some Aussies walking through the streets who were all very
lively and happy and just about to go to dinner. Shame we didn’t meet earlier, or even the
night before. I’m sure it would have
been a great night out.
Walking along the lake shore, we passed a large
group of people in a square that were sitting around chatting; the kids were playing
with a cat with a laser pointer. On our return the group were all sitting
around holding candles and chanting, presumably praying. They had perhaps inadvertently surrounding the cat
which was sitting in the middle of the square wandering what was going on, and
probably wondering if it was tonight’s sacrifice…
Italy is demonstrably full of very
religious people. The walkways have
little alcoves with statues of Mary and little candles. We came across a cemetery on our walk by
accident yesterday morning, which was dutifully being visited by people before
church, watering the flowers at the graves.
And the graves had the most elaborate statues of Jesus, Mary or of those to
be remembered. Many headstones also had photos
of the departed as well.
The church bells outside our apartment ring
loud and often, from 7:00 in the morning till 10 at night, every half hour with
additional musical renditions of Ode to Joy, and another piece which I don’t
know the name of; oooh, there they go
now as I type! Loving it!!
For some extra pics, mosey on over here.
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