Lake Como

Mario, Sissy and I headed to Lake Como for our long weekend in February.

We left mid morning leaving the cold and snowy weather behind. The drive to Lake Como was about 5 hours from the house. We arrived to much warmer temperatures in Italy. It is always nice to visit places in the off season, there are less crowds and accommodations are way cheaper. 

We would be staying a few blocks from the lake at the Hilton Lake Como property. We were upgraded to a suite with view of the lake and received breakfast, thanks to Mario’s status. We checked in and enjoyed the beautiful view of the lake from our room’s balcony. ​

After resting, we walked down to old town Como which was about a 20 minute walk. The hotel is located on a busy street with a small sidewalk, but we later discovered there was a more direct route to the lake. We ate dinner at a restaurant facing the beautiful church.

 The next morning, we headed out to explore the Orrido di Bellano gorge, a natural george created 15 million years ago.  Learn from me and always double check the route the GPS is taking you. I realized too late that the route had us taking a ferry across the lake instead of taking the direct highway. We went a huge distance out of our way, which caused us to literally drive around the whole lake. We enjoyed seeing the small town and the views of the lake but added a way longer commute than planned. 

Once we arrived in Bellano, we found a parking lot right off the main road, with affordable prices.  We walked to the entrance of the gorge, got our tickets which were 7 euro a person. We took in the beauty of the gorge. It was small but still worth the adventure. Here is the link if interested. 
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From there we had a late lunch at a local kebab shop where I got pizza and Mario got a yummy yufta.
From there we took the correct way back to the hotel and made it back to the hotel in an hour. When we arrived back at the hotel,  we were welcome with a gift. 

After resting, we explored the Villa Olmo which is an open park which would have been beautiful come spring. Sissy enjoyed all the smells. It was so pretty walking along the lake, passing by many villas, imagine what they look like inside. We ate dinner again in downtown Como and enjoyed the views of the Church of  Santa Maria Assunta 

The next day was our last full day and we figured since we were so close to Milan, why not explore. It was about 1 hour to Milan from Lake Como. We were going to take the train, but I forgot to bring Sissy’s carrier. So we figured he would drive. There were tolls along the way but you can pay by credit card or cash. They weren’t expensive, for a few dollars. We found a parking garage close to Duomo, which is Milan’s cathedral. So glad we got there early because when we left at 11 the garage was already full.
The duomo was dedicated to the Nativity of St. Mary. Construction started in 1386 and was finished in 1965. There was a pause in construction until 1480 due to lack of money and ideas. It is the 3rd largest cathedral, falling behind  St. Peter’s in Rome and Seville’s cathedral in Spain.
It has been on my list to see for some time. You can tour the inside and then visit the rooftop terraces, enjoying the views of the square. The weather wasn’t very warm and I didn’t want Mario and Sissy to wait in the cold for me. So I took in the views from the outside. If it is meant to be, I will go back and see the inside and explore the tops of the cathedral. From there we headed back to the hotel and had a lazy rest of the day.

The next morning we left and headed home. We hit traffic leaving Lake Como and then missed our turn which caused us to go 20 minutes out of our way. But we finally got on the right road. As we drove home, we took in the beauty of Switzerland, which is pretty but so expensive. We arrived late in the afternoon.  Another great trip in the books.