Italian Adventures in the Lake District

What started as a trip to the Dolomites soon became a plan to revisit Lake Como, then a quick swing up to Lake Maggiore followed by a visit to Piemonte, which was only 2 hours south by car.  After detailed planning and reserving, we landed in Milan on Sunday Sept 1st. Having survived  the long flight and hour ride into Milan, we meandered to dinner and were welcomed by this magical sight only one block from our hotel.

Most restaurants are closed on Sunday night in Milan, so our hotel, The Gran Duca di York, sent us to Convivium, about four blocks away. It was a hot night, and inspired by our exciting view of the duomo we were looking forward to our first meal in Italy. Though not formal, the restaurant was elegant, the staff friendly, and the food divine. Our first course was huge stuffed squash blossoms, and the wine was served with delicious buttery flat breads.

We encountered this Roero Arneis throughout the trip

  Italians rarely offer salads on their menus, but Convivium's version with octopus and celery was  tender and refreshing.

Late summer octopus salad

buttery shrimp with leeks

I was giddy with delight when the dessert came. We were expecting a traditional lemon sorbetto with limoncello poured on top, but instead the concoction was served as a frothy blended drink. I have to duplicate this icy delight at home.

After a mere half hour train ride from Milan, we arrived at the tiny station in Varenna to start our Lake Como adventure.

We waited 5 minutes for the female cab driver to return from another delivery (there was only 1 cab) and she took us on the 3 minute ride to our magnificent hotel- Villa Cipressi. This is a view of the villa's famous gardens that descend to the lake.

Our room overlooked Lake Como and we started snapping photos immediately           

Then we crossed over sunny terraces to explore the fragrant gardens. The hotel welcomes visitors to  the gardens for a fee but hotel guests have the run of the property. We wandered the paths and balustrades and rested on benches until lunchtime.

We headed for the tiny villagio which is right outside the hotel gates and chose a restaurant for lunch-Albergo del Sole.

What better choice than prosciutto e melone and a special primo piatto of rice pilaf with shrimp and veg.

On returning to the Villa, we found the staff setting up for a large wedding on the terrace right below our room. Anticipating the disruption, Dean inquired if there was another room farther away from the party. Fortunately there was another building which turned out to be the ancient remains of the original villa built in the 15th century, which had an entrance displaying frescoes in various states of restoration.

Our room was huge, much quieter and more atmospheric, though it did require various sets of huge old keys to lock and unlock it. In the evening we were picked up near the hotel and taken up into the hills to Il Caminetto, a restaurant recommended by Rick Steves.  Though it was a scenic drive and the dining room was cozy, the food and atmosphere were slightly off and the owner was grumpy.  We decided that a Rick Steves recommendation guarantees an all American crowd. It's much more fun to take our chances and eat with other European tourists and locals who don't rely on his guides.

Il Caminetto dining room

We were greeted by this illuminated church when we returned to Varenna from our dinner in the hills. We walked back to our villa, delighted to be in Italy again!

More beauty found in Villa Cipressi's gardens

 We learned the next morning at breakfast from Australian guests that there are weddings almost every evening at Cipressi. The Villa is a victim of it's own breathtaking beauty and revelers come from all over the world to get married there. This trend has increased since George Cloony bought a villa on the lake. The wedding on our evening was Russian and though parties are supposed to disperse at 11, Italians have difficulty asking guests to leave and they tend to linger under the stars until later.

  The next morning we had a lovely breakfast on the terrace and headed to the dock to find our boat for Bellagio.

The boat ride to Bellagio took only 15 minutes and when we arrived at the bustling terminal we called our Hotel Silvio to pick us up (actually we had trouble calling and I had to seek help in a nearby hotel.) There are no cabs here. The young woman at the desk was very helpful and soon someone from Hotel Silvio came and took us the short distance to our hotel. I was lucky to have chosen one away from the touristy center and in a quiet spot on the way out of town.

Our terrace overlooking Lake Como at restful Hotel Silvio

A typical scene in hilly Bellagio

We had planned to board another boat to visit Villa Balbianello that day, but we decided to stay in Bellagio and hang out at Villa Melzi instead. As luck would have it there was a set of stairs right outside our hotel that took us down to the lake and a path that went into Melzi's grounds and on into Bellagio proper. We happily wandered around the gardens and spent hours just sitting, enjoying the lush greenery and looking out at Lake Como.

Villa Melzi in spring with a view of the path by the lake. These flowers weren't blooming in September

The villa in September when we were there

I'm trying out my new lightweight sun hat on a bridge in Villa  Melzi's gardens

Dean relaxing on a beautiful day in Bellagio

Gusti  or flavors of the day

Just outside the garden gates,  the lake path took us to busy Bellagio where we had our first gelato.  Dean had the cioccolato and nocciola combination and I had my favorite pistachio (not pictured.)  It did not disappoint.

For dinner we ate outside on the terrace of our hotel. On that beautiful warm evening it was a pleasure to dine al fresco. The restaurant specialized in  lake fish, and I chose it because the blurb in Trip Advisor promised that it was popular with locals. Both the setting and the food were exceptional.

We shared a fish sampler to start

We enjoyed local lake fish on both Lake Como and Lake Maggiore. Above is a fish we had not heard of before

I had a raspberry tart with a fork stenciled in cocoa

The next day we took the two hour slow-boat trip to Como. What a way to spend the day! That ride, which stopped at numerous small villages and passed by many more, is one of my favorite memories. And we finally got to see Villa Balbianello. Next trip we'll allow more time on this magical lake. To see what it really looks like, check out Monty Don's Italian Gardens on Netflix. The Fourth episode is called "The Lakes" and towards the middle of the episode, Monty Don traverses Lake Como by boat and spends time at Villa Melzi and Villa Carlotta right across the lake.

Photogenic Vlla Balbianello appears in films such as Star Wars and James Bond's Casino Royale. You Tube has both scenes

Another typical small village photographed from the boat

We disembarked in Como, found our hotel and then wandered into the old town to find the duomo

Another day, another duomo. Como's is especially grand

We happened on this little market in the late afternoon and bought fruit

We spotted a little restaurant in tiny Piazza Roma and knocked on the door to make a reservation for dinner. It turned out to be a winner; a family-owned restaurant with the 18 year old son and his sister in the kitchen and another son taking care of guests. The meal started with a glass of Prosecco and ended with tiramisu. Again the evening was warm enough to eat outside and to walk back along the lake to our modest Hotel Engadiner, where we had stayed years ago.

More fish, simply prepared at Piazza Roma

The next day we rented a car at the (thankfully) small Como train station and headed north through Switzerland to Lake Maggiore ....   To be continued in the next installment