Lake Como

---

Lake Como is absolutely gorgeous! The lake itself is more of a really wide river than a lake. It's pretty skinny for a lake, and it's shaped like an upside down Y. All together, it covers an extremely large distance. It took us an hour by bus to get from Como to Menaggio. The first night, we made potatoe filled gniochi in the microwave which turned out OK somehow and went to bed since we were exhausted from our problem-filled journey. The next day we decided to buy a one-day pass for the ferry which allowed us to explore the nearby towns of Varenna, Bellagio, Cadennabia, Tremezzo, and Lenno. We only made it to the first 3 before getting tired and going back to the hostel. The second day, we decided to go to Switzerland, so we took about an hour long bus ride to Lugano which is basically right over the Italian-Swiss border. I'm really glad we went because the drive was beautiful as we drove through the Alps to cross the border. It was wierd because it was such a warm, sunny day out and yet the tips of the mountains were still all covered in snow. Cool, huh. Anyways, I don't know how we made it to Lugano alive because the roads through the mountains couldn't be any more treacherous. Of course, I got motion sickness going up the tiny, winding roads to Lugano, and our eyes almost popped out of our heads when several times it seemed like we were going to hit someone or something or just plain fall off the cliff. But alas, we made it and spend a few hours there walking along the lake and buying swiss souvenirs like for example CHOCOLATES! Yummy! The third day, we took a train to the nearby city of Milano (Milan). Going to Milan was like going back to Rome for the day. Milan is a large city with its own Duomo and central Piazza. Of course, Milan is nowhere near the size of Rome, but the two cities have the same kind of atmosphere...lots of people and "go shopping" downs one of the main roads in the fashion district only to discover that we absolutely did not belong on that road. I looked at a wallet in one of the stores and quickly walked out when I discovered that it cost almost 700 euro! HOLY CRAP! We visited two churches while in Milan: Santa Maria delle Grazie which houses Leonardo da Vinci's famous "Last Supper" and Sant'Ambrogio where the Master Wolvinius Paliotto Golden Altar is located. This was another instance where we had the opportunity to see some works of art in person that we have studied in class. It's such an amazing opportunity! Home for the night, than up very early to go back to our second home, Roma.

ANDIAMO A ROMA!

The End...

---