Lake Legano - Casino Time!!!

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We got up after a good sleep and made our way lazily down the 4 flights of stairs. Today we had to catch the ferry to Menaggio, have a look round there for an hour, then catch a bus up to Lake Legano in Switzerland!

This wasn't part of the tour, but an option that we couldn't pass up!

The ferry ride was short but FREEZING, the ferries are like those car ferries so they dont really accomodate for people that much, i.e. no heaters or anything!

We got to Managgio and it's pretty much like Verenna, except it's a bit bigger. We took a stroll around the town and ended up back at the bus stop just in time to leave. The bus ride only took an hour and it was pretty scary winding up the side of the mountain, but the view over the city was incredible. It's strange, cos up here the weather seems to be pretty dismal, yet the rest of the country seemed to be enjoying sunshine galore! Once you get into the Lakes District, it's very misty and foggy, I guess it must be a few hundred metres above sea level or something (no, I didn't have my Frommers guide book on this trip). The locals said that the weather is pretty rough most of the time.

We arrived at the Swiss border and it was stupidly easy to get in. All the guards did was take a look at the people on the bus and waved us through. We cruised into Legano and got off the bus.

Of course, being Swiss, the main item on sale here was Army Knives, but as we have no interest in being in the Swiss Army, we opted out and Jules found a chocolate shop!

5 MASSIVE blocks later, we walked out and headed down to the waterfront for a good look around. Again, it's cold, like really cold and it's drizzling.....made me feel like I was back in NZ during the Winter...it was pretty dismal...

So we mooched around the shops a bit more, got a buzz out of seeing the signs in a different language and then Jules says....

"Well, Legano's done, how bout we go back to that casino we saw on the border and get a drink!"

Could I have a better girlfriend!!!!???????

So we headed into the casino, surrendered our passports and went into the main floor. Jules went and changed some Euro and I took a look at the machines....I was all excited, thinking I was going to see some weird Swiss pokies.....nope, all Aristocrats just like we get in Aus and NZ....gutted!

Drinks time and 19 Swiss francs got us a bourbon and a beer.....UNREAL! Wont be having too many of these! This casino was pretty much like any other casino. Full of locals pumping in loads of money they don't have, all with faces down round their boots, a true picture of misery. I guess the casino's sole purpose is to fleece the rich and famous from Como during the peak season.

There was one cool thing though (and yes, I'm amused easily) they had these escalators that only moved when you stood near them. So it looked like they were broken, but when you walked close to them and stepped on, they started moving!!! Wow, what a time we live in. What will they think of next?

After losing more than we care to disclose, we left the casino and got back on the bus for Menaggio. Once we arrived back in Menaggio, we wandered around and found a really cool little internet cafe that gave you a glass of wine and a plate full of meat cutlets and cheese for only 5 euro, it was great. Oh, and of course, they also displayed the obligitory picture of George Clooney, who apparantly was only in the cafe a few days earlier...yeh right!

The owner of the cafe was a pretty smart cookie though, he had a friend who hand painted scenes of Lake Como on the reverse of wine bottles, and you could buy them from the bar. Of course, there was 'Georges favourite wine' on sale, with a nice hand painted picture of Georges house on the reverse. These were pretty expensive so we didn't buy one, but I'm sure plenty of people have before!

After a few plates of old meat and smelly cheese, we met Mel the tour leader at the ferry and of course, di the whole "you just missed George Clooney!" routine....

She bought it, for about 10 minutes....

We then got the ferry to another small little bay for dinner. This was your typical Italian affair, pasta, pizza and lots of wine, so not terribly exciting.....the excitement was yet to come....


We jumped on the last ferry back to Verenna, and the ferry drivers (all men, in their 30's) were quite keen to get some of the (younger) girls from our tour up into the 'drivers seat'. So a few of the girls went up, including Mel....

She soon came back down after driving the ferry around the lake for a bit (what is it with Italy's public transport?! Anyone can drive!) with the expected tale of 'bum pinching' from the drivers.....so she sought revenge.

For the next ten minutes, she ran around the ferry hiding ALL the fire extinguishers in the toilets, she unhooked the back chain which was supposed to be our 'safety rail' and hooked it up to the side of the boat, and generally ran amok. Justification she thought for the molestation that had taken place upstairs in the cabin.

When we got off at the other end, the ferry drivers were none the wiser, all grinning at the girls, and we were all laughing at them.....I had nightmares that night of ferry fires in Lake Como and the crew all drowning because the fires couldn't be put out....


After returning to our hotel, we sat downstairs with some of the locals and had a few Peronis and vinos and Jagermeisters and....

It must have been closing time when this old guy (who was 79, according to the big chrome numbers on his belt buckle) came stumbling out. He went round the corner and got on his CRAZY SCOOTER which was covered in stickers, postcards and streamers! This guy had clearly had too much to drink, but I have a feeling his condition went further than just excessive alcohol consumption! He was absolutely bonkers! He did a few wheelies for us on the pavement, then got Mel on the back for a joyride she probably wont forget too soon.

I guess there isn't much to do in Verenna, so why not do your scooter up like a Xmas Parade float?! I've got photos of this, so I'll put them up soon so you can see what I mean!

Crazy way to end the day.....

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