Blogs from Lake Como, Lombardy, Italy, Europe - page 4

1 car, 1 toyata hiace (camper from the 80's) 3 Germans, 2 Americans, and several surfing boards and sails made their departure last friday early in the morning from Fischbach on their way to Lake Como. morgan and i carried our bags to andreas' appartment. we drove to friedrichshafen to meet Gotti and Anja. we helped pack for an hour and then we were off. we drove around the bodensee, through austria, lichtenstein, and switzerland. we drove over the Spügelpasse. hairpin turns, switchbacks, curving mountain roads with no guardrails. the border between switzerland and italy was at the peak. the descent into the italian alps was just as unnerving. few kilometers traveled at such a slow cautious speed. we reached lake como in the afternoon. the lake reached as far as the eye could see. mountains ... read more

We slept in, as this would be our last chance before Rome, and then caught two taxis to the central train station. The train station was built by Mussolini and represents Fascist architecture with its huge and imposing style. It definitely makes you feel insignificant. It’s a quick 1-hour train ride from Milan to Varenna and Lake Como, passing by the famous Monza race track.We arrived in Varenna and had our first experience lugging our gear over cobblestones to the hotel (whew!). Laura and I scored the only room with a balcony looking out over Lake Como and had la vista piu bella, although everyone but Garry had a view. We had lunch and gelato at a lakeside café in Varenna looking out across the deep blue water of the lake towards Menaggio. Lake Como reminds ... read more

Anj's European Adventure Angela Johnston After leaving glorious Vernazza we caught a train to La Spezia and hired a car for our drive to the lakes. We were supposed to have a Fiat Punto but they were apparently all gone, and we were given a brand new Alfa with only 2,000km on the clock! We were excited to have a GPS, thinking it would help navigate scary Italian roads. It turns out our GPS (which we named Francesca) unfortunately only spoke Italian tho. It made for an interesting drive and I became translator as I could make out some of what she was saying! Dan did very well to drive on the other side of the road, manage the autostradas AND the crazy italian drivers. Well done!! It took us 5 hours (rather than the estimated ... read more

I must be crazy! I get off the tour and try to relax at my hotel, but all I wanted to do was go explore the lake. It started off pretty bad because everything I wanted to do (rock climbing, hang gliding, ropes course) were either closed or it was a 2 person min. Like it wasnàt bad enough being in Lake Como by myself but now I was going to get charged twice for it!! So I scrapped that and headed down to the lake to do a boat tour... oops not enough people signed up so it was canceled. I think the tour operator saw the frustration in my eyes because she sat me down and showed me how to explore Como without a guide. Saved me money and she had a ton of ... read more

Sorry about the short blog, but I have finally gotten to a point in the tour that I can relax and recap the last two weeks. Topping it off is the fact that I found an internet point that has a REAL US keyboard. This maybe the only time on the trip that I can write something and not have to go back for the next 30 minutes fixing what I messed up on! So letàs talk about Italy! I have seen about 25 towns in 15 days and I was about to fall over by the end of it. Going on tours is not relaxing; 6:30 wake up calls, 2 hours to run around each little town, tour guides and too many gelato stands and not enough time to try them all. You may ... read more