Bellagio is bellissima

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Geo: 46.0031, 9.54927

Had a decent sleep. Weather is quite cool in Lake Como, I actually needed sheets last night! Bunkmate took forever shaving ... I can mow my lawn in less time. Had breakfast with Paul, a South African guy. He's also traveling for 3 months and is currently unemployed. Beautiful views from hostel.

Off to Bellaggio. Walked for 3 hours. Bellissima! Had a nectarine ... would've been quite tasty had it been ripe. Later had a picnic on the lake. Exactly what I had eaten yesterday, but at a different spot. Equally beautiful. Had an excellent coconut gelato ... I think the secret ingredient is Coppertone suntan lotion - it smelled just like it!

Getting increasingly hard to eat gelato as my goatee grows ... gelato all over the place. I am hoping that Italian women will find the flecks of white "distinguished". Off to Lenno. Lousy. Varenna - not much there, either. I had a little too much Lake Como today.

As I hear more Italian spoken, I find the language to be not as beautiful as I used to think it was. Doesn't compare to Spanish, especially that spoken in and around Madrid. So smooth ... so flowing ... beautiful! It's almost like the song of the sirens that almost lured Ulysses to his death .... irresistible! Although for me, it wouldn't lure me to my death ... only back to Toledo!

Valtellina pizza for dinner ...good stuff (see pics). Then back to 40 Euro hotel (all I could find that was affordable). Wanted to chill out and make the most of it, since I totally went over budget with it.

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Photos

a
Passionate about soccer! Apparently, Lazio is sh!t according to this graffitti.

b
This was taken on the ferry to Bellagio - George Clooney has a house somewhere on Lake Como. I don´t know where so we will assume this is the one. But I think it might be his because I saw this guy standing on the balcony waving at the ferry ....

c
This is Villa Giulia! Julia, I´ve found your ancestral home! Local legend is that the original owners were successful olive oil and wine producers but left it all behind to move to Newfoundland. They tried to make lobster oil and lobster wine .... it didn´t catch on.

d
Volta and Parini once lived here. Parini was some playwright or poet I believe. He is not to be confused with Panini, who bakes a mean Italian bread.
Without Volta, we would not have batteries. Or this .....

d1
Voltron!!! Alright, so Volta wasn´t the inspiration for Voltron and I am full of crap. But isn´t my version of history always more entertaining than the real one?

e
Bellagio is beautiful. If only the top of the tower wasn´t obscured by a tree, then this would have been a postcard quality shot.

f
Another beautiful location on Lake Como for a picnic.

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h
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i
Villa Balbianello - found in a town called Lenno, this was made famous as the location where the wedding in Star Wars Episode 2 was shot. Not sure if it´s a good thing to be associated with something as cheesy as that.

j
Like my shirt? 10 bucks Canadian at H and M in London. Why can´t they have one in Calgary? Cheap, cheap clothing. Of course, I only wore the shirt once before shrinking it.
I also bought it because I realized that I had nothing that wasn´t old and ratty to wear if Isabel and I actually went out on a date. I actually bought a new shirt for this girl ... what´s happened to me!!! Next thing you know, I´ll start showering more than once a month, too.

k
Delicious pizza .... bresaola, tomatoes, mozzarella, parmesan, rucola salad ... heavenly. Quite different from North American pizza - very simplistic in comparison.
It had an almost understated elegance .... very refined ... naturallÿ beautiful .... a reserved and demure attitude, if you will.¨ I am not sure if I just described the perfect pizza or the perfect Spanish woman. Either way, they are both very tasty dishes!

l
My feet must be pretty rank and raunchy. Flies seem to love feasting on them. But who wouldn´t? Look at those beautiful grill marks!
Benny, you would be proud - my feet are no longer as pasty white as yours!

m
The patent is still pending, but this is my invention to combat the horrible affliction known as "swamp butt". During the heat wave, one must do this to survive. Moving the fabric away from the butt and creating a small pocket of air ... it actually works quite well.
I had an even better method of fighting the problem of "swamp butt", but it was too ahead of its time. It´s called "walking around with no pants on". Sadly, I had to stop this practice as the fines were becoming too expensive. The people just don´t understand genius when they see it.
However, the fines were offset somewhat by the coins that Italian men kept tossing at me when I demonstrated my inventiveness. It is true what they say ... Italian men will hit on anything.

Comments

[Finkster]

This is not George's "house", it is the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni.We stayed there a year ago. George's house is across the lake from here.