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Published: June 29th 2017
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Pradella above Bellano
Our apartment is through the little archway. What an interesting day it was going to be. It all started about 3:00 am in the morning with the mother of all thunderstorms. The sound of the thunder booming around the mountains nearby was deafening. We likened it to the bass section of the choir. Back in New Zealand the thunder is more like the soprano section. Today we leave our hillside paradise, we only hope it is dry when it comes time to depart. Our hostess has told us, no need to leave too early. We pack all our bags, luggage and groceries: unfortunately we have finished the wine and eaten all the blueberries.
We stop a while as we pack the car and chat with a local. He is sad to see us go. We tell him we came for three nights and wished we had stayed for three weeks. We shake hands and wave goodbye. Today is a little cooler but the air is clear. We can see across the lake. The smoky blue heat haze has gone. It will be a good day for driving.
The journey today takes us to a little lake further west, Lago d’Orta. Why there? We couldn’t find suitable
Pradella above Bellano
Looking across the courtyard. accommodation that matched our budget at Lago Maggiore. There are several route options. We have plenty of time so a little excursion into Switzerland, through Lugano, and south to Lago d’Orta. Simple.
Driving south, Lecco was our first destination. We had thought of staying in Lecco. Now we are pleased we didn’t. It is a big, busy town, with roads in every direction. At one stage we are driving through a tunnel and we couldn’t believe that the turnpike was inside the tunnel. Amazing, an underground world of road tunnels. Just outside Lecco we discover a large shopping centre with underground car park. It is getting hot so a good place to park. Now we know what Italians do on Sunday mornings, go shopping with the family. After a quick coffee and picnic lunch supplies we head towards Como.
Until now Jane has been enjoying the views from the comfort of the back seat. It is about time she earned her keep. She programmes a route that will take us into Switzerland keeping off the toll roads. Driving the motorways in Switzerland means buying a 40 euro vignette (minimum price). We just want to loop through Switzerland, maximum two hours, and arrive at our destination.
All goes well. On the GPS we can see the road we need to take. It exits off to the right just before the motorway starts. Great. But no! In front of us is the Swiss border security. With a delicate little hand movement we are directed to an area dedicated for unwanted visitors. A bright young woman appears and explains we need to buy a vignette. But we only want to drive 100 metres to that exit. Sorry, to do that you need a vignette. That would be the most expensive highway toll in the world. Stretch it out and it becomes 400 euros per kilometre. No wonder the Swiss banks are overflowing with cash. After much discussion, and holding up all the other unwanted visitors, we decide to turn around and return to Italy.
The nice young woman at the border explained how to get into Switzerland and once back in Como we stop for our picnic lunch and make a decision. We did not really want to go to Switzerland anyway. So once the picnic was over we asked Jane to take us to our final destination for tonight. Instead of the detour through Switzerland we took a more direct route. We passed Lago Maggiore and continued on to Lago d’Orta. As we got close we realized this lake was a weekend hideaway for the Milanese. The roads were busy, parking along the lakeside was full, and everyone seemed to be enjoying a hot Sunday in the water. The setting was stunning.
Tonight we are in an upstairs apartment above a cafe/bar. Our young hostess explains the local sights and where to catch the ferry. Perhaps Monday will be a quiet day in the area.
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