Bellagio

We woke up to cooler weather and rain clouds on our first day in Lake Como. Because of this cooler weather, we learned that it is illegal in Italy to turn on the heat in your home before October, so we bundled up to go out as well as when we stayed in.

We had heard the Bellagio is one of the "must visit" towns on the lake, so we headed down to the dock from our house in Varenna to catch a boat to Bellagio.

We made a quick stop to play with this cat, a common occurrence during our travels.

It was fun to see our little town from the water. The colorful buildings looked so fun and festive against the dark mountains and the low clouds.

Bellagio is a beautiful, bustling town. There were way more shops and people than in our little town of Varenna. 

We saw a beautiful bride as we exited the ferry.

We had a very pleasant afternoon wandering in and out of little shops, stopping to listen to sidewalk musicians, and enjoying the atmosphere of this little Italian town.

These carved shells were a very popular item in many of the stores. We didn't buy any here, but we would eventually give in and buy some in the Amalfi Coast towards the end of our trip.

We stopped to have lunch at a little pizzeria in one of the tiny, alleyways. More Hawaiian pizza for me! We sat next to the most charming couple who live in Hawaii and travel the world and have the most grand adventures. They had the sweetest, most well behaved little dog with them that happily slept in it's carrier throughout the meal. They bring their dog on all their travels. I want to be them when I grow up ;)

During lunch, it began to pour rain. Luckily, we were seated beneath a canopy and didn't get drenched during our meal, but it made us want to go home and get out of the cold and wet.

Our boat ride home cleared up a bit and we saw a fair amount of blue sky! It was still pretty cold outside though, so we were excited to bundle up in blankets at home.

A cold was also being passed around our little traveling group, and it was my turn to be the sickest one while in Lake Como. Another reason I didn't necessarily want to hang out in the rain all day.

It was always fun to look for our house when we would ride ferries to and from Varenna. Our house is the cream colored one.

When we got home, we were really missing the luxury of a heated house. But we pulled the comforters off our beds and bundled up as we sipped hot cocoa and red bulls and enjoyed some locally made cream puffs Beth had bought from an itty bitty market down the street.

Arriving in Lake Como

From Milan, we took the train to Varenna in Lake Como. I love traveling by train, it's so quick and convenient, I wish it was more of an option in the states. When we arrived in Varenna, we were greeted with gorgeous weather and beautiful sunshine. We had a little while before we were able to check into our airbnb, so we decided to grab lunch at the train station cafe.

We sat outside on their patio, and enjoyed the scenic views of the lush hills. We were pleasantly surprised by the presentation and quality of the food, it was a delightful, spontaneous meal.

Vienne and Reece did some dancing while we waited for our food to arrive.

After lunch we began the adventure of getting ourselves, and all our luggage, to our new home. Roller bags aren't as amazing when on cobblestone streets ... We eventually came up with the plan to send Reece and all the baggage up to the house in a taxi since we discovered our new home was at the top of a steep hill and we weren't sure we would make it with all our bags. Beth, V and I walked since our luggage took up the whole taxi.

Our airbnb had a private gate off the the road which lead to a long staircase that took guests up to the house.

The stone wall next to the stairs was covered in wild flowers, moss and little ferns.

The view from the top of the stairs.

The stairs led to a gravel covered landing where on your right, you were met with an inviting garden path, that led you through the beautifully overgrown hillside garden, to a pergola with a picnic table and a breathtaking view.

To the left of the gravel covered landing, were the stairs to enter the house.

One of the best perks of this house, was the view from the front door

The house itself was a little eclectic, it had beautiful patterned tile floors and a few pieces of mismatch furniture.

The house was wonderfully spacious. There were three bedrooms upstairs, I got the corner room, which meant I got twice the amount of amazing views of the lake.

Beth, Reece and Vienne stayed in the room across the hall from me. At one end of the hall was a balcony, at the other end of the hall was the adorable, little bathroom we all shared. (There was another bathroom downstairs we could have utilized, but Bethy saw a big spider in there. So, like that mature adults that we are, we closed the door and no one dared go again...)

After taking the afternoon to settle in and have a little rest, we set out in the evening to find somewhere to eat for dinner. We loved exploring the little town of Varenna, which is one of the more quiet towns located on Lake Como.

Piazza San Giorgio, the town center of Varenna, is home to the Church of San Giorgio. The church was built in the 14th century in a style somewhere between Romanesque and Gothic, and hosts many paintings from the late 15th and 16th century.

We continued to walk among the colorful houses that brighten the village and found ourselves at the Riva Grande, the charming lake promenade of Varenna.

We found a table right next to the at one of the charming restaurants and had a seat. We got to enjoy the sunset while we read through the menu. 

We ordered two kinds of bruschetta for the table to share, and butternut squash soup as our main course since there was a slight autumnal chill in the air.