Today’s blog has lots of photos. Linda thinks too many. If so, Dave thinks you can skip them.
The morning started early with Dave walking to the ferry station (about 20 minutes away). He bought our tickets to Bellagio. On his return to the Airbnb, he stood to get two take-away cappuccinos. We were quite surprised that they were only €1.50 each.
We headed out on the ferry at 9:10 and arrived in Bellagio at 11:20. We made 13 stops in between. In addition to the amount of time it took, it started to rain. Since we were on the top of the boat without umbrellas or raincoats (they were safely secured at the Airbnb), we made our way inside. Turns out so did lots of other people and we all stood shoulder to shoulder. Thank goodness everyone did a good job of keeping their masks on.
When we arrived in Bellagio, it was still raining. So, we ducked under the portico in front of the various stores along the waterfront. We thought about buying an umbrella but decided that we’d wait and see what happened with the rain. Instead, we went into the bar and had Caffe Americanos. While the rain came down really hard while we drank, by the time we left, the rain had stopped.
We then headed to our reservations at Ristorante la Punta. This restaurant is on the far north end of the peninsula. It is said that on a clear day (it wasn’t, obviously), you can see Switzerland. The view we had was very nice and the food was great. We shared a first plate of Spaghetti Pomodoro (spaghetti with fresh tomatoes and basil), then had second plates of Char with Sage Leaves sautéed in butter and Fried Perch. Again, we shared both and they were all excellent. For dessert we had a plate of mixed cheeses. (Gorgonzola, Parmesan, and two others whose names Dave could not understand). All four were great, though Dave really like the Parmesan and Linda enjoyed the soft “unnamed” cheese.
We then wandered through the streets of Bellagio. We were struck by two things. First, English (both American and British/old colonies) is far more prevalent than in Como, where we rarely hear it. Second, as a lady at the restaurant said, Bellagio is like a beautiful open-air mall.
We then took a fast ferry boat back to Como. This time the hydrofoil boat made only four stops and got us back in 50 minutes.
Next, we took the funicular to Brunate. While we are glad we did it, between the haziness and crowds on the funicular, it was less than exciting. We had a drink at the top. Linda had a Mandarin Spritz and Dave had a Campari Spritz. Linda really liked her drink. It took Dave a little effort to get used to the more bitter Campari versus Aperol.
When we returned on the funicular, we went back to the Ox Bar and Restaurant for a drink and aperitivo. The bartender, Antonio, was really nice. The aperitivo was much the same as the first night, but Antonio shared with us a meloncello (which was much better than the medicinal tasting version we had in Capri several years ago) and a half margarita with red pepper flakes in it. The margarita was very spicy and terrific.
We then returned to the Airbnb and started to pack to leave Como tomorrow. While we have enjoyed ourselves and the Lake Como area is beautiful, we are fine with moving on. Andiamo!
2022 Italy Vacation 