After our one day stop in Munich for Oktoberfest, Steve and I flew to Milan (this was our third trip to Italy in the past 2 months, but it never gets old!). We only had one full day, which we spent exploring and eating (our favorite!). Milan has one of the most magnificent churches I’ve ever seen – the Duomo – and of course, all the pizza and pasta you could ask for! Since the Duomo is the main tourist attraction in Milan, we spent quite a bit of time there. We went inside the church and then climbed up to the terraces on top of the church to get a more up-close view of the spires and ornate details on the exterior. Later, we wandered around until we made it to Navigli, which is a neighborhood with lots of bars and restaurants lining a canal. I unfortunately don’t have any pictures of Navigli, but it was a fun place to spend the evening.
Once we were finished exploring Milan, I got on a train to meet my parents in Lake Como! They made a trip to Europe to visit us (their first week was in Switzerland), and I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to do some traveling with them. Unfortunately, Steve had to head back to London to go to work, so he wasn’t able to join the fun (Note from Steve: not cool!).
The weather when we arrived in Lake Como was gloomy and hazy, which was a bummer since the main attraction is the stunning scenery. We waited patiently for some sunshine and went on with our plans! On our first day, we got full day ferry passes to take us around to some of the small towns on the lake. We went to Varenna, Bellagio, and Mennagio. Varenna was a quaint, peaceful town – we wandered around some gardens and enjoyed the views. Bellagio was more of a bustling tourist center, with lots of shops and restaurants. Mennagio had more of a city feel, but had a nice promenade for walking along the lakeside.
On our second day, we took a boat tour around the main portion of the lake and stopped at Villa Balbianello, which is a beautiful mansion where scenes from James Bond and Star Wars were filmed! That sun we had been praying for FINALLY came out about 10 minutes into the boat ride, so it ended up being a perfect day! We could finally see the mountains in the distance, and we arrived back home to a beautiful sunset.
My parents and I agreed that if we returned to Lake Como, we would visit in the summer time. If the weather was warm and sunny, this would be the perfect place to rent a boat for the entire day or find a lounge chair and soak in the views. I can see why George Clooney owns a home here!
The Great Fekspedition 