{"id":2911,"date":"2014-05-04T22:34:04","date_gmt":"2014-05-04T20:34:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rickzullo.com\/?p=2911"},"modified":"2021-09-11T22:27:46","modified_gmt":"2021-09-11T20:27:46","slug":"im-finally-visiting-lake-como","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/im-finally-visiting-lake-como\/","title":{"rendered":"I’m FINALLY visiting Lake Como!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"visiting<\/a>There are several places in Italy that have been on \u201cmy list\u201d for a while, but without a doubt, visiting Lake Como holds the top spot.\u00a0 Maybe the perceived distance has kept me away until now.\u00a0 Although it\u2019s a bit of a trek from Rome, it\u2019s super easy to reach from Milan (by train or car) in about an hour.\u00a0 And since I was in the neighborhood, I thought I\u2019d stop by and see what all the fuss is about.<\/p>\n

Whatever anyone has told you about visiting Lake Como, I assure you, they\u2019re lying.\u00a0 Or at least they aren\u2019t telling you the whole truth\u2014if only because their lexicon of superlative adjectives is wanting and unimaginative.\u00a0 Then again, Shakespeare would\u2019ve been challenged to find sufficient words to describe the surreal quality of this landscape.\u00a0 One could spend days just hopping from town to town by boat, and gazing hypnotically at the grand villas reflecting off the icy-blue waters.\u00a0 Which, more or less, is what we\u2019ve been doing.\u00a0 An expanded thesaurus would come in handy right about now.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"visiting<\/a><\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t a destination where you work your way through a checklist of famous monuments, or visit important museums.\u00a0 This is a place to relax.\u00a0 And I found just the cozy corner to do precisely that.\u00a0 It\u2019s a little village called Gittana, and it\u2019s only five minutes \u201cabove\u201d the slightly more famous town of Varenna, offering expansive panoramas of the lake in all its glory.\u00a0 In my opinion, these smaller hamlets are much more appealing\u2014and better suited for relaxation\u2014than the overcrowded Bellagio or the larger town of Como itself.\"see<\/a><\/p>\n

But in fact, even Varenna can get a little packed during high-season (June, July, August).\u00a0 Several years back, it was touted by Rick Steves as his pick for an off-the-beaten-path location in the Lake Region.\u00a0 And just like that, what once was undiscovered is now everybody\u2019s \u201csecret\u201d hideaway.\u00a0 Alas.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why I chose Gittana.\u00a0 It\u2019s just\u00a0a quick 5-minute drive to\u00a0the center of Varenna, so you can still sneak into town during the morning or evening hours, avoiding the swell of day trippers in the middle of the afternoon.\u00a0 And of course, Bellagio and Menaggio are easily reached by ferry boat<\/a>\u00a0from Varenna’s port, should you get the urge to mingle with the crowds and search for celebrities.\u00a0 As we all know, George Clooney frequents these parts. (I tweeted him an invitation for aperitivo, but so far no response.)<\/p>\n

\"Holidays<\/a>
Risotto con asparagi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So, since George apparently has more pressing engagements, we\u2019ve been enjoying this tranquil ambiance on our own with the guidance of our hostess, Alessandra.\u00a0 Yesterday she took us to see her newly planted olive trees, which will eventually yield fruit and then, of course, oil.\u00a0 But while there were no olives yet, her land is full of wild asparagus, which we all collected, and Alessandra later used to make risotto.\u00a0 Dinner also included some bresaola<\/em>, vitello tonnato<\/em>, homemade bread, and local wine.\u00a0 The best meal that we\u2019ve had on our trip by far.<\/p>\n

The walk to Alessandra\u2019s olive grove is along Il Sentiero del Viandante<\/a><\/em>, a trekking path of about 45 kilometers that stretches from Abbadia Lariana to Colico.\u00a0 Think of it as El Camino de Santiago in Northern Spain meets La Via dell’Amore in Cinque Terre.\u00a0 In other words, part pilgrim trail and part scenic hike. \u00a0Fair warning, the hike, while beautiful, is not for the out of shape, as I quickly came to realize.\u00a0 However, if you love walking amongst nature with one of the most stunning backdrops as your view, then it\u2019s very much worth the effort.<\/p>\n

Our new friend Alessandra owns and operates Holidays in Gittana<\/a>, a small nest of self-catering apartments that she has lovingly restored and redecorated.\u00a0 The units still maintain much of their original construction, including wood beam ceilings and fireplaces. \u00a0We stayed in the one bedroom, one bath \u201cCa\u2019 Pina,\u201d which was built in the 1400s.\u00a0 Yes, that\u2019s the 15th<\/sup> Century, my friends. \u00a0She has other units which are bigger and can accommodate up to six people.<\/p>\n

\"holiday<\/a>
View from Alessandra’s garden.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For half the price of a hotel room in Bellagio, we are relaxing in a fully functional \u201chome away from home\u201d with all the comforts and conveniences.\u00a0 The apartments all have kitchens and laundry facilities, and everything you\u2019d need to be relaxed and comfortable.\u00a0 If you plan to stay in the area for more than a few days, this option is particularly nice because you can really slow down and take your time to appreciate your surroundings.\u00a0 You can make a simple meal for yourself if you don\u2019t feel like going out to eat twice a day (which frankly, gets old, in my opinion).<\/p>\n

In the coming weeks\/months I will have more to say about visiting Lake Como and the people we met during our stay. \u00a0And more photos. \u00a0For now, I just wanted to give you all a little peek\u00a0at this stunning area of Northern Italy. \u00a0The visual impact alone is reason enough to come, and it leaves you gasping for breath.\u00a0 Of course, there are many, MANY beautiful locations around Italy, but the Lake Region\u00a0has a certain dream-like quality about it.\u00a0 Too bad tomorrow I\u2019ll have to wake up and leave.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are several places in Italy that have been on \u201cmy list\u201d for a while, but without a doubt, visiting Lake Como holds the top spot.\u00a0 Maybe the perceived distance has kept me away until now.\u00a0 Although it\u2019s a bit of a trek from Rome, it\u2019s super easy to reach from Milan (by train or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2912,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[211,43,94],"tags":[384,218,216,25,217],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2911"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2911\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}