Lake Como

30^th June 2011 – Lake Como

After our best night’s sleep since we have been away, we wandered down to breakfast at around 8 am. It is great to have real bacon again and decent coffee.

By just after 9am, we pulled out of the carpark in  our VW Golf to head for Griante on Lake Commo where we will spend the next 4 days. We decided to take the scenic route and drive through all of the little villages along the way, driving first to Lecco, on to Como and then up the western arm of the lake to our final destination, Griante. The roads are very narrow at times, but the scenery is breathtaking.

At around 11.30am, we pull up out the front of Alberghetto La Marianna, our accommodation for the next 4 days. It is located on the lakefront and is a small hotel with only 8 rooms. It was on the recommendation of Brian & Gill de Boos that we booked here, and we are very glad we took their advice, it is truly special. We look across the lake to Bellagio, and the restaurant is located across the road on the lake front. The owners are lovely and very helpful.

Alberghetto La Marianna (restaurant of the left under all the greenery)

The view across the lake to Bellagio

                                There is a swimming pool a short walk away to which we have free access

Once the car is parked across the road and we have settled in to our room, we go for a walk along the waterfront to check out what is in our near vicinity. We had panini’s  (with real ham) for lunch overlooking the water at a small restaurant in Cadenabbia, the nearest village, where the ferry terminal is located for ferries covering most of the lake.

Lunch overlooking the water (walking was hot work temp in high 20's)

The car ferry at Cadenabbia

We ended up walking to Tremezzo, the a nearby small village which is very busy compared with Griante, big hotels, plenty of restaurants and grand houses overlooking the water.

The ferry at Tremezzo

The local sailing club ?

A lonely fisherman tries his luck

After a few hours walk it was back to our air conditioned room to rest and await dinner. We have booked at the hotel for dinner as their food is supposed to be excellent. We had a 4 course fixed menu which was delicious home cooked food of a very high quality, tonight the menu was totally vegetarian and surprisingly good.

The view from our dining table

Our host bringing the main course

Tomorrow we plan to spend the day travelling around the lake on the ferry. You can purchase a day pass for 11 Euro, according to our hosts.