BILL’S BLOG

As Mikaela told me I could never contribute to the blog as I would not know how, here it is!  A summary of our trip written on our second last day in Praiano before we go to Rome to fly home.

We started with England and as we had never been to the south west corner we decided to spend a few days there based in Exeter. Nice spot- we visited LandsEnd as one has to do when that close, it’s a bit like putting one foot in the Indian ocean and one in the southern ocean in WA.

Land's End.  There is a sign on the cliffs where everyone has
their photo taken.

We then spent 3 days with the Cozzi’s. It was great to catch up with them and share a red or two.

Tony, after a red or two.  We took his picture because
he was the best looking at that stage!

We then chunnelled in the Eurostar to Calais where we picked up the car then on to Dizy for three nights from where we visited Reims and Epernay. Sighted a few million bottles of Champers at Moet, also sampled some in the interests of research.

Then it was on to the Black Forest area of Germany. We stayed at Freudenstadt which was very central- some wonderful small towns in the area, it was where we saw the first of many 000’s of windmills for production of electricity and a lot were in the forest area so they did not annoy anyone, just planted among the trees; something our greenies could think about.

Assisting the local economy in cafe in Black Forest

From the Black Forest up to Cologne where among a few cathedrals we spent a very enjoyable morning at the Lindt Chocolate factory and museum. Discovered lots about the growing, processing and production of chocolate and again in the interests of research sampled and purchased some very high % of cocoa chocolate.

Useful article in chocolate at the Lindt shop.

From Cologne on to Denmark (not to see our Mary) visited the Viking museum where we learnt that they not only looted but also farmed and were one of the early producers of corn. I was very surprised to see the amount of wheat grown so far north, not very impressed by Copenhagen not only very expensive but also dirty. Took a quick trip for lunch to Malmo in Sweden which a was much nicer town, the lunch was good too!

Windmills are used extensively through Europe and Denmark had hundreds of them, even in the sea!

From Demark, our most northern point, back south on a ferry to Germany and to Dresden a very nice city. One thing we noticed all through Europe was they have not got any politically correct police. Tthey get on with things and everyone enjoys life.

Frome Dresden to Prague which had some great buildings and history but could not warm to the people, it was the first place we saw restaurants adding a service charge to the bill;  not all but some and those same ones would place bread on the table when you ordered a meal and then charge for it.

From Prague to Fussen in the Bavarian area of Germany, home of beer making so of course we sampled some in the interests of research of course.  It is a wonderful town on the southern border of Germanyand is a farming area that has a lot of milking cows.We were there at hay and silage time; any piece of grass was used, nothing wasted but as it is in the alps one would assume that those cows spend a lot of the winter in the barns so they would need all they could get.

View of mountains in Fussen

From Fussen on to Vienna which is a great city to visit and much to see, we found a great restaurant on the banks of the rive. The Europeans seem to have all these wonderful places to eat which is often as much about the venue as the food.

Photo taken from top of frightful hotel where we stayed

We left the car at the hotel in Vienna and flew to Istanbul.  I am pleased to have visited it but once was enough, too many people. Close to 20 million at last count.

From Vienna we went to Budapest which really is a wonderful city. It’s amazing what they are doing restoring many old buildings with the help of UNESCO. They and any city in Europe (they are all very old) have no option but to restore, the only alternative is to bulldoze and start again, not a very palatable thought.

Funny little ice cream cart in Budapest

From Budapest onto Dubrovnik in southern Croatia; a wonderful little city only 2.5km around the city wall which is still intact, I was surprised to learn that the good people of Dubrovnik have for many years and still are very big in shipping and like the rest From Budapest onto Dubrovnik in southern Croatia; a wonderful little city only 2.5km of Croatia really appears to be doing well especially when you consider that the Serbians were fighting with them only a few years ago. It was well worth the long drive to get there and back.

One of many sets of stairs in Old Dubrovnik

From Dubrovnik to Trieste, another city big in shipping and a major port city for surrounding countries like Slovenia; a lot of history and some wonderful buildings.

From Trieste to Cividale to visit friends whom we have made over the last couple of years and after 7 weeks on the move it was good to relax in familiar surroundings and catch our breath.

Bill with Ugo, Andrea and Tiziana at their home in Premariacco.

Then on to Venice- nice place to visit but would hate to live there, there are some places you visit and go away saying I could live there; Venice is definitely not one of them.

Grand Canal from the Rialto Bridge- Venice.

Bellagio where we went next is one I could live in. Surrounded on three sides by Lake Como it is one of the prettiest towns in the world surrounded by mountains and water. The road in is a bit iffy- 25km and it takes almost an hour to drive from either Como or Lecco very narrow and exceptionally bendy.

View of Lake Como from a ferry.

On to Siena another old town great for the history.

Piazza del Campo Siena.

Then on to Praiano on the Amalfi coast. If I thought the road into Bellagio was bendy Main form of transport are the local 50 seat busses which are driven by guys who think they are driving a formula 1 car, amazingly we have not seen any evidence of accidents most private vehicles are scooters for obvious reasons the road is very narrow and if two busses meet one often has to back up to find a passing spot.  Wonderful scenery though.

My favourite places: 1, Black Forest, 2, Lake Como, 3. SW England, 4 Dubrovnik and 5, Praiano.

Turkish Delights

I haven’t yet written about our Turkish experience.  I had wanted to go to Turkey since I was a child and read about it in an encyclopaedia I received for Christmas when I was about 10.  It always sounded so mysterious and intriguing, so when we were putting the itinerary in place, Turkey was included.

We arrived mid afternoon in Istanbul.  The airport is some way out of the city and the drive to our hotel was a real experience.  I thought we were going to die a number of times but we arrived in one piece.

The hotel was horrible- dirty and small and very smelly.  We had to climb over the bed to get in or out of it and the bathroom hadn’t been cleaned in years.  There were 5 sleazy guys- we called them the Lounge Lizards- who swanned about in shirts & ties in the reception area, which was the size of a normal loo.  Anyway... enough about the accommodation.

At Blue Mosque with Haggia Sofia in background

We had a “free” tour with a guide the following day.  He was very knowledgeable and pleasant but of course we had the hard sell re carpets.  However, as Bill wanted one, that was OK by me because I really didn’t want to be sorting out where to go or if they were reliable traders.

The sights in Istanbul are amazing.  The noise and heat are something else.  The reason I have left writing about this city till now is because I wanted to be fair in my thoughts.  Tiziana and Ugo, our Italian friends, lived there for 6 years and taught at the international school.  They loved the city and the atmosphere and the lifestyle but I really can’t say that it’s my cup of tea, Turkish or otherwise.

The history was fascinating.  It’s where East meets West and is a true bridge between the two cultures.  As we’re museum lovers, we spent hours reading about life over the centuries and their history is long and rich.  And so much of it includes people from “this” side of the continent as well-lots of crossing over.

We had never been to a mosque and we were staying in the vicinity of many.  The Blue Mosque is possibly the most famous but there is another one, the Haggia Sophia, that we liked more, possibly because of its interesting background.  It had been variously Muslim and Christian over the years and although it’s Muslim now, there are still many Christian icons and frescoes in the building.

Blue Mosque from the roof top restaurant

Of course, the Muslims pray loudly many times a day, starting at around 4 am!  Mary, my sister, was quite right when she said it sounded like the Imams were going “Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah white bummmmmmmmmmmm !!!!!  And it did!  Our hotel was directly opposite a mosque and it was terribly unfortunate that the singer there didn’t have a clue about pitch. I have never heard anything so out of tune!  Some of the singers were quite good.  Progess has arrived though, and now the chanting is recorded so you don’t get to see the little man standing on the top of the church with his megaphone.

No trip to Istanbul is complete without a visit to the Grand Bazaar. It was huge!  Kenin, our guide, said there would be over4 4 000 stalls in the area!  And they sold everything from household goods to food and clothes and just anything you could think of.  Apparently it’s the place to shop when you’re setting up house as a young couple.  We O’D on the herbal teas for some reason.  Hope we remember what they are when we get them home. At least they’re keeping everything in my post smelling nice!

Turkish delight on left and dried fruits on the right

Another part of Istanbul that Kenin took us to was the Basilica Cistern which was built by 700 slaves in the 6^th Century as the water system for the Great Palace of Constantinople. The Cistern is an underground chamber that measures 138m by 64.6m- about 9,800 squares (105 000 sq ft) in area, capable of holding 80 000 cubic metres of water.  The ceiling is supported by 336 marble columns each 9 m high and arranged in 12 rows of 28 columns. The majority of the columns in the cistern appear to have been recycled from the ruins of older buildings.

Kenin said that when he was at school, the class was brought to the Cistern and they boated around in there.  Now, after walking down 55 steps, visitors are able to move about on walkways over the water.  The cistern is very cleverly lit and classical music is played over a PA system.  There’s even a cafe in there! It was one of the best experiences we had.

The Basilica Cistern

Bill and I in the Cistern. The column we are
standing near has the head of Medusa carved on it.

Another great experience was the mausoleum that housed the royal bodies. OU know by now, my fascination with these areas and this was something special.  The Sultan was buried with his family around him and when I asked if the children there had died from plagues or other incurable illnesses of the time, Kenin said that that was the case but also, because the Sultan had many children, and only one of the boys could succeed him, they often fought amongst themselves to see who would be the strongest and so it was actually, at times, a process of elimination!

Tombs in the Royal Mausoleum
Green seems to be a favourite colour

We also visited the Palace to see how the nobility lived and they certainly lived well.  We felt sorry for the eunuchs, but apparently they were highly thought of and were really a powerful force in government and as advisors to the Sultan.  The queues were something else so we prioritised where we went.

Eunuchs' Courtyard at Topkapi Palace.  The guy featured just happened to be there at the time. I don't think he's a eunuch, but then,  I didn't ask so who knows?

Bill in the Concubines' Courtyard Topkapi Palace.  Wishful thinking about the life of a sultan, maybe?

As dinner wasn’t served at our hotel- & even if it had been we wouldn’t have eaten there- we wandered into the city and found a lovely restaurant on top of another hotel so we ate there every night. It was the season of Ramadan while we were there and every night the restaurant reserved most of its tables for Muslim families coming to break the fast.  They always ate the same food- a sugary drink to help with getting their body glucose back up and then many small dishes which had some sort of religious significance and finally a sweet that was like a baklava.  By the time we were leaving, after three nights, we were like family and so we were given one of these sweets as a gift from the staff.  It was lovely.

Blue Mosque from the restaurant where we had dinner each night. We could see forever from here and had a great view over the water as well.

Most of the world seemed to be in Istanbul when we were there- though we could actually say that about most places in Europe. The thing that surprised us nicely was that at no time did we feel unsafe.

Lanterns in Grand Bazaar

And so we will always remember our experience of East Meets West as one of learning about a totally different culture but also as one which we are in no hurry to repeat.  As we said, Istanbul is a nice place to visit-once!

Siena- Senius

Piazza del Campo Siena.
There is a horse race round this Piazza twice a year.

Siena was founded by the Romans and its emblem is the she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus, and according to legend, it was Senius, son of Remus, who founded Siena, thus accounting for the name.  The first document mentioning Siena dates from AD 70, so it’s a reasonably old city.There!  History lesson over for today!

We had visited Siena in January, and consequently, there were not many people as silly as we were traipsing about in the freezing temperatures.  This time was a different story.  We’re sure that half of Australia is in Europe at present and also most of the American population and at least 50% of them all were in Siena!  And the tour groups! OMG the tour groups!  They are everywhere & Siena was full of them.

Anyway, we stayed at a really nice hotel inside the walls of the old city, which meant that when we wanted some time out of the blistering heat- 35 degrees outside- we could just wander back to the hotel for a bit.  We ate on the hotel terrace which looked over Siena and it was magical at night, with the walls lit up and the moon rising over the Tuscan countryside.

So much of the old city is now filled with very fancy ( think unmentionably out of this world priced) stores so we did our shopping in S. Gimignano when we were there- much better stuff and much lower prices.

Piazza del Campo at night.   Very beautiful.


Everywhere we went in Siena, in the historical buildings, there were signs that said NO PHOTO. We have a camera that has a “Museum” setting, where  a flash isn't necessary,  and as we have no conscience whatsoever, we snap away happily- or at least I do, as I take the photos, so I can’t blame Bill in this instance, but he is a co-conspirator, because he keeps an eye out for the Nazis who wander around, glaring at everyone and saying NO PHOTO.

After one particularly irritating run-in with a nun,  I started wondering why there should be NO PHOTO as a general thing.  Flashes I can understand, as apparently they can damage the very old pictures, but if there’s no flash, what’s the worry?  So my conclusion is that if you aren’t allowed to take photos and you want a photo of the area, then you must buy a picture, or a book with photos in it, and of course, all these places have their souvenir shop conveniently located in the exit area so that’s obviously where they make their wine/beer/pasta money.

However, I’m here to tell you that not all is lost.  Having once been a good Catholic, I have no aversion to bending the rules, and know all the lurks and perks, so I would enter these places with the camera nonchalantly in my hand, but not at the ready, and then, when the Nazis attention was elsewhere, I would snap away happily with no qualms whatsoever- except for the nasty Nazi nun who appeared out of nowhere & snapped, “NO PHOTO!”

Therefore, I can assure you that the photos you will see on the blog, are ones that should only be seen in the books that you are so readily able to purchase in each of the bookshops attached to these places. Think what I’m saving you in costs when you too, visit these places. And those of you who have already been,  and bought the book, please don’t compare mine with the photos taken by a real photographer.

Next stop, the Amalfi Coast.

Tuscan landscape. It's interesting because it is so dry here.

Another view of Tuscany

Olive Grove at Volterra.  The trees looked as old as the city!

Three Tiny Towns

Che Bella Giornata!  What a beautiful day we had today! 

In January, guided by the suggestion of our friends, Ugo and Tiziana, we visited San Gimignano, in Tuscany.  The best way to describe it is to say that it is magical, mystical and medieval, all the ingredients for making wonderful moments.  So of course,  it was on our list of “must do’s” this time as well.

It didn’t disappoint and it was interesting to see it in summer, as opposed to winter. The city is walled and like most medieval cities, built on top of a mountain. Our first sight of the city in January is unforgettable.  The day had started off with mist and fog but when we were in sight of S. Gimignano, the sun came out and lit up the walls and the city seemed to shimmer and expand in the crispness of the winter morning.  A collective gasp echoed round the car and we couldn’t take our eyes off  it. It was as if we had been transported back in time and this city was a metaphor for all the stories of knights and castles and derring-do we had read and relived over the years.

The town was founded in the 3^rd C by the Etruscans.  It was a strong city and thus, in 1199, it was able to declare its independence from the bishops of Volterra.  It continued to flourish until 1348 when the Black Death that affected all of Europe compelled it to submit to Florence.

Shields from the 1400's in Volterra. These were on a wall
in the Piazza and were from the old Volterra families
of the 15th C.

The streets and piazzas in S. Gimignano continue the medieval theme, of course, though now they are filled with cafes, bars,  and shopsexhibiting magnificent ceramics, leather goods and alabaster, as Tuscany is the home of alabaster.  I had been wanting to buy some ceramic plates and dishes here after seeing all the beautiful things in January, when I did get some smaller pieces, so after checking out the many shops and their diverse offerings, I made my choice- actually, from the first shop we had been into!

Piazza del Duomo S. Gimignano

I am very happy, when it suits, to assist the economy of any country I am visiting, so after spending the GDP of Italy on some wonderful serving platters, I felt as if I had done my bit for our second home.  The goods, I am informed,  will be with us in a few weeks, so we will wait till the multi-million dollars worth of glasses and the carafe arrive from Murano and then we’ll have a party so we can enjoy using them altogether.

While I was waiting for Bill to buy a gelato from a store in the Piazza, I found a book on Tuscany and read up on some of the little villages around S. Gimignano. I didn’t want to buy the book, which was on display outside a newsagency, (edicola) so I sat on the steps of the next door shop and copied out a few names. When Bill returned, munching his gelati, which had been made by some guy who headed the winning team for the national gelati competition last year (true information here) he looked at the map and said we would have time to see a couple of the other villages, so off we went.

Piazza Monteriggioni

After spinning through the Tuscan countryside for a bit, we came upon Volterra, another medieval town, in the same mould as S. Gimignano, but smaller.  It, too, was quite lovely and we had lunch in an old piazza whose walls were decorated with ceramic shields dating from the 15^th C.

Volterra was a Neolithic settlement and was an important Etruscan Centre.  It had a bishop from the 5^th C but after the decline of the bishopric in the 12^th C the town became of interest to the Florentines, though life wasn’t always easy and there were wars and rebellions against the Florentine rulers who were very harsh.  The town came under the control of the Medici Family in 1530.

We found Volterra to be a much more “open” town compared to S. Gimignano, with trees in the streets and lovely churches that were very plain.  After so much ornateness (is that a word?) in churches all over Europe, it’s very calming to be in one that isn’t ostentatious.  In one of the little churches were the remains of S. Ugo who had rid the local area of the plague sometime in the Middle Ages.

The last place we visited was Monteriggioni. Like San Gimignano and Volterra it is a walled town and was built in 1213 as a frontline town in Siena’s defence line against Florence.  Florence was a bit of a bother in those days, by the sound of it, don’t you think?

  This town was the smallest of all and we just had a walk through its streets and of course, took a picture in the piazza and one of the church.  Here, we could have walked around the walls and had a good view of the countryside.  The shops were selling artworks but other than that, the town was not very commercialised.

Apart from our enjoyment of getting to know the towns, we also really enjoyed the drive through the country, because we took the back roads, much to Kenny’s consternation, as he doesn’t like unpaved areas and narrow ways, but after telling us, in increasingly desperate tones, to “turn around when possible” he gave up and directed us in the way we were going to take anyhow!

The Tuscan countryside is very different from other regions in Italy and Bill says it reminds him of northern Victoria in January/February.  It is very dry and the soil is clay and where it had been cultivated, it was clumpy.  However, any pictures we see of Tuscany are absolutely correct.  It’s all pine trees, olive groves and vineyards.  Although we saw a road sign reminding us that there could be cattle crossing, we didn’t see even one animal at all.  Apparently, there are dairies, because we saw signs for cheese, but we didn’t see any of the cows that make the milk for the cheese.

Tomorrow, we are going to re-acquaint ourselves with Siena, which we visited in January with Mike and Mikaela.

Un Giro Turistico

Back view of cemetery at Lezzeno on Lake Como. I will have to
come back to see it, along with the island cemetery in Venice

Bellagio from Lake Como

Bill at the southern end of Lake Como.

Funicular at Como. Hard to see but it's that line up the centre of the photo.

Museum in Como dedicated to the life and work of
Alessandro Volta of "battery" fame. He lived here.
However, as it was siesta time when we called, the place was shut!

Our time in the Lago di Como area has been spent very pleasantly  and we will be sad to leave tomorrow as this would really be one of the world’s most beautiful places.

As the lake is large, most things happen on the water around here and we spent the last few days “messing about in a boat” to quote those lovable Wind in the Willows characters, Ratty and Moley.

Yesterday,we visted Lenno, Tremezzo, Varenna and Mennagio.  All of them have their own personalities;  in the case of Lenno and Tremezzo we could have walked between them but they still had their own shops, their own churches and their own particular way of presenting themselves to the world .

We  are sure that most of Australia is in Europe at present and it was a hoot yesterday, when we were having lunch at Tremezzo, to hear Aussie tones from a couple at a nearby table.  They were about our age, and when the wife asked her husband how he was enjoying his meal, he answered in such a heartfelt fashion that  “the ham tasted like ham used to taste, 40 years ago!”  And he was right!

Not like any corner shop we'd seen before! Nothing in here
would be the price of anything in any usual corner shop!

This sums up the philosophy of the Italians re their way of life!

Village on the lake en route to Como

As we had been to Colico at the northern end of the lake we decided it would be interesting to see the southern end, so we took the hydrofoil to Como today.  As we suspected, the views along the way were just as beautiful and enchanting as the northern ones.  Bellagio is about in the middle, so we have now seen the  lake from top to bottom but have only boated up and down the western side, though we have driven along the eastern side. 

This afternoon, we took a ride around parts of the Bellagio area in a little blue train. One of the areas we went to was San Giovanni , the only island in the lake.  It’s only 600m long and was once covered in churches and houses. However, during wars in about the 12C, it was devastated and never returned to its former glory, although people live on it now and it has at least one restaurant, of course.

San Giovanni was not its original name, but apparently, in the medieval times, the good vintners of Bellagio became tired of the hailstorms that constantly ruined their crops and their livelihood so they took matters into their own hands and called on the services of San Giovanni, making a pilgrimage by boat to a church on the little island. Apparently the holy man was in a heavenly mood that day & heard their pleas for help and never since- get this, never since, has there been a hailstorm at Bellagio!

And there endeth the lesson- historical or religious- for today!

Ci vediamo a Sienna!

Bellagio- La Citt`a Bellissima!

View taken from our balcony

Gustave Flaubert spoke of the sublime and graceful aspects of this lake when he stayed on the shores of Lake Como some time during the 1800’s. Although I don’t agree with a lot of things that Flaubert ever did or even said, I’m certainly in agreement with him from that aspect.

View from our balcony of private gardens belonging to the
Visconti Melzi

Bellagio is right on the point of Lake Como where it breaks into two “arms” and our hotel is built so that when we stand on the balcony, the water is underneath us.  From the bedroom, all we can see is water, the grape vine laden with grapes which forms the “ceiling” of the balcony and then the mountains on the other side that rise straight up out of the water which is so clear we can see the fish swimming in it.  It’s just sensational.   

Historically, Bellagio has an interesting story. It dates from very early Roman times.  Pliny the Elder built one of his two villas in Bellagio.  He called it “Tragoedia.”  The other he built in Lenno, another town on the lake, and called that villa, “Comoedia.”  At least he had a sense of humour!

However, not all was comedy here as there were many battles between the Goths and the Vandals, but even earlier, the Longobards were here (they were everywhere, because they are also part of the history of the Friuli Venezia Giulia area, “our” part of Italy. The Longobards at least tried to build up the defences and they transformed the buildings, making them more beautiful.

Bellagio’s personality is so cosmopolitan. We have heard all the European languages being spoken here and English in many accents.  The shopping is fabulous! Silk, leather, wood, ceramics; everything is locally made and each industry is a cottage one run by all members of the family, from grandparents to the current generation.  What is so nice is that everyone is so passionate about what they do and so proud of their family’s tradition in that form of artistry.  We have bought some lovely things.

The hotel has a very good restaurant, which is just as well, because the next eating place is in the town about 1 km away- no problem with that, but to get there, we have to climb on a 30 degree angle, Bill thinks- I’m sure it’s more like a 90 degree one- up some very steep steps to the top of the hill.  So we have reserved a table, right against the lake, for the nights we are here. Can’t get better than that. The only little worry is that when we look at the fish swimming below us, we keep wondering if it’s their mates we are eating as all the fish served in the restaurant comes out of the lake.

Not the stairs we walk up to the town,
but just one set of many.

Yesterday we took the ferry north to Colico, a trip of around 2 hours each way. After checking with our friend Google, we find that in total, there would be approximately 124 000 inhabitants around the entire lake.  Mind you, the lake is large.  It has a perimeter of 160 kms, a depth of 410m  and its surface area is 146km.  There you go!  That’s your geography lesson for today.

 The views from the ferry were amazing.  The mountains are so high- they form the border between Italy and Switzerland- the highest is around 2.5 000 m and they are steep. Villages are built in layers up the sides and churches are everywhere- at one time we counted 9 that we could see from the boat! They were in villages that are so close to each other yet each has its own church. I have photos of some of the churches.  They are built out on the absolute edge of a ledge on the side of the mountain. Often, they are in isolation, with no houses near them.  We wonder if perhaps they are or were monasteries.  Bill remarked this morning, when we were passing under one on the road, that if the good parishioners were to have more than a judicious glass or two they may never get home, because one would need all of one’s wits intact to negotiate the mountainside, standing up, not tumbling over.

There is a church on the green ledge half way up this photo.
I can enlarge it with Windows Picture Viewer but I can't keep it
enlarged. I need to take some lessons in this stuff!

Today, we decided to take a tootle into Switzerland. It’s just over a mountain or two. We couldn’t believe it when Kenny told us that we had a round trip of 90 kms and it would take us 3 hours!!!!  He was absolutely right, as he always is, I just wish Bill could handle that fact!  Anyway, off we went, on the car ferry acros the lake to Cadenabbia which took all of 15 minutes and was a hoot, because we sat in the car & I had turned Kenny on so that he could warm up (just keep your mind above your waist here, guys) and when he finally woke up he got the shock of his life and kept telling us to “turn around when possible!”

Mountains on the border of Italy and Switzerland

The best way to describe the driving is to say that out of the 90 minutes, 60 kms took 2 hours! The other 30 kms was on the autostrada so that was fine.  I so admire Bill.  He never loses his cool and the roads in these conditions are like a switchback railway with one lane width being negotiated by vehicles in both directions.  By the time we reached Lugano, we were in desperate need of caffeine.

Villages on the mountainside of Lago di Como

Lugano is a city of over 84 000 citizens.  Very big and right on the shores of Lake Lugano.  The inhabitants speak Italian in that area, as you would know, so we felt quite at home. If it hadn’t been for the police at the border coming and going, we would have thought we were still in Italy.

The towns, big and small, along the route all had their own personalities. Como is a walled city as is Lezzeno whose walls are like a spiral, going up the hillside. I wouldn’t let Bill look at the scenery, but I described it for him.  For a lot of the trip we were against a lake, either Lugano or Como. The water here in lakes and rivers is so green, Bill says because of the calcium in the water.

Tomorrow, we are going to do some more exploring, via the tronchetto (ferry). We didn’t get off it yesterday till we got to Colico, but tomorrow we will go from village to village and walk through each so that we can soak up the  atmosphere as every town has its own personality which you can’t get to know unless you take the time.

We’ll let you know what we find.

Lights on the lake at night time from our balcony

Some of the homes belonging to around100 000 inhabitants
of the villages surrounding Lake Como

Another view of the lights on the lake- abstract one this time.