The Most Beautiful Lake in the World

That’s what they say about Lake Como, and after spending a day on it, I have to agree.  We bought a round trip day ticket on the ‘slow boat’ with the option of upgrading to the ‘fast boat’ which we thought we might take on our return trip.
We started chatting with another couple as we waited on the dock for the boat.  We sat with them on our 2 hour trip to Bellagio and thoroughly enjoyed the company of this couple from Toronto for the entire day.  Claudio and Patrizia are both of Italian descent and speak Italian.  It was fun to share this amazing day with others.
The eye candy of the lake is so beautiful and we delighted in village after village as we docked so people could come and go.

Bellagio is the biggest village with the most restaurants and shops.  After exploring the town we had lunch at a terrace restaurant perched over the lake.  It doesn’t get much better than this.

Our concierge recommended Varena and Menaggio as must see towns beyond Bellagio on the lake so  off we went.  We found them quaint and quiet.  Admittedly, we only spent about a half hour at each due to the ferry schedule.
The ‘fast boat’ was fully booked on the return so we had no choice but to take the ‘slow boat’ back to Como.  It was probably the most relaxing and beautiful 2 hours we’ve ever spent.

We rested a bit before dinner, then made our way to a non tourist restaurant again recommended by the concierge.  We ate outside in the inner courtyard of the restaurant.  I love being surrounded by ‘the locals’, eating the freshest food made with local ingredients.

I was further amused by a family; parents and 2 little boys.  The boys started to act up and the father turned to the older boy and grabbed his nose and twisted it.  Well, the kid must be proned to nose bleeds; the mom rushes him out with a napkin to his nose.  They return and the little boy has a tissue stuffed up his nose and an ice pack for his neck.  The family continues to have dinner and the dad and the boy are embracing.  In America, this would have beeen considered child abuse, but here, well, that boy won’t be misbehaving at a restaurant any time soon.

We strolled back accompanied by a lovely breeze, agreeing we had had the perfect day.  The one disappointment was that my invitation to the Clooney’s must have been lost in the mail.  No George or Amal sitings although our boat did stop at his lake side village of Urio.