LUCCA - TUSCANY

The drive from Bellagio was pretty hair raising. Cliff was driving & the roads were barely wide enough for one car let alone two cars passing each other. This was one of the wider roads.

We arrived in one piece. It was too early to access our apartment so we sat in the piazza enjoying lunch at Dal Puccini, one of the many cafes surrounding the square. Lucca was founded by the Etruscans & became a Roman colony in 180 BC. It is also the birthplace of Giacomo Puccini the composer, Rob has booked tickets for us to attend a recital in the church of San Giovanni - our first opera, very excited. This city is like a maze - you can get lost at every turn, dont leave home without a map.

While we were enjoying lunch, a bride & groom entered the piazza, everyone at the cafes & restaurants started clapping & cheering.

Our apartment was ready, it was on the 3rd floor (the room with us waving from it)

very steep stone steps (no lifts to help with luggage - bad for the knees but good for the butt)

A lovely 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom place right in the middle of the piazza. Our bedroom is in the attic (another 12 steps up) maybe walking up & down all these stairs will burn off some of the food & vino we have been consuming lately.

BUT I don't think so

Rob loves to cook & we are thoroughly enjoying her delicious italian food such as this Bistecca (giant T-bone, each weighs a minimum of 750 grams) with roasted vegetables plus the boys found a 5lt flagon of red vino for only €4 to complement the meal (for cheap wine it was pretty good)

overlooking the piazza, there were families everywhere, young children playing soccer -  band playing music to a crowd of people - an old man dancing in the centre, children dancing with their mothers - the Italians are full of life & appear to enjoy every moment. 

Being festival time  - they were setting up for a DJ until midnight.

The party didn't start until 9:30, the Italians don't seem to eat until very late (8:30-9pm) then the streets & piazza fill up with people. Wandering through the crowds everybody was enjoying the atmosphere, little children were still dancing with each other at 11pm. 

Next day Cliff & I hired push bikes to ride around the walls of the city.

It brought back memories of riding as a child - a little scary after all this time

Off to Cinque Terre tomorrow to do some walking.

BELLAGIO - PART 2

So many beautiful villages to visit around the lake

Best not to drive here - ferries run all the time to the villages around the lake - It was market day so Rob & Doug were off to Como markets, while Cliff & I went to the markets in Lenno to pick up something for lunch.

lots of local produce - meats & cheeses, fruit & clothes

The biggest cheese we have ever seen

With lunch in our backpack we ferried to Cadenabbia & set out on our treck to the church of San Martino - in this photo you can just see the white church above Cliff's head.

Lovely little bar along the way, but unfortunately closed, we will definitely come back to check out this place.

Finally we made it

Time to enjoy our lunch of local cheese, bresaola (dried beef), fruit & of course you can't beat a good red wine (in a tetra-pak! only €1.39 per litre)

The village of Varenna with Rob & Doug was fun - once again very pretty

One rainy day Cliff & I decided to drive to Lake Lugarno Switzerland - Sorry - no photos - rain, scary traffic, no parking - so home we went - although we did find a lovely little restaurant for lunch

On our 2nd last day Cliff & I ferried to Varenna & walked to a castle (Castello di Vezio) it was built in the late 11th century. (way up the top of the hill behind the town you can see part of the castle)

An extremely steep cobbled path from the back of the village to the castle but well worth the walk - another day of incredible views & unusual artwork.

It was quite warm so we found a shady spot for lunch - couldn't resist more local cheese, meat & of course - the handy tetra-pak

We found a goat trail down to the town

Cliff & I discovered a local cafe in Bellagio where we went each afteroon - Sergio the owner spoke only a tiny bit of english & his wife no english, so they got one of their regulars "Giuseppe" to interpret for us - what an incredible experience - it was like "Cheers" we became part of the group of locals that met at the same time each day.

Little Giuseppe (Pepe) on my right & English speaking Giuseppe (Joe) on my left

Now, Sergio the owner also made his own fruit soaked in grappa - he said 2 pieces per day was good for digestion, although I wouldn't eat them first thing in the morning as I'm pretty sure if you drove you would be over the limit.

Cliff bought 3 jars (Cliff was as pickled as the fruit)

Every time we go to a cafe for a glass of wine or beer - they bring you food to eat, big bowls of crisps or bruschetta - of course you can't help yourself & you eat the food. If we keep going we will need to buy new clothes very soon - I'm starting to feel like this statue

Well Bellagio has been a great experience - we have had so much fun, it's hard to imagine our next stop could be better than this one - we'll just have to wait & see

Ciao Ciao Bellagio

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BELLAGIO - LAKE COMO ITALY (2nd - 9th May)

Leaving Austria, we found the traffic was pretty good - driving through Switzerland was beautiful - the views were to die for, snow capped peaks, incredible country side. 

Doug did an excellent job driving the very steep winding Maloja Pass from St Moritz into Italy

 and got us safely to our destination of Varenna to catch the ferry over to Bellagio.

What we didn't realise, it was Labour day weekend - what a nightmare driving through the streets to the ferry terminal, heavy traffic in narrow streets & pedestrians walking all over the road. Finally we drove onto the ferry without any mishaps.

Time to relax on the ferry ride & admire the beautiful villages

At last Bellagio

Our house was in Via Crotto Pescallo - good thing we had our trusty Navman to guide us

 NOW - I want you to try to imagine the scene - A very narrow 2 way street - the length of the street cars illegally parked - everyone trying to pass each other but not being able to fit - there is no way this could happen in Australia without "ROAD RAGE" But in this town everyone appears to be very patient, they politely reverse until the other car can squeeze by them. 

We were unable to find any parking, so Tanya (our welcome lady) met us at the end of the dead end road, she was also flustered by the crowds & the traffic. She drove ahead of us & held back the oncoming traffic so we could take the only parking space available. If we weren't so stressed we would have laughed. As flustered as Tanya was, she was more upset to find our house had not been cleaned, she rang the owner "Giovanni". He came over with his car - gave us his personal garage to park our car for the week plus his other rental apartment in the centre of the city for our first night & $100 off our rental price. Giovanni drove us to his apartment so we didn't have to move the car.

View from Giovanni's apartment

The next morning he returned to drive us to our rental house

We had the bottom half of the house - it was lovely only a short walk to town, cafes, bars & restaurants

Cobbled path to the house

We are in for a week of fun in this town.

Stay tuned.