San Giovanni

A long sleep-in today with a 9am breakfast. We are definitely on holidays.
Today was our chance for some touring by ourselves as Sara and Kris offered us use of their car for the day. Yesterday we had seen the western side of the Lake while en route to Como, so late morning today we headed off to see some of the eastern side of the Lake. Small picturesque villages dot the edges all around of the lake and as you drive you are passing through these every few minutes. Between these town the sights of Como lake are spectacular. Most of the towns are small with perhaps a few hundred residents, but some are larger. Today the larger towns included Bellamo and Varenna, two very scenic towns which are very popular tourist places. It was these two towns in particular that we wanted to see.
Bellamo has a unique strategy for presenting itself to visitors. Most large buildings have very large portrait photos on most of the walls. This adds an interesting element to a walk around the town. The town is situated in a lovely cove and has a ferry terminal. Getting a parking place was difficult but we finally managed to get one quite close to the town centre and had a good walk all around seeing the sights. Great weather with great views! We had the obligatory cappuccino and then shared some Piadinas for lunch. These are flat breads folded with cheese and ham in the middle and make for a typical Italian light lunch.
Then it was on towards Varenna which is the largest town on the eastern side of the lake. Again this has a large ferry terminal with a walkway that clings to the edges of the high rock walls of the surrounding mountains to connect the ferry area to the main part of the town. Lots of shops, hotels, restaurants line the stone beach and the edge of the mountains. All over Italy there are beautiful old buildings built centuries ago and Varenna is no exception. A really scenic town with a mixture of history and beauty. Lots of tourists around and parking again was a problem. We finally did find a parking spot about a kilometre outside the town but then found that the parking meter would only accept €2 coins even though it was supposed to accept all euro coins. There were no shops or people around and we only had one €2 coins which gave 1 hour parking. We did not want to get a parking ticket in Sara’s car so we were limited to one hour seeing the sights of Varenna. We saw everything but Carolina would have liked to stay longer.
We return to Gravedona around 5:30pm for some Aperol Spritz with our friends on their balcony overlooking the lake views. Kris followed this up by making a wonderful Porcini mushroom risotto. A long chat over dinner with a few liquors afterwards ended another very nice day.Lue lisää