There's Snow on Them Thar Hills!

We've been in Menaggio since Saturday and today, finally, the clouds lifted enough to reveal that some of the mountains surrounding Lago Como are still topped with snow!  No wonder it is so damn cool here.  At least It didn't rain today and, supposedly, the weather is going to completely change tomorrow and become warm and sunny.  We are so ready! 


Snow on the mountains with Bellagio in the foreground

Yesterday, we dealt with the rain like any two adaptable women would:  we went shopping!  Bellagio is only about a 1/2 hour boat ride away (one stop at Varenna on the way).  Bellagio, even in the rain, is fun with lots of shops, restaurants and bars.  Most of what we did was window shopping but we both bought a few things - and felt all the better for it!  We had lunch at a charming little restaurant called La Lanterna before heading back to Menaggio.  At least by then the rain stopped and, on the way back, we were able to get some better photos.

One of the "streets" of Bellagio

Another one - everything is uphill!

Interior of La Lanterna - all those wine bottles are hand-painted and unique.  Very cool!

Today, we took the ferry to Villa Carlotta.  This beautiful villa was built at the end of XVII century and has an Italian garden decorated with sculptures, stairs and fountains.  In 1801 Gian Battista Sommariva, a politician, businessman and patron of arts, bought the villa. It was then that the property attained the peak of its splendour as it became one of the most important stopping places of the Grand Tour. The villa became a temple of 19th century art with works of Canova, Thorvaldsen and Hayez: Palamedes, Eros and Psyche, Terpsychore, and the Last Kiss of Romeo and Juliet are only some of the masterpieces.  Sommariva's heirs sold the villa in 1843 to Princess Marianne who gave it as a gift to her daughter Carlotta when she married Georg II of Saxen-Meiningen.  Hence the name Villa Carlotta.  Sadly Carlotta did not spend much time here and died when she was only 23.  Very interested in botany, Georg enriched the park which today is of great historical and environmental value. The gardens of Villa Carlotta chiefly owe their reputation to the rhododendrons' and azaleas' spring flowering, consisting of over 150 different sorts.  (Note: the villa info is from Wikipedia).

Villa Carlotta from the ferry

The Romeo and Juliet painting

View of the entrance and the lake from the villa

In addition to visiting the villa, we wandered around the gardens.  We walked to Tremezzo (less than 1 km) where we were actually able to have lunch sitting outside.  Okay, we had our jackets on most of the time but I did need my sunglasses.  We then walked the nearly 5 km back to Menaggio which was good given how lazy we'd been when the weather was crappy.  And, good news (for us) later, for the first time, we got to have a drink sitting outside before we went to dinner.  We went to Café del Pess where Mena, Trev and I had a great time 5 years ago with some gals from Birmingham we nicknamed "The Solihull 4".  I tasted an Aperol Spritz for the first time and I think I am hooked!