Happy in Como

When I left you last, we had two and a half weeks to go here in Zurich, and had recently visited Luzern.  Mid-week, Carl was offered a tremendous opportunity to spend a week traveling with one of founders of hip preservation surgery, Professor Ganz, throughout Italy.  Although we will miss him for the week, Jack and I are really excited that he is getting such an amazing opportunity.  Carl will be in a different city each day…he is traveling to Luzern, Switzerland today, then to Verona on Wednesday, Portogruaro on Thursday, and then Venice on Friday!  

On the train from Zurich to Como

In order to accommodate Carl’s change in schedule, I had to swiftly change our weekend travel plans and was able to merge two glorious places into one trip. Although I wish we had more time in both places, we were able to see a lot, and promised ourselves that we would be back to both!

Famished after the long journey and ready for lunch

What city are we in now?!?!

Views from the city of Como.  We stayed in nearby Bellagio but had to take the water taxi from Como to Bellagio

After taking 660 pictures over a long weekend, I think it is best for everyone involved that I break the week into two blog entries.  First up….LAKE COMO!

While we waited for the water taxi, we stopped and had lunch and visited one of the suggested sites.  This is  the Duomo in Como.

Jack is ready to get off the water taxi and into the water!

Lake Como is a beautiful resort town nestled on the Swiss-Italian border, just a three hours train ride from Zurich.  We stayed in Bellagio, Italy, which is the most romantic of the little towns and has tremendous restaurants and shops.  Most people know the area for its views and its famous resident, George Clooney!

View from the water taxi

As you can tell, we were a little crazed after all of our travels:)

After arriving by train, we quickly remembered why Italy was our favorite country…great food and cheap wine!  For the cost of a Starbuck small coffee in Zurich, I can get ¾ of a bottle (50 dl) of great wine in Italy ($9).  To get around Lake Como, you must either take the water taxi or the bus service.  We opted for the water taxi.  The taxi is like riding on a very large speed boat…it has that angular startup with lots of waves and has similar motor sound.  My only complaint about this great area is that getting from town to town can be extremely time consuming as most water taxis only come once per hour, which requires you to plan your days around the taxis. 

Getting out to explore Bellagio

The flowers at Villa Melzi in Bellagio

Upon getting to our hotel, Hotel Belvedere, a fabulous resort nestled in the middle of Bellagio, Carl basically threw down the bags and announced that he had no interest in seeing the sights and planned to sit himself right there for the weekendJ  It was a mission getting to this resort but the views were well worth the trip.

Us playing on a large hill in Villa Melzi

Jack is SO happy that he gets to stand up and play now

Carl haggled with a street vendor to buy me this cute little dress.  When the woman refused to come down in price, she offered him this necklace.  Jack was the only one who liked it:)

Loves to kiss the nose!

Carl and Jack exploring the caves

We picked a handful of sights to see but didn’t do extensive touring. It was a great place to relax, and that is what we did.   Jack has become quite a fish in the water-he kicks his feet and tries to swim.  Carl and Jack swam together in the hotel pool, while I enjoyed the infinity Jacuzzi that looked like the water was falling directly into Lake Como. 

The hotel brought in the most beautiful wooden crib and stunning blue and white gingham baby sheets with matching pillow.  Jack was SO happy and slept very well in Como

Us at our first dinner in Como.  

I love how they both wore pink!

This was a great wine shop nestled in between the shops. You put in card and can do tastes or full glasses of many varietals: white, reds-Italian, French...NO American:(

Surprisingly, wine is not marked up in the hotels and restaurants in Como like it is in many other places.  

After dinner, we went back to the hotel for dessert.  This was the most decadent dessert ever, Hazelnut creme brulee.  They put so much effort into each dessert and make these amazing candied sculptures over the ice cream and the fruit was perfectly ripe.

Getting ready to start day 2

We didn’t see much of the other towns but did get a chance to get over to Villa Carlotta.  These are some of the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen.  Each area is so different, and we were constantly surprised with the flower varietals and themes.  The villa is also stunning with beautiful paintings and sculptures throughout.  

On the water taxi going to Tremezzo

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Entrance of Villa Carlotta

Jack is faring well in the rain

All of the gardens overlook Lake Como

We walked this beautiful hike into the gardens

Finally at the top!

They had unique Asian displays

Look at the swans!

As you can see, the weather wasn't great while we were there.  Unfortunately, all of these lake towns have lots of clouds and a decent amount of rain in the summer.

We shared a big plate of asparagus, wine and cheese risotto...as you can tell there was lots of cheese

Look at Jack's hair starting to curl in the back

Jack at dinner.  He LOVES his pasta

There were these birds that would come sit next to Jack and steal his pasta.  He would get so surprised by them.

We introduced Jack to chocolate ice cream while we were in Como.  I wish I had brought the video camera.  He thought it was the best thing ever.  

WOW this is good!

Refusing to let go of the spoon in his mouth

He got so excited about the ice cream that he started shaking his arms up and down so fast...actually kind of like the bird!

You would have thought this kid had hit the lottery with the way he acted with this small bowl of chocolate ice cream

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We are going WHERE next?!?....YES JACK, we are going to a yodel festival