Lake Como

View of Lake Como from Lecco, Evening

December 5, 2011
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Lecco: Between Lake Como and the Alps

July 25, 2011

Want to see (and, in winter, ski) the Alps? Get off the train in Lecco and walk across the station parking lot to the bus stand in via Montello, where the #5 bus departs, roughly every hour, for the Funivia (you can buy bus tickets at the newsstands inside or outside the railway station, or on [...]

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Where Goats Go on Summer Vacation: Alpe Giumello & Valcava

September 14, 2009

An expedition to Alpe Giumello and Valcava, just above Lake Como. Full of goats grazing on the rich Alpine summer grass. When cold weather comes, they will be moved to lower pastures, a process called transumanza.

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Gallery: Bellagio

September 5, 2009

From a visit in 2005.

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Gallery: The Abbey at Piona

May 10, 2009

We’ve visited this beautiful medieval abbey in northern Lake Como several times, but apparently I’ve never posted any of my photos. This set is from a visit in September, 2007. On in-season weekends, you can reach Piona on the Lake Como ferry.

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Gallery: A Spring Day in Lecco

May 7, 2009

Photos I took on a weekend walk around town with Enrico last spring.

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Gallery: St. Maria del Tiglio, Gravedona

May 6, 2009

While in Gravedona, we also visited the medieval church of St. Maria del Tiglio (St. Mary of the Linden Tree).

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Gallery: Gravedona Cemetery

May 5, 2009

^ This (doubtless allegorical) statue just begs for a funny caption. Any ideas? (Click on the image to see a larger version.) While visiting friends on the other side of Lake Como, we stopped by the lakeside town of Gravedona and visited the cemetery. As you can see, family vaults are kept over generations and [...]

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Gallery: Castello di Vezio

July 26, 2008

From a visit to the Castello di Vezio, see video of falconry high over Lake Como.

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Gallery: Varenna in Autumn

July 13, 2008

From a day trip to Varenna with our friends Serena and Sandro.

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Gallery: A Walk in Valsassina

July 10, 2008

From a hike Enrico and I took in Valsassina.

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Lecco to Bellagio by Boat: A Beautiful Day on Lake Como

June 23, 2008

The ferry runs from Lecco (on Lake Como’s southeastern tip) only from spring to fall. The slow boat to Bellagio (one and a half hours) is the best way to see this branch of the lake. With its steep, craggy mountainsides plunging down into the water, it’s reminiscent of a Norwegian fjord. The boat hops [...]

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Guests of Conti Sertoli Salis: Part 3, Wine!

February 3, 2008

When we finished seeing the palazzo, we had a little stroll in the garden, in which an intricate, manicured geometric hedge is winningly juxtaposed with overgrown and out-of-control everything else. My favorite photo of the day is above – autumn red vines draping down a stone plaque. The boast of the garden is a glorious, [...]

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Favorite Restaurants, in Italy and Elsewhere

January 1, 2008

Note: All prices may be severely out of date. Quality not likely to have changed. Lake Como Area Belvedere Il Capriolo Crotasc Lanterna Verde L’Osteria del Viaggiatore These are full reviews – also see brief listings below for some more restaurants. Elsewhere Ristorante Tortella, Castelli, Abruzzo various in Austin, Texas American chain restaurants Vegetarian Restaurants [...]

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Guests of Conti Sertoli Salis: Part 2, The Palazzo

November 7, 2007

After an excellent (if somewhat hasty) lunch, the four of us had a private tour of Palazzo Sertoli Salis, which is still the home of the Sertoli Salis family, as well as the headquarters of the winery. My photos don’t do justice to it: the palazzo is charming, rich with newly-restored tromp l’oeil frescoes cleverly [...]

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Guests of Conti Sertoli Salis: Fine Food and Wine in Valtellina

October 8, 2007

Part 1: Lunch! Many moons ago, spurred by a question on Fodors.com, I wandered the Internets, looking up wineries in the nearby region of Valtellina. Several had sites, some gorgeously produced. Sertoli Salis particularly caught my eye because the site was so very beautiful, and I knew the wines to be good, but the English [...]

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Bellagio: “Beauty and Comfort” on Lake Como

February 16, 2007

Bellagio, Lake Como’s best-known tourist destination, lies at the tip of the triangle between the two southern branches of the lake. You can get there by road or get there by boat from Menaggio or Varenna. Personally, I find Bellagio a bit overrated. During the season it’s overrun with tourists, and the shops are accordingly [...]

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Sweetness and Dark on Lake Como

February 10, 2007

Some evenings, stepping off the train as it arrives in Lecco, there’s a slightly toasted, coffeeish scent of rich, dark chocolate in the air. It’s not a hallucination: Lecco is the home of Icam, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of organic chocolate. They process 6000 tons of raw cocoa beans per year, and when [...]

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Il Muro di Sormano: Where Bicycle Racers Hit THE WALL

January 31, 2007

On a sunny Sunday in January, we drove up to the triangolo Lariano – the peninsula jutting into y-shaped Lake Como, whose tip is Bellagio. It’s an area famous in Italian bike racing history (there’s even a church dedicated to cycling, with relics of famous racers – including their bikes) As we drove, part of [...]

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Lake Como Travel Tips

December 29, 2006

^ View from the central western shore, above and north of Menaggio. Want to enjoy this view during your Italian vacation? You can rent the place where I took this photo Lake Como, shaped like an upside-down Y, is easily reached from Milan by car or train. You can take the train to Lecco (on [...]

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