Como surroundings - 26 May 2008
Shortly after I last emailed we were advised to go and have dinner at the Solice Blu, 'the best restaurant in Bellagio, just a mile down our road'. The Chef (only 25) was already well accomplished having won many awards for his creative cuisine. Most recently he was voted top Chef in Italy (where competition is fierce since food is such an art here). He came to pick us up by car and we went with an American couple.
This was supposed to be 'cuisine gastronomique' at its best and fancy it was, but tasteful it was not. We found it all very average and were quite disappointed. What my mother had was even below average, she could have done much better with her home made gnocchi than his. So we skipped desserts (no point wasting money) and just waited for the American couple to enjoy theirs... Their desserts looked amazing but they too said they looked better than they actually were. It was a real pity as it is not often that my parents can enjoy top cuisine. At least the American couple were really nice and great fun and I guess we would have never met them if we had not shared the drive. The guy worked for NASA and they loved animals as much as we did.
The next day Nathalie had set her heart of going to visit Villa d'Erba and Villa D'este nr Como (i.e. 35-45kms away from Bellagio, depending on which route you took). Before we left Besancon I had checked her list of recommended sight seeing but had not highlighted Erba on the map. I did say to her "Are you sure we need to go to Erba?"... She was like "Of course, where else would it be? It is called Villa d'Erba, remember?". Ok, so, off we went towards Erba, high up on the hill, enjoying amazing panaromic views on the way (the weather was cloudy but bright - no rain, but still some haze). We even found, by pure chance, a museum for cyclists in a chapel that was dedicated to all the ones who had died on the roads. My Dad being a keen cyclist was really pleased about that -- I mean, he was pleased that he had found a museum dedicated to his favourite sport, not pleased that so many had died on the road !
We then got a bit lost on the way and thought we'd better check the map more closely. I asked her to show me her list of sight seeing recommendations and lo and behold, The Villa d'Erba was not in Erba, as I had sensed, but in Cernobbio. We just had to write this off as yet another 'blonde moment' as she likes to label them. So off we went to Cernobbio. We eventually found the Villa and parked nearby. How we managed to find it was yet another little miracle, something made me look back and I caught a glimpse of the gate with the name on it. My sister said 'I did think it was odd that you would do a double take on the cyclists' (who had just driven past). Indeed I couldn't care less for the cyclists. It was another God-incidence if you ask me. So we parked the car for 2 hours and then walked to the gate and a guy there told us in Italian that it was closed today due to a congress taking place. In fact it is usually closed during the week, only opens on the week end. But next Saturday we have to drive back to Besancon, so our good fortune did not work out in the end. However, Villa D'Este, he said, was only 10 mins walk away. So we felt we had a great back up plan.
We found it fairly easily but there was a plaque on it saying 'One of the leading hotels of the world' and a guard by the gate... who promptly informed us that the hotel grounds were for guests only and so we would not be able to walk around them. Double bad luck.
In disgust we found a little cafe by the lake, I ordered comfort food (red fruits with ice creams) and we just watched the world go by for an hour or so feeding the sparrows.
Once we got past our moments of disappointments we headed for Como to have a look at the famous Duomo (Dome). As we were heading for the Dome we bumped into the US couple who had spent our dinner time with us the night before and they had a free map to give us, of the town centre... It was really handy as it happens and another little miracle.
The Dome was beautiful, it was (amazingly) free to get in. The ceilings wereas pretty spectacular as well. I was able to take some very nice photos too by changing my camera speed to 800ASA. By the time we came out though, it had started to rain. We tried to kill some time by buying more ice creams or cakes but we eventually decided it was better to go back. We had a 45 mins drive ahead of us, zig zagging all the way, in very narrow streets, i.e. quite stressful for our driver. In fact, even though the drives by the lake boast fantastic views our driver is never able to enjoy them as she has to constantly focus on drivers coming the other way and not leaving her much space to manoeuvre around them.
We got back to our hotel at 5:30pm, had a rest for an hour and then found another nice restaurant in town. Same deal. They came to pick us up and drove us back, free of charge. We had a great dinner at much better value and saw our US friends at the next table, again. I guess our hotel must be recommending the same restaurants to all their guests! But this free taxi service is great for anyone who does not have a car with them.
We got home at 10:15pm and were ready for a shower and long sleep. We have slept like logs since we got here. By bed time we are all shattered, we cannot work out why, it must be something in the air? We do not do any vigorous exercises as such to justify such tiredness...
We checked the weather forecast again and we were told that tomorrow would be the better day and after that it would most likely rain again. We decided that we would have to pack it all in tomorrow and see the top 3 highlights that we had not seen yet. Assuming the weather forecast was right... So far, thankfully, it had been a lot better than predicted. Some rain but on and off, not constant, as feared (and as it has been in England we understand). It does widen up options when you can stroll around at leisure... especially when all the little villages around the lakes look so pretty. It is like walking inside a painting... very very quaint.
Shortly after I last emailed we were advised to go and have dinner at the Solice Blu, 'the best restaurant in Bellagio, just a mile down our road'. The Chef (only 25) was already well accomplished having won many awards for his creative cuisine. Most recently he was voted top Chef in Italy (where competition is fierce since food is such an art here). He came to pick us up by car and we went with an American couple.
This was supposed to be 'cuisine gastronomique' at its best and fancy it was, but tasteful it was not. We found it all very average and were quite disappointed. What my mother had was even below average, she could have done much better with her home made gnocchi than his. So we skipped desserts (no point wasting money) and just waited for the American couple to enjoy theirs... Their desserts looked amazing but they too said they looked better than they actually were. It was a real pity as it is not often that my parents can enjoy top cuisine. At least the American couple were really nice and great fun and I guess we would have never met them if we had not shared the drive. The guy worked for NASA and they loved animals as much as we did.
The next day Nathalie had set her heart of going to visit Villa d'Erba and Villa D'este nr Como (i.e. 35-45kms away from Bellagio, depending on which route you took). Before we left Besancon I had checked her list of recommended sight seeing but had not highlighted Erba on the map. I did say to her "Are you sure we need to go to Erba?"... She was like "Of course, where else would it be? It is called Villa d'Erba, remember?". Ok, so, off we went towards Erba, high up on the hill, enjoying amazing panaromic views on the way (the weather was cloudy but bright - no rain, but still some haze). We even found, by pure chance, a museum for cyclists in a chapel that was dedicated to all the ones who had died on the roads. My Dad being a keen cyclist was really pleased about that -- I mean, he was pleased that he had found a museum dedicated to his favourite sport, not pleased that so many had died on the road !
We then got a bit lost on the way and thought we'd better check the map more closely. I asked her to show me her list of sight seeing recommendations and lo and behold, The Villa d'Erba was not in Erba, as I had sensed, but in Cernobbio. We just had to write this off as yet another 'blonde moment' as she likes to label them. So off we went to Cernobbio. We eventually found the Villa and parked nearby. How we managed to find it was yet another little miracle, something made me look back and I caught a glimpse of the gate with the name on it. My sister said 'I did think it was odd that you would do a double take on the cyclists' (who had just driven past). Indeed I couldn't care less for the cyclists. It was another God-incidence if you ask me. So we parked the car for 2 hours and then walked to the gate and a guy there told us in Italian that it was closed today due to a congress taking place. In fact it is usually closed during the week, only opens on the week end. But next Saturday we have to drive back to Besancon, so our good fortune did not work out in the end. However, Villa D'Este, he said, was only 10 mins walk away. So we felt we had a great back up plan.
We found it fairly easily but there was a plaque on it saying 'One of the leading hotels of the world' and a guard by the gate... who promptly informed us that the hotel grounds were for guests only and so we would not be able to walk around them. Double bad luck.
In disgust we found a little cafe by the lake, I ordered comfort food (red fruits with ice creams) and we just watched the world go by for an hour or so feeding the sparrows.
Once we got past our moments of disappointments we headed for Como to have a look at the famous Duomo (Dome). As we were heading for the Dome we bumped into the US couple who had spent our dinner time with us the night before and they had a free map to give us, of the town centre... It was really handy as it happens and another little miracle.
The Dome was beautiful, it was (amazingly) free to get in. The ceilings wereas pretty spectacular as well. I was able to take some very nice photos too by changing my camera speed to 800ASA. By the time we came out though, it had started to rain. We tried to kill some time by buying more ice creams or cakes but we eventually decided it was better to go back. We had a 45 mins drive ahead of us, zig zagging all the way, in very narrow streets, i.e. quite stressful for our driver. In fact, even though the drives by the lake boast fantastic views our driver is never able to enjoy them as she has to constantly focus on drivers coming the other way and not leaving her much space to manoeuvre around them.
We got back to our hotel at 5:30pm, had a rest for an hour and then found another nice restaurant in town. Same deal. They came to pick us up and drove us back, free of charge. We had a great dinner at much better value and saw our US friends at the next table, again. I guess our hotel must be recommending the same restaurants to all their guests! But this free taxi service is great for anyone who does not have a car with them.
We got home at 10:15pm and were ready for a shower and long sleep. We have slept like logs since we got here. By bed time we are all shattered, we cannot work out why, it must be something in the air? We do not do any vigorous exercises as such to justify such tiredness...
We checked the weather forecast again and we were told that tomorrow would be the better day and after that it would most likely rain again. We decided that we would have to pack it all in tomorrow and see the top 3 highlights that we had not seen yet. Assuming the weather forecast was right... So far, thankfully, it had been a lot better than predicted. Some rain but on and off, not constant, as feared (and as it has been in England we understand). It does widen up options when you can stroll around at leisure... especially when all the little villages around the lakes look so pretty. It is like walking inside a painting... very very quaint.
posted by Sylvie at 9:15 AM
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