Como: Thur 26 – Sun 29 Sept: Accommodation

 

Thursday 26 September

Our trip from Lake Iseo to Como was only a couple of hours so we broke the journey up with a stop at Bergamo. Bergamo old town, Citta Alta, a UNESCO heritage site, is located on an hill overlooking the modern city expansion, Citta Basa, on the plateau below. Citta Alta is surrounded by 16th century city walls and is a medieval labyrinth of cobbled lanes and some beautiful historic structures that, with the help of another GPSmyCity guide, provided us with plenty to see and do for a couple of hours to fill in the time before our Lake Como check in. It was a most beautiful area and definitely worth a visit if you’re ever passing through.

Unfortunately, the rain started tumbling down as we left Bergamo for the drive across to Como and it continued to rain for the rest of the day. We found our accommodation with relative ease and were happy to find it to be a lovely base for our final few days of the Italian leg of this trip. We had switched, only a fortnight ago, from an apartment that had some very poor recent reviews to this boutique hotel located in a converted 14th Century Palazzo and were pleased to find we’d made the right decision. The hotel and our room were very impressive.

We had a couple of hours to kill before our 7 pm dinner booking but the rain made that a little challenging so we just visited the Duomo and a 12th century Romanesque church before stopping off to have a drink. Como wasn’t as busy as Verona and we weren’t sure if that was just because of the rain or if this was normal for mid week. Dinner was at Bistrot Figli deli Fiori which was nice but the 20 minute walk there and back in the rain wasn’t. Fingers crossed the weather improves.

 

 

Friday 27 September

It was pleasing to see that the rain had cleared because we were hoping to do a bit more exploring around Como. We consider ourselves relatively savvy travellers but trying to navigate the ineptness/obstruction of the Italian ferry transport personnel nearly did us in today. We were sold a $50 AUD ticket for a journey that didn’t exist! Luckily for us the guy checked our ticket quite closely as we were boarding and informed us that this ferry did not go to our desired stop of Varenna. I think it was a sign that it’s time to go home because my tolerance for such dickheads had absolutely reached rock bottom. Anyway, we adapted quickly and chose the Tremezza ferry stop and to visit Villa Carlotta instead. It was a pleasant way to pass a couple of hours but this Villa, as nice as it was, paled enormously when compared to the magnificent homes we saw last year along Newport, Rhode Island in the USA. Just saying. And we didn’t have to put up with deceptive and obstructive Italian ferry plods back then either.

It was almost 6 pm by the time we got back to Como and we headed straight back to our hotel to rest up before dinner. Our host, Elena, had booked us into L’Antica Trattoria and it was great. In fact, we’d go so far as to say it was the best overall dining experience we’d had this whole trip. I highly recommend this restaurant if you’re ever in Como. 

 

Saturday 28 September

It was an absolute delight to wake and see that the sun was shining and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Such a change from the last week or so and a great way to finish up our visit to Como. What wasn’t great was that the Swans’ lost their Grand Final and in such a dismal way. It was just as well that Mark hadn’t tried to watch the game and went for a bike ride instead.

We had shelved plans to take another boat trip and villa visit as we had a bit of packing up to do, well Mark did at least with having to pack up his bike for the flight back home, so we just spent the day in Como. Being a Saturday, and a fine day at that, meant that the place was very busy with loads of visitors and people swarming the many different markets that were set up throughout town. We did a bit more of the GPSmyCity tour of Como and the most interesting stop was another set of Roman ruins that had been found below a car park; the last time we saw this was in Köln. These Roman Baths, Terme di Como Romano, were discovered in the 1970s when the city was excavating for a car park.  The remains that are on display are most impressive and it is definitely worth checking out if you’re ever in the area.

After lunch we went for a stroll out along the southern side of Lake Como, towards Villa Olmo, and this was a busy part of the city as well. The Villa is temporarily closed for renovation but the grounds are still open to the public. I’ve mentioned previously about how Lululemon doesn’t have any stores in Italy and how I’d wondered if that had a direct correlation on the dress code for Gen Z and Gen Y and this was only further reinforced for me today. It seems Saturday is the day you get glammed up to the max, with loads of make up too, and you swan around on parade for all to see. The females of the species must then also pose for their boyfriends to take lots of pictures. Our Palazzo foyer was a particular hotspot for the public to come in for said photos shoots. It was all very interesting to observe and made me realize just how casual our dress code is back home.

Our dinner tonight was booked in for at Osteria del Gallo, no website, at the relatively early hour of 7pm. It is apparently a small family run restaurant with a limited menu that is hand written on the day, depending on what fresh produce is in season and what they have purchased. We were the first to arrive and we’ve never seen so many folk turned away from a venue before. It was a big mistake to not make a booking; especially on a Saturday night! The food was home style fare but absolutely delicious; just what you would image an Italian Nonna would prepare. This is another restaurant that we would highly recommend.

I had enjoyed our short visit to Como more than Mark. It’s definitely not the same as staying on Lake Como, where you might take a villa or a hotel room out along the vast lakefront, but I enjoyed the option of being able to walk around the town, check out the shops and to have coffee, lunch and dinner options on your doorstep. Our boutique hotel was sheer luxury and is accommodation that I would highly recommend if you were ever to stay in Como town. We depart Como tomorrow morning and start to make our way home with a short stopover in Copenhagen.