Lago di Como, odds and ends

Day Six took us to Menaggio and on a train ride (the car kind) through the city. We also went swimming and enjoyed a dinner on the terrace. The ice cream man came right after dinner, so of course we had to get some for the kids. Three ices in one day, they were pretty excited. I don't think two in one day (prior to this holiday) ever happened, let alone three!

Lago di Como V (cinque)

My biggest wish for our Italian holiday? To eat really good, really authentic Italian food from a mom and pop kind of place. Agritourisma are all over the place, but many can be quite touristy and not what I really wanted. We had a recommendation for one up in the mountains with excellent food and an amazing view of the Alps (not the lake this time!). So we took the almost one hour drive to this place. The views were amazing, the food looked delicious, and..... Nils melted down. So badly that we had to leave early and not eat. I don't know if I'm over it yet. The small bit of anitpasti that we got was fantastic though.

On an upside, on our way back, we found a wine place and got some great wine where the locals shop. We also (before the Agritourisma fiasco) walked about in our town to find the waterfall that we'd been hearing for entire stay. (We did find it).

Lago di Como IV (quattro)

Day Four was sunny and we took full advantage of the weather. Linda, Sacha and Soffian went their own way for the day, so we decided to try and find a place to hike and see some more nature. We took all sorts of winding roads, trying to get to a point on our map that our Navi could not seem to take us. We tried to find it ourselves, but that wasn't any good either. Somehow, we ended up on a mountain road that got narrower and narrower, rockier and bumpier, and more fun with each curve. At the end was a little path and we walked in, not knowing what to expect. We hiked up quite a bit, but since we weren't prepared, we had no water or snacks and the boys started getting thirsty. So we hiked back to our car and went back to the house to go swimming.

Lago di Como III (tre)

Day Three saw us on another boat ride, only to save the increasingly cranky boys from meltdown. Two days of rain and no swimming (with a pool teasing them, right outside our window) were too much. So even though the weather was not so great, we took a ferry ride to Bellagio. I really wish we could have gone back and seen it on a good day. It was beautiful, with medieval steps leading to the top of the city. The start of the day you see here is the market in Lenno. We were hoping that an icon artist that we saw on Sunday would be there, but, alas, she was not.