Blog

The October morning was cool and crisp, but mild.  We boarded the ferry at Varenna, and headed across the lake to explore Menaggio.

Main Square; Menaggio

We only had half a day here, so it was either walk along the lake promenade (with the tourists), or head up.  We chose the latter! 

The narrow, cobblestone sidewalks doubled as "streets" so if a car came, we had to press against the sides of the buildings and suck it in. (ok, I may have exaggerated just a bit, but let me just say it was a tight squeeze!).

Each of the villages on Lake Como had a different feel. Menaggio seemed less touristy (maybe it was because we headed up) and had more of a Medieval look. It also reminded me a bit of Switzerland, (it is, after all, situated at the foothills of the Alps in Northern Italy), with a flair of Italian villas surrounded by lush gardens. 

Up we go!

So many hidden surprises at every turn.

I even discovered some lingering sunflowers.

I'm ashamed to say I was a bit of a peeping Tom..

If the door was open, I viewed that as an invitation to peer inside...

or as luck would have it, peer outside! 

Peeping Tom, yes, but scouts honor, I didn't just barge in to this home. As I just mentioned, as luck would have it, I had to use the "water closet" (aka toilet). I asked a nice guy working in a drink distribution warehouse if he knew where a bathroom was, and he took us across the street here to his house. His office was filled with shelves and shelves of alcoholic drinks and he said "Don't Drink!" with a big smile on his face. 

We met a lot of very nice furry friends along the way.

"Doggio's" in Menaggio (see what I did there?)

and cats.

I named the golden cat on the left, "Lorenzo". Probably not his real name, but I found it fitting since we were in Italia. I'm pretty sure he knew I was an artist looking for inspiration, because he hopped up on this periwinkle car (which happened to be his complimentary color), and posed for me. 

"Lorenzo the Cat"; 9x12 

The gentleman who owned this house kindly came out and told us all about the clay tiles on the roof...the only problem was that it was all spoken in Italian. Whatever he said sounded great to me! Belissimo!

More "peeping" into someone's garden. My brother and I had a conversation about what it would be like if we constantly had tourists peering into our yard...or home...

Beautiful Frescos reminded me of my mural days. There is such intricate detailing on each of these structures.

Church of San Carlo, built in 1659.

(above): a peek at San Stefano church; Menaggio Italy

a great mode of transportation on these narrow alleys! 

I'm beginning to notice a color pattern here; "watermelon", "cantaloupe", 

"ochre",  "sage",  "strawberry cream", "sherbet"...

Yes, we were getting hungry. Time to get back on the ferry and head to Bellagio for lunch and gelato! 

Enjoy the short clip below of our ferry ride to Bellagio.