2015: Italy and Mediterranean Update 1

Hi again.

After leaving home last Saturday 12 September we travelled for 24 hours and landed in Milan Malpensa airport ready for some fun in Italy – then spent an hour and a half on a queue to go through passport control. Never mind, customs checking was non-existent and the car hire process was fast and painless so we were soon on our way. In our brand new Peugeot 208 with its easy to use GPS we drove 65 km through narrow, winding roads (in 2 hours) to our hotel at Lezzeno on the shores of beautiful Lake Como. Words can’t describe how beautiful this 100 km x 2 km lake is – and we had a room almost right beside the lake with a great view.

Hotel Villa Aurora is small and the rooms are tiny, as with most traditional hotels in Europe. The staff were very friendly and most, not all, could speak very good English. We ate breakfast in the main building but dinner was in the hotel’s restaurant across the road. Staff had to carry meals across the road from the kitchen to the restaurant, even in the rain. We did have some rain while we were there but it didn’t bother us. We would happily stay here again, especially with a lake view room.

Ferries operate all over the lake, with a stop near the hotel, so we took a ride to 3 towns then to the famous town of Bellagio where we enjoyed a pleasant few hours.

From our room on Lake Como

From a ferry on Lake Como – many beautiful mansions as well as the small villages

Our dining room at Lake Como

After 3 nights we started off again for the 3.5 hour, 320 km drive to Cinque Terre – it took 7 hours because we chose the shortest route rather than the fastest route. The first 80 km took more than 2 hours, then we found ourselves in the middle of Milan – Oops! Getting through Milan took anothe 1.5 hours so we changes our minds and took the fastest route for the remaining 240 km, using 2 freeways were we sat in the slow lane doing 110 km. The final 20 km was along another narrow road, high above the Mediterranean Sea with spectacular scenery, to the tiny village of Volastra, near Manarola.

Our hotel is Luna di Marzo, more like a B&B, with only 11 rooms. We stayed here in 2012 and really enjoyed it. The village has about 4 B&B’s, 2 small restaurants and a small mini- market. The view from our room and the hotel terrace is amazing and the food in the restaurants is wonderful. We have walked and taken the train to other villages and general enjoyed this very interesting region which is famous for its 5 towns that are joined by walking trails. Unfortunately a couple of trails have been closed for repairs since heavy rain in 2011 but we have still found plenty to do. Of course great food, wine and coffee help, along with good company from like-minded travellers.