Living "La Dolce Vita", June 30, 2010

Woke up late this morning (10:00), had a relaxing breakfast on the deck and decided to stay there. It was hot (32c) so Rita and I moved onto the lie-lows (Rita in the sunshine and me in the shade) to read and just enjoy the view, something we had not done since Majorca. It was a wonderful day of nothing. In the evening we finally managed to find the energy to shower, change and head into Varenna for dinner. However, we did not have enough energy to walk and so we drove. Ahhhh, living La Dolce Vita (the sweet life).....

Rita on our deck enjoying a day of down time

Afternoon view from the edge of our deck overlooking Lake Como

View from our waterfront restaurant table in Varenna

Geoff contemplating an important decision (will it be pizza or pasta tonight?)

Touring Bellagio and Menaggio, June 29, 2010

After Rita and I had finished touring Varenna we headed for the Ferry Terminal to catch the next boat to Bellagio, a 35 minute trip. It was a wonderful way to cool down as well as experience some excellent views of the towns from the water.

Lake Como is shaped like an upside down Y and Bellagio sits in the "crotch" between the two outstretched legs of the lake. Bellagio is often called "The Pearl of the Lake" and has been chosen as a residence by authors, artists and poets since ancient times. The original town was located back from the water on the slopes of the mountain with narrow streets leading down to the waterfront.

Bellagio is where the rich and famous go when they holiday at Lake Como and this becomes obvious as soon as we step off the Ferry and see all the high end shops and 5 star hotels stretched out before us on the waterfront. We headed for the tourist info center and picked up a walking tour brochure and spent the next couple of hours exploring this delightful town. Rita and I really liked the feel of Bellagio and could certainly understand why it's such a popular destination. After I had a local beer and Rita a sparkling water at a waterfront cafe, we walked onto the Ferry and headed for Menaggio, 20 minutes away on the east side of the lake. Menaggio has been an important hub since Roman times as it was a strategic point on the East/West trade route. In fact, it still is today as we will have to take a car ferry from Varenna to Menaggio for us to get back to Germany.

After exploring Varenna and Belaggio we were a bit dissapointed in Menaggio as it did not seem to have that much to see other than its waterfront piazza filled with sidewalk cafes. The historic district is quite plain and not many tourists take the time to climb the steep and narrow streets to explore the area. After touring around we stopped for a gelato in the main piazza before taking the Ferry back to Varenna and home.



Rita reading up on the Lake Como Ferry timetable as we head out to Belaggio from Varenna


The waterfront of Belaggio and one of the Lake Como passenger Ferries

The drapes come down in Belaggio to keep the clients and the shops cool during the midday heat

One of the many steep and narrow streets in Belaggio

The waterfront district of Menaggio from the Lake Como Ferry

Welcome to Lago de Como, June 29,2010

Our apartment is located about 50 meters from the waters of Lake Como in a small hamlet called Fiumelatte, a 20 a minute walk to the town of Varenna.

Lake Como is 50 km long and is the deepest lake in Europe (410 meters). The lake is famous for its mild climate (it's the most northern point where olive groves are commercially grown). The first human settlement can be traced back to 4500BC but it was not until 1000BC that civilization truly took hold in the area. By 59BC is was a major trade and tourism area. In more recent times, international nobility have been building villas along these shores since the 15th century. The rest of us discovered Lake Como in the early 1900's and now most of the villages and towns along the shoreline depend totally on tourism for their existence.

After reading up on Lake Como we decided to focus our limited time here on three villages (Varenna, Menaggio and Bellagio). Lake Como has a very efficient and effective ferry boat system that runs like a bus service between all the villages.

Today its hot (32c), humid and hazy as we head out to explore Varenna. The 20 minute walk from our apartment is flat and runs along the lake but I was drenched by the time we arrived so we headed for a shady, waterfront cafe to cool down before we started exploring.

The ancient town of Varenna is on a point jutting into Lake Como with Mt. San Defendente at its back and has steep, narrow streets which fan out from the central piazza down to the waterfront. Although its origins are older, Varonna became firmly established as a viable town in 1169 and continues to flourish as one of the most popular destinations on Lake Como. We spent most of our time exploring the waterfront as it was more interesting and much cooler.

To be continued....

Looking at Varenna as we take the lakefront walk from Fiumelatte

Rita checking out the Varenna guide book in the shade at a waterfront cafe

Part of the waterfront walkway with its many shops and cafes

One of the many narrow, steep streets leading from the waterfront to the central piazza

The town of Varenna from the waters of Lake Como

Three Countries, One Alps, June 28, 2010

Left Innsbruck for the 5 hour drive to Lake Como in Northern Italy via Switzerland. It was an amazing trip as we traveled through the mountains and valleys of the Alps. From Innsbruck we claimed to the top of the pass in Switzerland and dropped into an incredible low valley into Italy. We stopped at a few places along the way to enjoy the view of Lakes, mountains, meadows, valleys and waterfalls. Arrived in Lake Como and had an interesting time getting into our apartment. TomTom guided us to our apartment but we could not open the lock box that had our keys. We finally called the company we booked with and they had given us the wrong code. Ahhhhhhh!!!! Once into our apartment we unpacked and went looking for a grocery store. The temperature is 31c and humid with a heavy heat haze over Lake Como and the surrounding mountains. We are still in the Alps and tomorrow we will start to explore this beautiful place.



Alpine meadow with wildflowers just outside of Innsbruck, Austria



Rita and Geoff besides a beautiful lake just outside St. Moritz, Switzerland

Looking down from the top of a Pass in Switzerland into a valley in Italy

Driving past a very small village in Italy and saw this waterfall and had to stop

Wonderful view from the deck of our apartment at Lake Como

Innsbruck, June 26, 2010

Rita had booked a hotel that was in the old town which proved problematic when trying to drive to it as there is limited vehicle access. We found a parking spot just outside the old town walls and reprogrammed our TomTom to take us to the hotel by walking route. It was only about a five minute walk. The 14 room hotel and award winning restaurant is called Zum Weissen Roessl (The White Horse) and it has been in the hands of the same family for four generations. The building itself is 600 years old and the restaurant is located where the original horse stables were. The restaurant is lovely and is where Rita had taken me for my 63rd birthday dinner.

Innsbruck can trace its heritage back to the 4th century when it was a Roman army station protecting the economically important commercial Verona-Brenner-Ausgburg road that linked the north to the south. Innsbruck officially became a town in 1267, the capital of all Tirol in 1429 and an important political center in the 1490's when Emperor Maximilian resided here. The old town has remained virtually intact from this time with exterior rennovations taking place up to the 1700's.

Innsbruck and Salzburg have a love/hate relationship that is very similar to Edmonton and Calgary. Many consider Innsbruck a blue collar town where the factories are located and Salzburg is the white collar town where the head offices are located. But as far as old towns are concerned, I definitely prefer Innsburck.

Rita and I had really enjoyed walking around the old town and checking out all the sites, including a trip up the 148 steps of the city hall tower. But the best time we had was by accident. We went for a walk along the Inn River but the walkway stopped after about 15 minutes so we turned up a hill and ended on a steep forest trail that took us to a Vanicular station and so we bought a ticket to take us up to the mid point of the mountain. We got off and hiked through high alpine forest for another hour that took us to a Scherzalm (a summer farm on the mountain). This one had a restaurant attached to it. After a break we hiked back down to the Vanicular station and rode it back into Innsbruck, took a shower and went for a lovely dinner in one of the outdoor cafes. A great way to end our time in Innsbruck.

The Inn River with Old Town in the background

City Hall Tower built in 1440 located in Old Town

Helblinghaus built in the 15th century with late Baroque stucco added in 1730 in main street of Old Town

Rita drinking mountain fresh water at the Scherzalm on our hike to mid station of Nordkette Mountain

View of Old Town rooftops, St. James Cathedral and the Alps from the City Hall Tower Lookout

Rita sampling the goodies at the Speckeria which was established in 1909. We ended up having staying for lunch and had a delicious sample plate of cold cuts (salami, ham and cheese) washed down with a fine Innsbruck beer.

Birthday Boy, June 26, 2006

What a lucky young lad I am. For the first time I celebrated my birthday in two towns on the same day. Woke up in Kitzbuhel and Rita had a champagne breakfast organized for us. It was a great way to start the day. We then traveled to Innsbruck and had a nice walk around the old town as it was very warm (24c) and sunny. Had a wonderful traditional Tirolean dinner on a outdoor rooftop restaurant. We ended the day with Mozart Kugeln (dark chocolate balls) and pear schnapps. Thank you Rita for putting together such a memorable day for my 63rd birthday. And thanks to everyone who sent me emails on my birthday, they helped make my day special.

Geoff with some of his birthday swag (pink shirt and two flavors of schnapps) in the early hours of his 63rd year

High on Kitzbuhel, June 25, 2010

Rita had checked with our hotel in Innsbruck to see if we could arrive a day earlier than planned due to our schedule still being out of whack from our cancelation of Munich. They were full and so we looked at the map to see what was on the way to Innsbruck. We settled on Kitzbuhel as it would be nice to go and explore an alpine resort since the weather was so nice. Rita programmed TomTom for Kitzbuhel town center and we started out on the 90 minutes drive.

Kitzbuhel was colonized by the Bavarians in the late 6th century and was granted the status of a town in 1271. It belonged to the duchy of Bavaria until the early 1600's when Emperor Maximilian conquered the area for Tirol. It went back and forth for several centuries until the Congress of Vienna in 1809 formerly granted the region to Tirol. Mining was an inportant factor in the regional economy for centuries and the way Kitzbuhel's old town looks today dates back to the mining boom of the 16th century. In 1875 the railway arrived and summer tourism took off. But Kitzbuhel's tourism claim to fame is to be the home of Franz Reisch, the founder of skiing, who took his first run down Kitzbuhel Horn mountain in 1893. For those of us who love to ski, thank you Franz

Arrived in Kitzbuhel without any problems and parked the car just outside the old town walls. We walked around and Rita checked out a couple of hotels before finding one that suited our tastes and budget. We checked-in and immediately headed out to explore the town. After a nice lunch in one of the many outdoor cafes, we headed for the Hahnenkamm Gondola and took it to the top and hiked around the many trails for a couple of hours. It was truly spectacular to be at 1700 meters on such a hot, sunny day and hike around in the alpine meadows enjoying all the panoramic views of the mountains and valleys. After coming back to town, we showered and went for dinner at a very nice outdoor restaurant for a traditional tirolian dinner with a very nice Austrian white wine. We were both definitely ready for a good nights sleep.

Old Town Kitzbuhel's main street

Top of Hahnenkamm looking down at Kitzbuhel and across at Kitzbuheler Horn Mountain

St. Maria Church on top of Hahnenkamm Mountain

Rita and Geoff in the Alpine meadows on top of Hahnenkamm Mountain