DAY 08: Rain, Bellagio, and a festa in piazza.

Waking up to rain created a bad start to the day. We decided to power through it and jumped on a autotraghetto (or ferry) to Bellagio. Even in the rain, the view of the lake from the ferry was pretty stellar. A sort of mish-mash of the Cinque Terre and Amalfi Coast mixed with Seattle’s crappy weather, Lake Como’s colorful towns popped against the lush wooded areas surrounding them. All I could assume was that the lake must be pretty great when the sun is actually out.


Rain over Lake Como.


Bellagio.





In Bellagio, the rain subsided a bit, so we walked up and down the town’s steep lanes. We stopped for another divine lunch at Trattoria San Giacomo. For €15 each, we got quite the meal. They served us troffie with pesto, grilled vegetables, chicken cacciatore, and a soothing soup and salad. Shawn also managed to squeeze in his second gelato of the day after lunch, as well.



Troffie with pesto... delicious!



Since the rain started up again while we were eating, we decided to head back to Varenna shortly after. We squeezed in a quick stroll along the waterfront gardens in Bellagio before the boat arrived. Naturally, it started to clear up just as we arrived back at our home base. Shortly before dinner, Shawn and I walked along Varenna’s honeysuckle-scented pasarella, the waterfront walkway that offers astounding views of neighboring towns and the Alps off in the distance.


Coming back to Varenna.


The same scene from the morning, but cleared up and beautiful.



Before returning to our hotel, we grabbed prosciutto and cheese crepes at Nilus Bar to eat with leftover pizza back in our room. Our moms joined us as we relaxed with a beautiful sunset, a tasty mish-mash of a meal, and some Italian television. We happened upon a show called “Festa in Piazza” (or “party in the plaza”) that had us howling for the rest of the evening. A Lawrence Welk-style variety show, Festa in Piazza featured poorly choreographed line dancers and elderly couples waltzing to lip synced hits as they stared vapidly into the camera. Mom, in particular, lost her shit while watching that!

If you're so inclined, you can watch some clips from recent episodes of Festa in Piazza: clip 1 | clip 2