I imagined that my remaining time in Europe would be in the roughest accommodation so far, so I was very pleasantly surprised to find my family home B & B in Menaggio, Lake Como(at 40 Euro per night!) was extremely pleasant, and the breakfast loaded with calories and homemades! The views from Eleanor's terrace were hard to beat.The hospitality was great too, she gave me a lift down to the village every day. Now, several well deserved kilo's later, I'm trying to walk all the good food off. Fat chance.
The scenery is top class, the boats and the little towns, the villas and their gardens are the essence of elegant Italian living. But the most striking feature of all is what nature has provided - high mountain ranges topped with snow, surrounding a rather interesting irregular shaped lake, with interesting loops and bends. Cannot describe the lovely array of flowering shrubs, too many. Some of the villages sport lots of expensive hotels, boutiques and cafes (Bellagio), and others (like Varenna)are more arty and serene. As you get closer to Como, the villas and houses become more frequent. Como was actually a small city, with a different outlook onto the Lake than the other villages.
I enjoyed some walks through the villa gardens (Villa Menzi, Villa Barbiernello and the Monastery gardens) and around the little towns, market day in Lenno,and boat trips to the neighboring villages. Favourite day was my art class in Varenna, haven't taken on painting since Grade 4! What a hoot, and I have a creation to bring home.
Lake Como is highly recommended for a relaxing break from Venice, Florence or Rome. Weather was warm and sunny all week, except for the first day (only day of rain for whole trip).I've been overall quite lucky considering the weather forecast in France, which was all gloom and doom. But I do believe some had it very bad in Provence, with the rivers flooding. Lucky we were not motoring there this year!
