Giovedi - un lungo viaggio in auto sotto la pioggia

We woke up on Thursday to see that the rain had continued through the night.  We had breakfast, got packed and organized, and headed out for Lago di Como.  Our GPS identified a ride of about 3 1/2 hours........mostly along the A4 Autostrada.  Much of the route was the same path we had used two days before.  The landscape was uninteresting and the best plan was to get on the road and get the driving over.  

The problem was that it started raining harder as soon as we hit the highway.  It rained continuously, with periodic downpours, for over two hours.  It was quite a trip to the exit from the autostrada around Como.   As we progressed north the rain lessened and by the time we reached our hotel in Laglio, the clouds were breaking and there were distant glimpses of blue sky to the north over Switzerland.  

the rain was a real challenge! no falling asleep at the wheel here

when we reached Cernobbio and Laglio the sky started to clear

The hotel was in a very nice location on a series of terraces dropping down to the lake.  We had not planned this, but it ends up the location is only 5 houses down from George Clooney's villa!  We checked in and unloaded our bags.  The hotel was fully booked (only 8 rooms) and we had to take a different room each night.  Our first night was in a fun attic-type room with an exposed wood beam ceiling......unfortunately without a lake view.  We headed downstairs for a late lunch and then grabbed the car again to explore the lake. 

the skylights were very cool

We got just beyond Cernobbio and got a great view of some snow-capped peaks of the alps.  The snow actually was still on the top of several of the higher peaks quite close to us.  The scenery was spectacular.  The weather seemed to be continually improving but did not fully clear until later at night.  We got back to the hotel around 6:00 and rested briefly before heading down for a glass of prosecco on the terrace.  Dinner was quite enjoyable as we had a window table and watched the moon come up in the east over the mountains......a nice way to end a tiring day!

the mountains to the north included both the French Alps and the Alto Adige (South Tyrol) of Italy

the boat traffic on the lake was constant......easier to travel this way than by car......the one in the picture is a hydrofoil

the hotel property terraces down on four levels to the lake

another view of the pool and the lake

the front porch on the upper terrace.....great place for an aperatif!

the moon came up over the mountain to the east,,,,,,Bellagio is about 4 miles to the left here

the front porch at night

Lake Como was more dramatic than we had remembered, both in the height and proximity of the mountains........much more than the other lakes we had visited on this trip.  We had last toured around Lake Como so long ago that we agreed that the impact had faded a bit from our memory......it may be the most dramatic landscape we have seen.  Over the next two days we took a million pictures.........and have decided to post a separate blog  on the landscape around the lake.

a glimpse of the dramatic scenery to be explored tomorrow!