For few years now I’ve been traveling to Lake Como in Italy for business . I wanted to go back for a romantic and lovely week end. This place is just what you ever dreamt of Heaven: the landscape, the peace it brings you, tranquility, the food, the history are all just exceptional.
Leaving NYC on Thursday night direct to Milan you arrive early on Friday morning followed by a short 45 minute drive to Como and here you are. We stayed at the Sheraton in Cernobbio, a small village next to Como, a 25mn walk or 10mn bike ride away. The hotel is located just a few minutes walk away from the famous Villa Erba, and Villa d’Este. The swimming pool is amazing, and the restaurant by the pool is just what you need for lunch or dinner, delicious food and great rosé wine. On Friday we rested and enjoyed the pool.
Saturday, rent a boat and go onto the lake. You will be amazed by the scenery. Surrounded by mountains and beautiful houses this journey on the lake is just incredible, a dream, so quiet, so nice: a multitude of colors, so romantic, so Italian… A friend of mine told me once that the Italians are like the French but with a smile, Michael Moore said that Italians look like they just made love (last movie ‘Where to invade next’)…they just smile, they dress well, they are full of charm and living in a beautiful country, and I’m not even talking about the food,…. Surrounded by mountains, old Italian architecture, feeling the Italian Renaissance, stunning Palaces on water with sculptures and amazing gardens, thermal springs, the silk industry, Fashion Houses and Rich and Famous people….Not sure about the Italians 🙂 but this place is just unique and from the lake it looks magic.
You will be able to see all those colorful villages, Lenno (you have stop there and have lunch at Lido di Lenno), Bellagio, Menaggio, Varenna, perched on the side of the mountain, the color of the water and the green of the alpine hills mixed with the multicolored houses give you the impression of being part of an incredible Italian painting. Villa Balbianello ( used for Star Wars II where Padme married Anakin) and Cypress villa (only accessible by boat) were amongst my favorite. Saturday night, get lost in old Como, the night life is so Italian, Aperitivo, dinner, jazz bar, and more…
Sunday, take a bike from the hotel and visit Como. Walk the old town, visit the Duomo di Como, take the Funicular to Brunate at the top of the mountain, walk to the Volta lighthouse (Alessandro Volta the physicist who invented the electrical battery, do you remember?), enjoy a gelato and make time for an Aperitivo or a café…Let’s take a break here and allow me to open your eyes on the real world of coffee, a world far, far away from Starbucks :).
In Italy we don’t talk about Espresso, but Caffè. They use Arabica (coffee cultivated at altitude, in regions surrounding Ecuador). More delicate and fragile than the Robusta, this coffee is less bitter, full of aromas and contains less caféine. You have to drink it extremely hot, super fast and with some sugar. When? When you need a boost, around 11am when you start to slow down, after lunch, around 5pm. Never in the morning, Cappuccino only for breakfast!! Espresso is the method to prepare the coffee with a percolator. In a caffè we add sugar, milk, sometimes whipped cream, liquor, ice cubes but never all those chemicals, sirops, flavors or any other harmful junk ingredients….I’m sure you know to whom I’m referring to 🙂
Then, just go to Como and enjoy this amazing and romantic place…