Bellagio, Lake Como: Bellisima! By
Arnie Greenberg (Photos
courtesy the Italian Government Tourist Board) For many years I visited Lake Como. It is a special place with tiny villages on the shores of a clear, gigantic lake. Where two arms of the lake meet, there is the ancient city of Bellagio. In all of my travels, I have never found a place that offers so much. On cold winter days, I dream of this Italian gem. I am forever planning my return. They said there was no place like it, and they were right. North of Milan at the base of the Alps one finds the city of Como with the beautiful long lake stretching north. It's all one could wish for, and it starts only 30 miles from Milan airport. It's a 'can't miss' destination for a peaceful holiday that captured me at first sight. It's part of the Lombardy lakelands, filled with tiny villages and chalets hanging from the hills. There are terraced gardens, elaborately magical churches with white steeples reaching for a perfect sky. Balconies laden with blossoms greet you everywhere. The bougainvilleas hang down to the water's edge. It is a dramatic change from the farmland of the Lombardy plain. One goes from the uninspiring to the divine…and it starts in Como. I arrived by car from Milan, but you may select to take a train, a bus or a boat from Lugano in the northwest. The Como-Milan highway is often congested but easy enough most days. The lake that begins in this bustling city is shaped like a body dancing on two long legs. It is deeper than its neighbor, Lac Maggiore, and much more interesting. Here you can boat, hike on mountain paths or just sit in a café and watch the ferryboats go by. The word paradise may be overused, but on lake Como it's what I think of. Como is at the south end of the lake. It is modern and bustling. Yet, it has much of that old world charm one would hope for. The horseshoe shaped bay is filled with boats, and the mountains rise from the water's edge. A funicular railway is the best way to see the town and some of the lake from above. It is to the west side of the lake that one searches for the famous Villa D'Este, a posh hotel for the rich and famous. The manufacture of silk has attracted people Como for years. Today it is filled with tourists eating gelato and looking for a place to park their Ferraris. I decide to move on. My destination was the small city of Bellagio to the north, where the two arms of the lake meet. I make my way up the western side through Cernobbia on a winding road with a wonderful view. Unfortunately, I must keep my eyes on the road. This is a place to test your driving skills. One must pull over if a truck comes the other way. When two trucks or a bus meet, all traffic stops. One side must back up to a wide point, where the oncoming traffic can squeeze by. The 30 or so kilometers can take an hour. Remember that when you return, especially if you have a plane to catch. (A view of "paradise" along the shores of Lake Como).
I rise and fall as the road follows the shore. I pass through tiny villages and lovely villas. It is no wonder that Como is a chosen spot for filmmakers. Maggie Smith's Summer on the Lake is a good example of seeing how the other half once lived. As I enter Tremezzo, I see the Hotel Tremezzo Palace, rising from the road. I tour this gem via the outside glass elevator. The flowers, marble pillars and décor of the sophisticated hotel overwhelm me. I sip a cold limoncello. The tennis courts are occupied as is the billiard room and pool. People are eating on the terrace facing the lake, while in the serene Limonaia, waiters with white gloves work at tables fit for a queen. And speaking of Queens, we know that Lake Como was a favorite of Queen Victoria, who visited relatives in the Villa Carlotta next door. Today, the Villa Carlotta is a restored masterpiece and one of the best botanical gardens in northern Italy. I take the small ferry for a ten-minute crossing to Bellagio, the Mecca of the lake waiting in the sun. We drift over pristine waters surrounded by snow-capped mountains. Bellagio -- it is the pearl of Lario, the crown of northern Italy. I will not be disappointed. Here I drive the two hundred yards to the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni. The setting on the point of land between the arms (legs) of the lake with sub-tropical palms on multi-leveled Italianate gardens can take your breath away. It was here that the King of the Goths made his home. Here, too, Pliny the Younger built his two famous villas "Comedy and Tragedy" in the first century A.D. Even Leonardo da Vinci visited the original villa to attend a wedding. In more recent times, such names as Mary Pickford and her husband Douglas Fairbanks sipped cappuccino, while looking out over the sparkling water. This was a hideaway for people like Mark Twain, Flaubert, Shelly (he thought it was the most beautiful place in the world), Stendhal, and Toscanini. The composer Franz Liszt composed his sonata dedicated to Beatrice and Dante while in Bellagio. When Mussolini's henchmen ensconced themselves in the villa, they turned it into a barracks and ripped up the parquetry floor to feed their fireplaces. Princes, counts and tycoons once arrived with their own staff. Today it is renewed and gleaming white with visitors arriving from all over the world. I walk along the water's edge under arcades. The shops are upscale. I discover streets rising into the mountain. They are pedestrian stairways rising to the upper road. Here there are leather, ceramic, and shoe stores, jewelry stores and restaurants. I have lunch on a hotel terrace under grape vines. The view is better than I dreamed of. It is a place whose beauty exceeds the Bay of Naples. If we can say 'See Naples and die', we can say 'See Bellagio and live.' I continue on the upper road, where the Rockefeller Foundation has its retreat and conference center. I come across the simpler Hotel Belvedere with its mountaintop view of the eastern arm. Here, in more Spartan surroundings amid terraced gardens, one can while away the time without a care in the world. Founded in 1880 as Trattoria Alloggio Belvedere, it is owned by the Martinelli family. Hospitality is a family tradition. With 65 rooms, pool and solarium and a panoramic restaurant, you can awaken at dawn with the sun rising directly into your room. Pines, cypresses, walnut trees, narcissus and lily of the valley surround me. I am in a sea of roses, azaleas, rhododendrons and camellias. I am looking over a sub-alpine lake, and I know I will return. It is only 30 km from Como and can also be reached by bus, ferry, hydrofoil or steamboat. You can also reach the lake from Lugano, Switzerland by car via Menaggio. However you go, you will not be disappointed. You can go farther north if you like. There are ferryboats that will take you to over 25 places, such as Varenna on the east side or Colico in the north. Each village tells its fascinating story of daily life that has been going on for centuries. It is all a true natural paradise. I have finally discovered elegant tranquility, and I know that I will return. For more about Hotel Belevedere, visit www.belevederebellagio.com or contact belveder@tin.it For more about Bellagio, visit www.traveleurope.it/bellagio. The tourist information office in Como may be contacted at 31 269712 or by dropping in at Piazza Cavour, 16. The hotels are open April to October. Arnie
Greenberg welcomes your questions or comments. Email him at: ultours@aol.com. (Click below for more travel).
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