Milano here we come

Our last morning in Bellagio. We decided to put the car on the ferry and cross Lake Como to Cadenabbia where the road back to Milan was a bit wider than the one we drove in on. There were still a few spots they perhaps need to work on and the pedestrians need to be more careful when Vanessa is one the road!

De-hired the car and found the right trains to get us to Milan – a miracle! Once here we checked into our Hotel and went walking. To say we had a pizza lunch is a little understated. It came with so many extras we didn’t know where to start – and delicious!

In the afternoon we spent some time at the Museum of Natural Science and were intrigued with all the different mineral formations on show, then into fossils and dinosaurs, finishing with a sketch pad in hand, intrigued with pattern formations of flora fossils.

This evening Clare arrived into Milan from Leeds, UK. We’ve had dinner together with a bottle of Chianti.

Tomorrow we’ll be exploring the Historic Centre of Milan.

Bellagio, day 2

Another wonderful day.  We went into the town today to have a bit of a wander around. We planned to go for only a little while before undertaking a longer walk to other places of interest. Well, as they say, the best laid plans... It took us almost an hour just to walk through the first street in Bellagio. Here’s a picture of this street:

On the edge of town is the Basilica of Saint James which was built between the 10^th and 12^th centuries. This is a photo of the gilded wood sculptor behind the altar and the ceiling above it is all done in mosaic – just stunning.

 This is the waterfront part of Bellagio where several hotels and resturants are. We had lunch along here today by the lake then walked to Punta Spartivento which is right on the point of Bellagio to see the three arms of the lake.

In our guide book it says in Pescallo is a little fishing village, first developed village on the peninsula of Bellagio, and that there is a “suggestive little square”. Had to see that!

This is one of the little back streets in Pescallo.

And this is where we're staying!

Lake Como, Italy

Here we are finally in Italy!!! 1st day here and we are in a beautiful room overlooking the lake and distant views over to the Alps.

Our journey has taken over 30 hours, finally landing in Milan and collecting our rent-a-car. Thank goodness for Tim, the navigator as we would never have made it here without him! The narrow winding road alongside Lake Como is quite hair-raising and we often had to pull over and breath in to let other cars and trucks through.

Had to stop on the side of the road for a rest - terrifying trip as you can see!

Now some of the views from our room...

Absolutely beautiful. The last 2 photos were taken at around 6.30pm.

Vanessa, Clare & Louise in Italy

Very exciting! In just over 3 weeks Vanessa and Louise leave sunny Melbourne for Milano, Italy.

Check back on a regular basis to see photos and read posts to see how much fun we're having! Post any suggestions of places to see whilst there or things to do!

Here's a list of the cities we'll be visiting:

Milan
Lake Como
Cinque Terra
Florence
Venice
Rome

Can't wait!!!