Our ship docked for the final time in Venice, Italy on Saturday and we caught a cab to the rental car company with only the clothes on our backs ... and 10 suitcases.
Fortunately, the car company upgraded us from a two door speck to a four door speck. Tom and I were not happy with the amount of baggage. His entire wardrobe and mine fit in one third of one suitcase, but it all fit into the back and the middle of the back seat and the floors of every seat.
Tom drove without the benefit of seeing out of any window.
Lake Como was about 3 hours and 45 minutes (and forty two "roundabouts") away according to our British GPS woman.
On the way to the hotel, we stopped at one of the fanciest rest stops I have ever seen. They served cappuccino and had a fresh bakery and a beautiful restaurant inside. I was only expecting a clean bathroom and ritz crackers.
The hotel was fairly easy to find if you maneuver through streets that looked more like sidewalks (I think we drove on a few real sidewalks too).
Our rooms were side by side. I was happy to find our bathroom had an extra sink right next to the toilet. I've seen these before and realize that they must be put there as a convenience if you want to wash your hands immediately while you are seated.
The rest of the bathroom was not very user friendly. It seems that most of the European bathrooms that are in hotels are about the same size as the ones on our ship, I could only fit half my body in at a time (granted, that is buffalo size ... but still).
The view from the room was spectacular.
We got to know that balcony well ... not only for the view but also because the heating system at the hotel only had two levels hot and off. The door to the balcony stayed open a lot.
The first night we ate at a little café (Caffe Duomo) across from the Cathedral.
I will tell you ... without a doubt ... that the food was as delicious as I have ever tasted ... ever. I had spaghetti carbonara that was perfect (not too heavy on the carbonara and not too light on the consistency). Tom had lasagna and the girls had salad dishes that they loved.
We explored every block of this beautiful city.
From the Cathedral at night ...
,,, to the street markets in the afternoon ...
... where even the lady in the poster was impressed with the fresh veggies ...
... We took the ferry to Bellagio (amid the hordes of lost tourists) ...
... basked in the beauty of Lake Como ...
... and the homes that were edged into the mountains ...
By the way, I repeatedly remarked ... "THAT'S WHERE GEORGE CLOONEY LIVES!"
Of course no one listened to me until I showed them a picture of Amal and me at an awards event when George asked me to be her date.
This guy clearly didn't care. Making out with his girlfriend the whole trip ... WAIT A MINUTE!
OKAY ... Just seeing who was paying attention ... here's Bellagio!
... pretty darn cool huh?
There was SO MUCH MORE ... a couple of trips to funky casinos, a wacko waiter who called Tom and I "Big Bosses" and lots of great stories.
Flying back tomorrow!
CIAO (for now).
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