Italy #1 - Lake Como
Notes!
Italy comes in two parts, as all the great stories. Lake Como and Alba, Piedmont, we stayed a week in both areas. We liked only one of those areas.
Getting to Lake Como
The place we stayed at near lake Como was on the top part of the lake. Because of that, all of the navigation apps (Google maps, Waze, Maps.me) showed me that I should drive through/over the Splügenpass, instead of a highway. Had we stayed a bit more to the south on the left side and I would have never known that Italy could be passed the fun way from our Swizz location. And oh how glad I was that we did it. This way to drive, though very slowly, is the most fun (wish we still had our Mini and would have travelled with that). Yes, Saskia and Reet don’t like it, because it makes them feel sick, but I saw no-one puking, so they must have been lying.
I was planning on taking on some pass at Italy alone, but after this, I didn’t feel like I’d be missing anything (I definitely was and still am, but I don’t know that).
But the pass is what it is, has to be experienced, not described, but what I can tell you that you’d understand is… We came from a place that had rain for the past few days. It took about 30 minutes to get from the rainy 15 degree weather to totally sunny 28 degree weather. Just pass the Splügenpass and you’re set. Now this… this is something worth experience’ing. Now we’re talking, now it’s time for the poolside vacation.
During the road trip, we also learnt that Pizza can only be ordered at evenings in “at least some” restaurants. Don’t know if it applies to most or not, we Estonians learn quickly: you don’t have to tell us many times. Tell us 2 times and we won’t ask any more.
First thoughts
When we did approach Lake Como and did drive the 15 minutes or so next to it to reach our location, the reality hit. It’s no Estonian lake. Our “city” had the street of a million restaurants next to each other – felt really touristy.
When we walked to the beach, we also saw that the beachside was fully developed with restaurants and trailer parks. We later learnt that the part we stayed at was called the windsurfers paradise, because of constant winds all year round. This definitely attracts specific tourists and is probably more crowded than other parts of lake Como?
I’m sure not all parts of lake Como were/are like that, though it’s hard to believe. We went to Menaggio as well one day. While a bit prettier (not enough to change my mind, though) and possibly less crowded, still touristy, maybe even more so (because of higher class tourists? Higher than we are, so everything felt even more out of our reach).
Now maybe, if we had a big budget and we
Took windsurfing lessons
Went to different restaurants each day
We would have loved the Como, but we don’t have that kind of a budget and we didn’t fall in love with Como. We also knew this as the possibility before, because the more we read about Como beforehand, people in reviews kept telling that some like the Garda lake more. I think we wouldn’t have liked that one either, but more still.
Who would lake Como be for?
High budget couples who like to go out, spend a lot of money on bad food (or extra amount of money for the special hidden restaurants -there were those as well) and live in a Villa with beach view and go out only for the restaurants.
Windsurfers, who love to live in trailer parks, naturally
I don’t like windsurfing or even the SUP rides. I also don’t like to waste money on bad food that’s worse than our homecooked meal from our local Chef from Estonia that we took with us (Reet) or have the budget for the high-end restaurants. Also, I hate the streets of a million restaurants.
Nevertheless, one time, when walking Emmi to sleep, I got to wondering. What if we stayed at a trailer park? Could be a fun experience. Or… an experience. It would be a bit smaller, but maybe… this would be the place we’d actually have people around who we would speak with (until today we have had basically no conversations with people other than our family), would get the community feeling or something. Even Reet thought of the same when she came from running one day. So, she started looking. Turns out that the accommodations we’re living in, are as cheap/expensive as the trailer park experience if you don’t have your own bedding etc. Worth it then? For the discomfort we’d feel, no (we have vacationed with a caravan before and absolutely hated it because of it being so Tiny, we don’t get along that well) . Still would like to do that one day, but not during this trip probably. Even now, when in France (yes, yes, I’m too far behind with this blog), where Saskia doesn’t have her own room, but sleeps in the living room, I feel like bad parents for not letting her get her own room (she doesn’t seem to mind, though).
But the views, though?
Yes, the mountains were on the background of the lake. And they were something we occasionally (during sunsets), looked at and said to each-other – wow. But did I get the perfect reflection? No, because of the constant winds. And the same old view for a week. Meh. And the places You could have a walk. Were always full of tourists. And hikes… they were far away.
Speaking of hikes. On Saskia’s day we went to an adventure park. I’m afraid of heights, but Saskia and Reet did two out of 3 courses, the 8m high one and the 12m high one, but even they didn’t do the 18m high one. Pointless waste of money. Anyway, after, I was able to talk them into goint to a viewpoint that Maps.me showed was close by. The viewpoint was not enough for me, the view was a bit obstructed, so I negotiated driving even farther away from home and then I saw it. The road turned from paved to unpaved and there was a sign, a hiking path to “Passo San Jorio”. Now, this was no trip for the family, so we went back home and the girls forgot about it, but not me.
On my day, the girls wished for a free day (or rather, they were okay with getting a Dario free day for Dario to get some better views into his memory). And what a memory.
First of all, I almost never do something alone. I rely on others a lot and get disappointed a lot, because of different interests. So this was something I want to do more during our vacation, just go out alone and feel comfortable doing it. This time was pure luck, because I didn’t find any hike that was easy and the girls just wanted to rest.
Passo San Jorio
The visual guide (pictures) of this hike is in a special gallery here.
Drove uphill for an hour on the narrow windy road (which we knew Italy was full of from a previous vacation to Positano and como was no exception, though, I didn’t mind at all) to reach the starting point of the hike.
It was cloudy the whole time during the hike to the top. In my head I complained about the weather a lot during the trip – what if it never clears, how unlucky am I etc.
Found out that I could have driven the 3/4 of the trip instead of walking it when I saw a few parked cars at one point (no regrets though, because the trip took only ~2 hours one way).
The Refugee hut or however you call it before the end of the goal, was out of coca cola, so that was a disappointment. Had to get Fanta instead. Could have gone to the toilet and gotten soup as well and maybe even a conversation had I known any Italian, but I didn’t, so… I was lucky that I got the Fanta even, because of the language barrier problems.
The weather cleared at the top. And… wow. Saw the best views I have ever seen at the top. Well, almost. I now know that a lake or pond between the mountains is even better than just mountains.
Only about 2,5 hours had passed. On the way back, wanted to take on a mountain top as well (which was lower than where I just was, but I guess it was pointier), but because of being a pussy and afraid of heights, I found out 5 minutes into the detour that I could never be that courageous and do that hike. Being humiliated and ashamed, I came back down, back home.
In summay
We were there for a week and we
Went to the beach 10 minutes walk from our place several times
Went to the beach an hour away by foot
Went to the Menaggio for a day
Went to an Adventure park on one day
And then a hike.
So, on the Lake Como week, we did have the proper boring touristy beach vacation, possibly the worst vacation week we have ever had hadn’t there been Passo San Jorio, which saved it for me and would go back just for that hike (but won’t because I already did it).
Now, when I say, “the worst vacation week”, then
We plan on being on the road for months. To have the best and most interesting locations and a lot to do every day, every week, would be too much to ask for. Especially when travelling with family. I should be happy with the time i get for my hikes and walks, just need to get used to it (need to understand that i don’t have to wait for the next hike for another half a year, but only a week, thus don’t want that many hikes in a row)
Also, the choices on locations are limited. We’re on a schedule to reach southern Spain by mid-October while driving no more than 3-4 hours from one place to another, we take the locations that the road offers us. There will be some wins and some losses.
Also, it doesn’t mean it’s bad. It’s different. Maybe by the end of the long vacation, I look back and think. Lake Como… now that was a chill place to stay at, let’s go back there at one point.
Also, most importantly, next time we’d come prepared.
We’d maybe bring more money to visit all those different restaurants that are next to each other.
Maybe would stay at the caravan park for the community feel
OR we’d stay in a villa somewhere to get the “romantic” vibe somehow because of that.
Probably would take windsurfing lessons.
Maybe even rent a motorboat for a day for ~700 Euros a day for several days to visit all the touristy Villages the Como lake has to offer.
Maybe even see George Clooney who has a villa there.
Also, actually, there are a lot of hiking paths around there. If the rest of the family had an interest in hiking, i think we could have filled each day with awesome hiking tails. Come to think of it, it would be okay to return to Como just for the hikes. I think, maybe.
Feeling disappointed about Como’s inability to wow us enough, we were now planning for a trip to where they make wine… Alba.
