Lake Como

The day we left our farm in Pegli, we headed up north to the Lombardy region where Dyl was treating us to a romantic two night getaway. Lake Como is the second largest lake in Italy and one of the deepest in Europe..It is absolutely breathtaking! On most days the lake is dead calm and flat, where the reflections of the surrounding snow capped mountains can be seen. What an absolute dream, this has been a major highlight of Italy! The area is known for having celebrity homes and there are a number of magnificent villas that dot the shoreline of the lake...Madonna, Richard Branson and George Clooney are three of a few..It is rumoured that soon two others will join the list, Catherine and Dylan :) The lake is made up of a number of smaller villages, some of which can only be reached by boat. We visited Managio, Varrena, and Bellagio. Literally felt like we were in a fairytale!

Our little log cabin, 'Villa Tres Jolie' is HIGHLY recommended! Bellisimo!

View from our bed, not too shabs at all I say!

The kitchen and public area of our little hotel, we really loved it so much! Those are fresh eggs from the chickens in their garden..

Felice felice!

Our Euro 12 formaggio and Euro 2 wine, haha! Long story...

I was dead set on having a salad on this particular evening (so far proven to be a particularly alien food group here in Italia) until we saw these cruise past us to another table...The best pizza we have had yet in Italy, this was a little trattoria off the beaten path and we were surrounded by locals. Believe our waiters name was Mario...Or Paulo...everything about this night just dreamy..

Dont really need many words here...View from our balcony...Ya!

The breakfast cart

Villa Tres Jolie, our little haven..

Waiting for the bus

Welcome to Menaggio! See what Im saying about the fairytale!?!

Bella piccolo strada, Menaggio.

Ferry from Menaggio to Varrena..

Entering the port of Varrena..had to pinch ourselves!

Dream villa.......

Our hike up to the top of Varrena, to the Castello De Verde. Incredibaly steep, camera does not do justice! 

Once again, few words required....

"Un Gufo"..An Owl...pretty amazing little thing it was!

Our picnic spot and the moment before we got engaged! Most surreal experience and magical setting!! This little duck was sent from somewhere! He few in ust before Dyl asked me (he was swimming upstream), sat on the side with us alone and flew off under the bridge beneath us just before we left...Amazing!

The hike back down to the village centre

Goodbye magic Varrena!

Bakery in Bellagio, unreal!

Lumo pink villa, I was finished! It was actually very tasteful and the colour looked amazing in real life!

Cellar tour from the owner of the restaurant where we dined that evening, Cinque Casa. We saw bottles of Dom from 1964 and a range of wines that are worth Euro 2000 a bottle.

Morning of our departure. Can you tell we cant get over this view!

And on we go...to Venice! Best weekend ever!!

Genova City

We spent a day in Genova city, where Christopher Columbus was born and birthplace to many other ocean navigators of the past.. We pottered around an area where no cars are allowed and hundreds of narrow streets join one into another. The area had a very romantic feel and it was a pretty cold day! We bought a few bottles of beers and sat in a square with chapped lips, rosy cheeks and happy hearts!

A typical narrow street.

There are few words to describe the magic of the architecture of the churches in Italy.

Piazza Delle Erbe, a popular square for drinking with many bars and restaurants..the local people seemed awesome and the city has its own distinct culture.

Dyl, Dami and Laura sitting in a little spot near the port where we drank our beers.

Italian lessons from Laura on the train home to Pegli..As usual, the beer really seemed to help my pronunciation and enthusiasm to speak.