Our day in Lake Como

So after three weeks I have finally had a chance to sit down and go through the 1300 photos I took in Europe. We had a great time and saw SO much! Thanks Mom and Rod for including us on this family vacation and for showing us so many wonderful and new places.

Our first stop on our European adventure was Lake Como, Italy, which was absolutely breathtaking. This is where George Clooney has a house and I can see why! We arrived at around 10 am and although we were all exhausted, we decided to sight see so we could adjust to the time change. We found our hotel, which overlooked Bellagio, parked and went for a walk. Yes I said parked. Rod and Mike were both very brave and took on the task of driving the 9-passenger van we rented around Europe. It was definitely something I wouldn’t want to do! Italians are CRAZY drivers!

After walking for a bit, we found a little pizzeria that was just opening, so we decided to grab a bite to eat. I ordered a 4-cheese pizza, Mike ordered a calzone and even though we had decided not to order sodas when eating out (they were 4 Euros a bottle with no refills!) we both ordered a coke in order to stay awake! When our food finally arrived we were shocked at how big each portion was. My pizza alone was like eating a medium pizza and Mike’s calzone was ginormous! I tried to finish my food but as I learned, 4-cheese pizza in Europe tends to include Gorgonzola, and I can’t eat too much of it. I finally had to get Mike to eat the rest because in Europe they get offended if you don’t finish your meal because they think you don’t like what they made, even if you are just stuffed! Mike believes this is because restaurants there are family owned, not chains, and the recipes they use are usually passed down from generation to generation so they put much more of themselves into their food. I tend to agree with his theory and always tried to finish my meal.

After lunch we decided to take a drive around the hills of Lake Como to stay awake. It isn’t a very touristy destination so we really got to see how people live and what life is like in Italy. Although the scenery was beautiful, we were all so tired that we headed back to the hotel and took a three-hour long nap. That was the best nap of my life!


After our nap we took a ferry over to Bellagio and explored the town. We were all still pretty full from our lunch so we decided to just eat cheese, bread, and wine for dinner, and it was perfect. We sat on the shores of Lake Como enjoying our picnic and taking in the amazing views; if only life was always so serene! We ended our day with a gelato, and I was in heaven. As much as I love the little gelato place by my house, it’s not even close to real Italian gelato. Mike now understands why I have been on a quest to find the perfect gelato for the past 10 years. We then headed back to the hotel to get some much needed rest!

Our day in Como was a great way to start our European Adventure and if you are ever in Italy, I definitely recommend stopping there! It's truly a beautiful sight to see.