Bellagio: no not the one in Vegas, the Real one

From Venice we drove to Bellagio, Italy, which is on Lake Como.  Lake Como is shaped like an upside down Y and Bellagio sits right between the V.

Bellagio has to be about the most picturesque place I've ever seen.  It didn't look real.  In fact, we commented that we expected the set people to step out any minute and start taking down the city.  It was amazing!  We did have quite a bit of fog but even then what a beautiful place.

We rented 2 apartments-the best place we stayed by far.  They had been re-done, had great views and were very reasonably priced.  Each had a kitchen, next time we'll plan to stay a while.  We walked along the lake front, visited some shops, tasted gelato and found hands down the best gelato in Italy.  A little family owned store and the husband made the gelato every morning.  It was the stuff of dreams.  We also had really good pizza and dinner but I get ahead of myself. 

Flavio, the owner of our apartments, mentioned in our communication that he could make dinner reservations for us at a working farm-Baita Bellvedere- just a few k outside of Bellagio.  How could we turn down and invitation like that? It was wonderful.  They made everything there on the farm.  WARNING:  Food details to follow, feel free to skip.  We started with a collection of cheese with pear ginger chutney.  A great pairing.  We were served some bread with olive oil-also made on the farm. Then we had some cured meats and salted fish from Lake Como.  I was not a fan of the fish, very strong.  We had buckwheat pasta with cream, garlic and sage, buckwheat crepes with cheese.  Both wonderful-fresh butter and cheese better be in heaven.  For the main course I had wild boar stew with polenta while Ben had herbed rabbit with polenta.  Polenta is very typical of this region of Italy and paired very well with the boar and rabbit.  Both were so hearty and satisfying- just what you want to eat on a drizzly night. Dessert was yogurt with strawberries, a berry tart, custard with burnt sugar, and roasted chestnuts with cream.  It was not pretentious or fancy but wonderfully flavorful and good.  Especially when you consider they made everything right there.  It was family owned and run, brothers were cooking in the back while their sister was the waitress.  The views were good-better if the fog had lifted but we were up on the hill overlooking the lake and Bellagio itself.  It was quiet, only 3 other couples there the entire night.  We each bought a bottle of olive oil to take home, some bought some local honey, and I bought the pear and ginger chutney.  Such a satisfying meal, fresh and locally produced at its best.

I wish we would have had more time to walk around the lake, hills and see a few other towns accessible by ferry from Bellagio but time and weather did not permit.  However, it is a must see if you are in the Lake district of Italy.  The next morning we had some time to walk around more, Ben bought a few Italian silk ties, and I got a silk scarf.  Then we were off the the ferry to cross so we could finish the drive to Zurich. 

Bellagio was a dream-I could have stayed for a long time enjoying the mountains, lake and accompanying activities.  Just another reason to go again I suppose.

The game of tetris to get a European car loaded with 6 adults and luggage for 8 days.

Lake Como

Andy's timeless capture of my intelligence.  This is the main drag in Bellagio...not bad huh?

Not sure what happened to Julienna here.

View from the Baita Bellevedere-can you imagine if it had been clear?

In front of our apartment building.

Around town

Tables in a courtyard-who does classy things like this??  We couldn't identify the flowers, they
looked familar but the Italian name didn't help at all.