Lago di Como
In the second exciting instalment of Mum and Lizzie come to Genova, our story takes us to Largo di Como in search of George and his villa.
In a brief interlude, the big news of the early part of last week was that our part time cat/food processor, also known as the cat known as Fatty, developed a nasty infection of the eye. This then developed into an equally large and nasty infection on her head.
Upon discovery, Vilija was horrified and locked her in the house whilst she ran up the street to the local vets. There the vet kindly made an appointment straight away to see her. Returning to our house she collected up the cat and walked back to the vet.
Well, Fatty isn’t extremely happy with being held for a long duration. She made this known by VERY loudly screaming and wriggling as Vilija walked up to the vets. The screaming was so loud that it enticed most of the shop keeps out of their shops to see what was going on. It sounded as if a little girl was screaming for attention. To make things worse, a lovely older gentlemen stopped Vilija to ask her name, the name of the cat, and then proceeded to inquire after her family history. In any other situation this would have been adorable, but with a screaming banshee in your arms it makes the situation slightly uncomfortable.
The conclusion of the story is that Fatty was given a shot of anti-biotics and a prescription for further treatment and is now on her way to full health. The alien that was trying to escape through her head has reduced in size, and her eye (Vilija: despite certain retinal damage) is looking normal again.
Following this excitement, as mentioned previously, we headed to the mountains for a period of rest. We have been meaning to venture into the mountains and the lakes at their foot hills for some time. Mum & Lizzie’s visit proved the motivator that we needed. We hired a car and left early on Saturday morning. The drive took us north out of Genova, around the Milano ring road and then further north to the town of Como. (Vilija: can I just say big ups to Jimbo for navigating the 15-lane Milan exit!!!!)
At Como, we left the car and walked around the old part of the town. In typical fashion, we inconveniently arrived around 1pm which saw most of the shops either closed or in the process of closing till after lunch. Given that, we went to source some lunch. As any good committee should, we discussed, reviewed and after lengthy deliberation we choose a small pizza restaurant for lunch.
Following lunch, we jumped back in the car off to Bellagio, a town on the lake at the point where the western and eastern arms of the lake spilt. The drive along the lake was something to behold. It was a twisty, narrow (at some points only one lane) road the followed the lake northwards. The trip was punctuated by gasps from mum’s direction. I felt like an absolute beginner compared to the locals who took the blind curves and other traffic in their stride.
Regardless, we arrived safely to a gorgeous little (touristy) town with gorgeous views over to the mountains towering over the lake on the other side. Earlier in the week we had found accommodation there in a self-contained unit and were fortunate to stumble upon it whilst exploring the town. Well, we had done extremely well, Residence La Limonera was located in the heart of Bellagio and our apartment was perfect for the 4 of us. The other advantage was that it only cost €93 for the night. BARGIN!!! (Whats that sound??? That’s right, it’s the sound of James trying to reach his pockets with his freakishly short arms!!)
We enjoyed a quite aperitivo that evening at a small bar located on the water front and that saw the end of the first day. (Vilija: What is beautiful about Lake Como is that it is a glacial lake, so that there are sharp mountains that surround the lake in its entirety making the views spectacular).
After a quite morning, we took the ferry across the lake to explore the western side. We briefly stopped at Menaggio and contemplated popping across to Switzerland for a visit. This idea was quashed when we realised that we had 1 out of 4 passports.
A visit to the stunning Villa Carlotta finished the afternoon. Villa Carlotta is a 17th century villa surrounded by magnificent gardens in perfect condition. The gardens are renowned for their rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias but given that its now autumn these were not blooming.
We jumped on the autostrada back to Genova and successfully traversed the fog/haze that surrounded Milano and then the windy road into Genova.
Mum and Lizzie had dinner at our place on Monday night and then headed off to Milano and then the UK the next morning. It was great having them here for the short time.
The other news of the week was that we found the original language cinema of Genova thanks to Vilija’s colleagues Claire and Katrina. Thursday night we went and saw Scoop, a Woody Allen film staring Hugh Jackman (Vilija: yummmmmmmmm!!!!) and Scarlett Johansson (James: droooooooooool). It was enjoyable and funny. It was great to sit down and see a movie on a bigish screen again.
Till next time…
