If you would like to see details about our journey, check out our itinerary and our bike route.
We had just a couple hours of cloudy dry weather in the late morning, and took advantage of it to ride back down to Varenna for fresh air and exercise. We stopped and bought deli sandwiches at the bakery, and eggs and milk and ham at the butcher shop. We went inside a couple churches, and walked around the few streets we had missed the day before.
When it started to rain, we took off back up the hill and settled in with books while the water just kept coming down.
At 19:00, we zipped up our raincoats and sloshed through puddles about a quarter mile to Ristorante Crotto di Pino, a small, family-run restaurant with a limited menu of local food. We had a good meal inside, looking out the window over the lake--which we did glimpse a few times through the clouds and sheets of water.
About twenty-five years ago, Ken and Joshua cycled from Como to Bellagio and up a mountain to get their bikes blessed. Both remembered it as fun and very bikeable. Our hope on this trip had been to cycle around the northern finger of the lake, from Varenna to Menaggio, and take the ferry back to Varenna. Even if the weather had cooperated, the traffic was too crazy to attempt that route. After all we had read about biking around Italy's lakes, we had found the reality to be frustrating, dangerous, and disappointing,
Off the bikes, we met wonderful people, ate delicious and interesting food, stayed in beautiful locations.
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| The rose window in the Church of Saint Giorgio on the main square in Varenna. |
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| Saint Giorgio Church was consecrated in 1313 and is a good example of Lombard architecture, typified by thick walls, ornamental arches, and a lack of sculpture. The inside is plain and simple, but with beautiful frescoes. |
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| A walkway along the lake connects Varenna with Esino, where the train station and ferry terminal are located. |
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| It's hard to see through the reflection in the window, but through the clouds and rain, you can make out Menaggio across the lake. We have tucked our soaking raincoats on the backs of our chairs and are waiting for dinner to emerge from the small kitchen at Crotto di Pino. |
