Italy - Day 10 (Lake Como)

Woke up this morning to overcast skies. It definitely rained last night, but we welcomed the overcast skies. Admittedly, sweating and having a limited supply of clothing do not go hand in hand. We are literally counting our pairs of clean underwear to see if we have to turn them inside out for round two...more information than you probably wanted to know. Breakfast at the hotel was quick and easy prior to heading on a hike.

We decided to take the Funicular up to the top...it was listed as one of the top things to do in Como and only cost 3 euro. The ride to the top had great views of the town. At the top, we explored the area and walked to a vantage point. Amazing! No wonder Lake Como is THE locations for stars to have villas. From there, we hike further up the mountain to the Volta Lighthouse. Really pretty with sweeping views of the southern side of the lake. We chose to hike back down...but, I don't think we were on the right path. The path clearly had not been used for quite some time and actually was quite creepy. There were a few moments when Melone and I just wanted to run the rest of the way down the trail. We made it...in spite of the lengthy descent...2500 ft to be exact. I am glad we took the Funicular up!

We picked up lunch at the local market. I wish we had markets like they do here. Everything is in bulk and they sell by the pound...cheers, meats, pastas, etc. We chose pizza by the pound, yogurt, and pop. We brought the lunch back to our hotel and our hostess sweetly asked if we needed any silverware. She brought us massive spoons for the yogurt and even came out to apologize for the weather later and ask if there was anything else that we needed. She is amazingly sweet and attentive to details!

We got cleaned up to take the bus to Bellagio. We needed to clean up because Bellagio is pretty ritzy and we would have stood out! We shockingly found the bus station and correct bus just fine! The bus ride, however, did not go well for Melone. She looked like she wanted to kill someone...perhaps the driver that kept slamming on the brakes, honking, and driving like it was the Indy 500.

We made it there and enjoyed walking around to the different shops and, of course, bought gelato. The gelato shop we picked was hilarious! The owner kept offering us small cups of wine and then he offered Melone vodka. I think they sell it just to be able to take samples themselves! Caught the fast boat back to Como. It was awesome to see the towns from the water.

We stopped for "fancy drinks" on the way home. We picked a place called, "Why Not?" because that has been the main theme of this trip! We try anything and everything! Great end to the night. One funny story just to show you how mixed up we can be at moments: I am using our currency calculator tonight to figure out how the US dollar compares to the Swiss Franc. I say to Melanie, O"k...the US dollar is one dollar and the Swiss Franc is .89." As though she needed to know that the value of a dollar was a dollar. Oh boy!