Italy - Day 11 ( Lake Como)

Woke up feeling rested this morning. We left today as unplanned. We intentionally wanted to see where the day would take us. We started with breakfast st the hotel. Our very sweet butler even remembered that only one of us wanted a cappuccino.

We ventured out to explore Como and ended up on the Greenway walk. This path wraps around Como along the lake front. So many amazing views of this area can be had here. We strolled leisurely until we reached the end at an old (1600's) villa. I can't believe people actually lived/live in these homes.

On our way back, we thought it would be fun to rent some bikes. Because, why not! So we put our money into the machine, collected he printed ticket, and proceeded to be perplexed by the stand next to the bikes! Where does the ticket go? Well...we were perplexed because we in fact bought a ticket for a parking spot...for the car that we didn't have. We soon discovered that you have to pay for them in town and then rent at one of the various locations. Super!

We kept strolling, laughing at our lack of attention to detail, and came upon paddle boats for rent. We had wanted to get out on the water, but we were picturing something more smooth like a kayak. We made due with the less attractive option. We paid 10 euro for 30 minutes and paddled out into the bay. We made an overly ambitious decision to paddle to a fountain that was quite far. We seriously had to hustle on our way back... I was sweating, my legs were burning, and I have a bruise on my spine from the seat... all to save the additional 6 euro we would have been charged if we had gone over time. We breathlessly rolled in with about 10 seconds to spare. A penny saved is a penny earned!

We ate at a little bistro nearby. The man and woman that owned the restaurant were so sweet. She was trying to figure out how we wanted our water... we kept thinking she was asking if we wanted it in a glass, but she was asking if we water with gas (carbonated water). Melanie got water with gas, I got water in a glass. The gentleman was adorable, sitting in his chair at the store front saying, "Ciao, ciao" to everyone. we scarfed our lunch down... we didn't know how hungry we were.

We decided to go check out the shopping. Saw a few more cool sights, but unfortunately, most of the shops were closed for the lunch hour. We took advantage of the quiet and went to the hotel to clean up and take naps.

When we woke up, we headed to the same wine bar as last night, "Why Not." I ordered my favorite, the Dream Colada. We tried out the shopping again, this time with success. We bought some Italian candy and strawberries and peaches from the fruit market. Again, love the markets here! Everything is real food, sold in bulk, no preservatives. That alone makes me want to move here!

Then it was back to "Why Not" and another Dream Colada. Chatted over dinner and because we were trying to spend all of our euro, we barely scraped together enough to pay for dinner. Melanie = .33 euro & Julie = o euro. Uff da! Packed our bags and we are ready for Switzerland tomorrow!