The vacation apartment we rented at Lake Como (58.50 Euro per night) was on the hillside above the small village of Santa Maria Rezzonico. The hillside homes around the lake are a mix of very old and new. The new buildings often have connecting walls to very old structures.
Early October was a good time to visit Lake Como as the summer crowds had dwindled. Otherwise the narrow road along the lake and the very limited parking would make exploration very difficult.
Early October was a good time to visit Lake Como as the summer crowds had dwindled. Otherwise the narrow road along the lake and the very limited parking would make exploration very difficult.
Some views from the vacation apartment
above Rezzonico.
Looking out through the gate from the court
by the vacation apartment entry
The apartment itself was modern but it was
part of an old building - possibly an addition
or a portion completely rebuilt.
Some views next to the apartment entry.
The view to the right as you faced the entry.
The yellow colored window on the left was
in the apartment bedroom.
Note the stone roof on the connecting building.
This doorway was below the bedroom window.
Whatever it led to was below our bedroom.
This was around the corner to the left of the entry.
Looking left from the entry.
The steps led up to our hosts home.
Looking into hall from the entry door.
All tile floors and modern fixtures.
Bedroom
Kitchen
Dining area (opposite side of kitchen)
Doors from the dining area to the balcony.
Coffee on the balcony.
View from the balcony at dawn.
Some views in the village below the apartment.
Castle of Rezzonico
(privately owned)
Steps through the village.
The table at the top of the steps was
beside a restaurant. A special event was in
progress (possibly a wedding reception
or an anniversary).
A note for history buffs. In April of 1945 as WWII came to a close, the Allied forces were liberating Italy from the south. Bernito Mussolini, the facist dictator of Italy who had become an ally of Hitler, tried to escape from Milan in northern Italy into Switzerland with a German motorcade that passed along the western shore of Lake Como. Mussolini was captured by Italian communists in Dongo, a village 3.6 miles north of Rezzonico. After being held overnight in a farmhouse, he was taken to Azzano, a village 7.2 miles south of Rezzonica and executed (there is a marker at the spot where the execution took place that we drove to). His body was then taken to Milan and dumped in a city plaza. The rest of the story is quite gruesome and can be found on the internet by Googling his name - but fair warning - the pictures are not pretty - so don't go there unless you are prepared for some gruesome images. It was only a few days after Mussolini was executed that Hitler ended his life in Berlin. I was 8 months old when these events took place.
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The skies finally cleared before we left Lake Como to drive to a village near Freiburg Germany. Driving 230 miles in Nebraska on the interstate takes a little over 3 hours. But in Europe, you can only average 40 mph. The winding narrow roads that pass through villages and the occasional delays on the 4 lane roads slow the pace (we drove for 30 minute at a walking pace as we approached the Gotthard tunnel where traffic is metered through the tunnel). The good news is for the midwestern tourist, there is nice scenery to view along the way.
Views at a church we stumbled on by Lake Lugano
(the city of Lugano in Switzerland is 30 miles west of Lake Como)
The church interior.
A view at the harbor in Lugano
where we ate a picnic lunch.
