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Beautiful Bellagio and Bellano

Posted by guest blogger Kelli Wilzoch

Wednesday morning the five of us drove into Varenna to catch a ferry ride to Menaggio. After a quick walk around the small town of Menaggio we boarded the ferry over to Bellagio. Bellagio is probably the most beautiful place I have ever been to. Bellagio sits along Lake Como with spectacular views of the landscape mountains and hillsides. There is also breathtaking views of the Alps. We went into a church which was built in the early 1500's. Inside of the church was amazing and there was no "dress code." After lunch and some shopping we headed back to Bellano. Gene took us to the local grocery store to buy a few things, however the store was closed, and would reopen at 3:30pm. I found out that many stores closes from noon until 3:30pm so the people can eat lunch and take a nap. This is a ritual that is very common to all the locals. (Gene and Denis also practice this custom starting around 2:00pm) We had to look in four different stores for bread. It is best to buy your bread early in the day because once the bread is sold there is no more until the next day.

Today we walked down into Bellano to shop at the local market. The streets are very narrow and we must share the road with cars and trucks. The vendors were selling produce, clothing, toys, bread and one vendor had a butcher shop right out of his trailer and the line was long to make a purchase. The butcher had some chickens on the rotisserie cooking. None of the vendors spoke any English so I had a hard time communicating with my purchase but I was able to get what I needed. As we made our way back to Villa Wally the traffic increased tremendously because it was noon and people had to get home to nap. The weather here has been gorgeous from the time we got here. Gene and Joan are so kind to let us come and stay with them and I am truly thankful for the opportunity.

What a magnificent town!