Lake Iseo

 Today is July 11 and, as usual, a very nice morning overlooking Lake Como.  It is always a small joy to throw open the shudders and see the pristine lake framed by its majestic mountains.  Mezzegra is about 25K up the lake from the city of Como and on a narrow part of the lake. On a clear day you feel like you can reach out and touch the other side of the lake (if you had really, really, long arms). 

This last Monday Joan and I decided to drive to Lake Iseo located to the east of us about 75 miles.  The drive, however, is more like 125 miles taking the fastest route, not the scenic route.  We chose this route because of the slowness of the scenic route. We have been on so many back roads on this visit that we decided blowing down the Italian Autostrade was the best.  Our destination was a very, very small town just above the lake.  Cislano is famous for one thing only.  Nestled just below the town are geological formations called the "Pyramids" or "stone fairies" (See pictures)  These were formed thousands of years ago by remnants left behind by retreating ice . The surrounding area was easily worn away by the wind and the rain but small areas where very large rocks sat distributed massive pressure prohibiting the rocks and soil from eroding.  The results are these very curious, impressive pyramids.  Each is a good 100 feet tall with a rock balancing on top.  The last time I saw this phenomenon was in Northern Arizona at Lees Ferry, the spot where rafters put in on the Colorado River to float the Grand Canyon. A beautiful sight in Arizona, a magnificent sight in Italy.  A few comments about the "walk" to the pyramids.  There were signs in many languages describing the site but no mention of distance.  One would naturally draw the conclusion that it was therefore irrelevant. Wrong!  We started along the grassy path and thought "hey, this isn't too bad" but after about a half a mile we came to a rocky path going straight down hill.  We surmised we didn't have too much further to go so we carried on further and further down hill.  "Hey, we need to come back up this path!!"  We didn't have the right shoes on (Joan especially) but we kept on going expecting to see the pyramids just around the next corner.  Finally there in front of us were the pyramids with the rocks perched precariously on the top. But wait a minute.  Why is this prominent site so difficult to see?  Because good old Tony hasn't been down here in a couple of years to trim the surrounding trees and brush to give us tourists the view.  Insanity!  I carefully climbed up onto a rickety fence and took pictures trying not to fall into the abyss.  Mission accomplished but Joan said she would just check out the pictures for her view. Oh yes, now for the walk back up to the parking lot. Poor Joan with her very fashionable, but non-walking shoes.  She needed to stop every ten feet to adjust the straps on her shoes as her feet kept sliding out the back. It was funny for a while and then not so funny and then....well you get the picture.  It didn't help that we didn't bring water along for this short trip. After a tortuous  half hour we finally made it back and cursed the Italians.  But all in all it was worth it, a beautiful scene and a few good laughs at the expense of the Italians.  We did pass two very old ladies hanging onto each other trying to make their way down.  I wanted to warn them of the difficulty lying ahead but not speaking Italian we had to leave them alone on their death march. Oh well, they lived a lived a long life and we all have to go sometime. 

We also visited the very small town of Zone just above Cislano and found it charming with streets that are incredibly narrow. The large car almost met it match but I yelled at Joan to jump out and guide me through.  We made it with inches to spare. Two inches on both sides. No damage, no foul!!  I should have known better when I saw the "one way" sign, a bit of a hint when driving a car. They are rare to see but they are a major warning.  We have been on many back roads  without these signs and have met cars coming the other way necessitating one of us to back up to a widening so we could pass each other. One way signs actually mean that buildings are going to get in the way and there is no moving them.  Thanks, Joan, for helping maneuver around them with inches to spare.  No more one way roads for us. It was nice seeing Zone one inch of mortar at a time. I couldn't wait to get back on the Autostrade for the drive back, cruising at 180K per hour! Oh yes, one more piece of irony.  Just a kilometer down the road from Cislano we came to one of the hair pin turns and there before us was an uninhibited view of the pyramids.  We didn't even need to get out of the car. I did anyway and took some more pictures.  Totally missed this view on the drive up the road because I was concentrating on the turns and checking out oncoming traffic. Oh, yes, just another exciting day in our travels!!