How can it be that a place like this actually shuts?

Even the trees were closed!

A closed tree – Bellagio

The signs of how quiet it would be were evident when we got on the bus to our hotel. We were the only ones with suitcases.

The town we stayed in had only one restaurant open on the day we arrived, a Wednesday, and it wasn’t full for dinner!

Lake Como is truly idyllic and being able to have it largely to ourselves more than made up for the fact that pretty much everything was closed.

Our hotel

We took largely empty ferries between Tremzzo, Bellagio and Varenna. There were just 5 of us on the ferry to Bellagio, so it wasn’t surprising that the town was close to empty. It’s hard to imagine that only a couple of months ago it would have barely been possible to get a table at the lakeside restaurants or a room in Bellagio. During our visit they were pretty much all closed, a ghost town, just a chilling wind whipping down the narrow streets. We travelled onto Varenna, where there was a little more activity, including a delightful little bar, where we were able to shelter from the biting wind and have a pizza and a glass of red.

Bellagio

We decided on a day trip to Como on our third day, Friday. Unless we wanted a dawn start, Continue reading →