Lago Maggiore e Lago di Como

This weekend I visited both Lake Maggiore and Lake Como (for the second time). During my visits I had a few “mishaps” but really they just made me realize how lucky I am to have the experiences I have had. I decided to turn these all into what the Robbins’ family calls bummers and braggers. Each day at dinner everyone must say one thing that was not so good about the day and one that was great. As you continue reading this will make a little more sense.Saturday morning I headed out to the train station to catch my first train to Arona which is a city at the southern end of Lake Maggiore. While at the train station I tried to purchase a ticket I would need for the evening but the machine would not let me. I didn’t think too much of it as I was originating my journey in Switzerland so I thought maybe you can’t buy tickets from the machine for a trip starting in another country. The train ride to Arona was uneventful and the train station was right near the shore. A beautiful view of the lake greeted me upon my exit of the station (really it didn’t say anything to me…it was more of a silent understanding of its beauty). I easily found the port and purchased my ticket to Locarno which is a Swiss town on the north end of the lake. The boat ride was about four and a half hours with amazing views of the mountains. About three hours into the trip I realized I forgot my sunscreen. I realized this as my skin began to feel a bit crisp. I have been so good about bringing it I couldn’t believe I forgot it! Oh well, nothing I could do. I didn’t want to miss the views so I only went inside for about twenty minutes at the end of the trip. This was the first bummer/bragger (bb). It was a bummer that my skin was radiating enough heat to fry an egg but it was a bragger that I was able to have a great boat trip on a beautiful lake that straddles two countries.

Swans at the port in Arona

Arona from the boat

Arona castle

Isola Bella, Lake Maggiore

Isola Superiore, Lake Maggiore

Lake Maggiore

Sailboat race on Lake Maggiore

Lake Maggiore

Lake Maggiore

Do you find anything odd about this picture?

Arriving in Switzerland I remembered they are not on the euro so I had to go to the bancomat and get out some Swiss Francs. BB number two…bummer I had to get another currency…bragger that I was lucky enough to travel to another country to NEED another currency! I walked around the streets and found a chocolate shop and purchased a very thin piece of milk chocolate with cornflakes in it. Very very good. My next stop was the train station to purchase my ticket to Como. I wanted to spend a bit of time in Locarno so I planned to take the second train out (the ticket I couldn’t purchase in the morning). Now online the ticket for the train before and after the one I wanted was priced at seven euro. The ticket I wanted was not priced…it cost 38 Swiss Francs which is about 25 euro. I have no idea what happened but that brings me to bb number three. Bummer I had to pay four times as much for a train ticket…bragger that I got to tour the town of Locarno. As I left the train station I headed straight for a pharmacy as even though I was wearing long sleeves (yes it was 85 degrees) my arms were on fire. Even though the official language of the town is Italian and most people also speak German and English I didn’t have to say anything when I walked into the pharmacy. I think the redness of my skin gave away my need! I was a bit shocked at the price…35 swiss francs for sunscreen. I had no choice…any more exposure with out protection was going to cause some serious skin damage! BB number four…bummer I had to pay so much for sunscreen because I’m forgetful and bragger I am now able to enjoy the rest of the weekend without fear of looking too much like a lobster. I relaxed in the shade of a little piazza while I wrote postcards and watched people enjoying a beautiful day in the park. I made my way to the train station for the three train trip to Como. The trip was pretty easy as most of the stations were small so it wasn’t hard to find which platform I needed to be on (oddly enough in all of my train journeys I have never been assigned to platform 9 ¾). The boat trip from Como to Menaggio was short as I was able to take a hydrofoil.

Chocolate with cornflakes

Crane machine at the Locarno train station bar

Locarno square where Tracy Chapman and Gloria Estefan are playing this summer

The did NOT have cupcakes here...false advertising

Menaggio is a really nice little town just in the middle on the west side of Lake Como. I walked through the town and found a great little place on a typically small Italian street for dinner. After dinner I walked along the lake heading south to my hotel about a mile away in the next town over. As I was walking I saw a train (similar to the one at the Lincoln Park Zoo) coming. I thought wow that would be fun…it turns out I could have taken it! This train runs through a few of the towns along the lake up to Menaggio where there is a port.

Sunset in Menaggio

Shuttle train

I arrived at my hotel and found my room had a balcony overlooking the lake. I decided to set my alarm so I could enjoy the sunrise out on the balcony. The view was beautiful and perfectly complemented by the plums I purchased at the market in Como the previous evening!

Sunrise from my balcony

I took the boat over to Bellagio to spend some more time exploring the city as the first time I was only able to spend an hour there. I walked up and down the streets and found a great little café to take a coffee and a chocolate brioche. Later, I was able to sit by the lake and enjoy a glass of wine and some olives (all for 3.50 euro).

Streets of Bellagio

The find of the day was a leather store. I was able to pick the color belt I wanted and the buckle all for amazing low prices! The people were so nice too, especially when I returned for the second time to buy gifts and only had sizes in inches. Everything is handmade in their factory located right in Bellagio. If you ever happen to be in Bellagio you must stop by this store. You can also check out their website...I wonder if they will ship to the US!

http://www.quellidellapelle.com/ita/collezione.htm

The second journey to the store took a little longer than expected and I missed the boat I planned to take. BB number five…bummer I missed the boat and the next one didn’t arrive for one and a half hours and I had finished my book earlier but bragger I got relax along the shore of Lake Como (in the shade of course). During this relaxing time I began to wonder how much water does a bird need to drink a day. Does a duck need to drink more than a sparrow? What happens when a bird doesn’t live near a water source? If anyone knows the answers I would be happy to hear them.

My belt purchases

I took the boat to the Lecco side of southern Como but unfortunately didn’t have any time to explore as I had to catch a train to Milan and then to Torino.

Boat ride to Lecco

I arrived in Milan at 2040 to find the 2115 train I wanted to take to Torino was cancelled. No problem there was a 2215. There was also a 2150 but that train was an express train and cost three times the amount of my current ticket in my hand. I thought there was no need to upgrade to get in an hour earlier. Now both Friday and Saturday morning I watched the news and they seemed to be mentioning some sort of strike on the railway from 2100 Saturday to 2100 Sunday. I had already taken one train in Italy during that time and sure it was 15 minutes delayed but I didn’t think anything of it. Although the strike was technically over the effects were still being felt. My train was on the board but with no track or no delay time…and the time of departure had already passed. It turns out, due to the strike, we had to wait for the train that arrived at 2248 (now 25 minutes delayed) to arrive in order to take the trip home which meant that the 2215 train left at 2330 and arrived in Torino at 0110. I say we as I began to make friends sitting in the train station while waiting. I had a very nice conversation with Amarc, a Turkish man who has lived in Torino for eight years working as an industrial engineer at Fiat and Marco, an Italian man who I was not able to converse with as much due to the fact I still can’t speak fluent Italian. BB number six…bummer I didn’t take the express train and got in at one in the morning but bragger this transportation strike didn’t net me in a van with a 200 pound Peruvian woman on my lap for two hours while dodging rocks and broken glass in the road! The perfect ending to the day was when I walked out of the station the tram I needed was right there!

What do you find strange about this?