To Lake Como, Italy

Good night in quiet dorm.  Up at 6.30 for a shower.  Cereal, cherries, toast and coffee before checkout.  I see Busabout logo on teeshirt of rep outside which is a welcome sight so all good! After a warm introduction by Ronata on board a big comfortable and modern coach, we are leaving Nice behind and heading into the mountains. Daviday is our Italian driver. My only concern at this point is that I wish I’d brought my fleece for St Moritz. According to my iPhone app it has now dropped to minus 2 there with snow! First pit stop 9.30 brioche Nuttello and a capuchino. Will wait a bit for my first Italian espresso! I had just got comfortable with French language and now completely thrown having to communicate in Italian! The scenery so far has been beautiful along the French Riviera – through tunnels, over viaducts, to negotiate the very hilly terrain. As we passed over Monaco, one of my fellow travellers told me that to live in Monaco it costs a million euros just to apply! Even Michael Jackson was rejected!

There is a bit of drizzle in the air now as we get back on the bus ad head inland. We’re offered a movie for the next hour and a half til lunch stop. Think I will have a snooze…..

We seem to be heading for Milan and the countryside has become fairly flat with purple mountains in the distance.  Just crossed the River Poe, apparently the largest and longest in Italy. Our Italian driver has just broken into song!  We are passing through the Lombardy – tobacco and prosecco area… very flat.  Lunch in a large motorway cafe was good. Delicious Cappiccio pizza with artichokes, olives and ham… a huge slice so have kept some in the box for this evening with the rest of my cherries.

The city of Como is much bigger than I imagined… and the Lake is 400 metres deep, created in the ice age. There is a beautiful Cathedral,  I wonder if I’ll have time to see that. Yes, we left our bags at Como Hostel, to do some exploring before getting our C10 bus to Menaggio.  Dominique, from Melbourne, had booked into the same hostel so we hung out together for the afternoon. First we had a look at the huge cathedral, very elaborate in true Italian stle.  Then wandered down to the lakeside in the warm sunshine.  Of course we treated ourselves to a gelato – bellissimo I said as I tasted it but was corrected… bonissimo!  The scenery here really is awesome.  I have been worrying so much about the zero temperatures in St Moritiz, the next leg of my journey, that I decided to search around Como for a fleece of sorts.  At last I found a zip up jacket that I think will fit the bill so got it off my mind! When Dominique and I finally caught the bus to Menaggio, an utterly sceneic journey round Lake Como.  It was a little walk up a hill but the views from our dorms were amazing across the Lake.  A glass of wine is definitely called for at this stage.  I then asked the owner about getting up to St Moritz.  His help went far beyond the call of duty…. these Italians are amazingly helpful. A glass of good Italian red to round off the day…. followed by another. There is a barbecue going on here tonight but I am just too tired to eat, will finish off my pizza from lunchtime and have an early night.