On day two of week ten we left high security Camping Bella Italia at 10am. We handed over our paperwork, wrist tags, personal passes and proved that we had paid the bill the previous day. It was harder than leaving France! We did a little detour via Sirmione for a quick peek and then joined the autostrada at Desenzano del Garda.
We zoomed past Brescia and Bergamo before exiting the motorway and heading north. Before reaching Lecco, we passed through Bondi….! But it was so tiny that if you had blinked, you would have missed it. From Lecco, the road along the side of Lago di Lecco was very narrow and twisting, the only wide sections being inside three long dark tunnels. Yes, more tunnels! Before Bellagio we turned up a steep road and found Clarke Camping (English owners) on the top of a hill. There’s only a few other campers here and they’ve already grabbed all the shady areas under trees in the top field. So we have the whole of the lower field all to ourselves, and we have the most stunning views up Lake Como and across to the mountains in the west, the north, the east and the hills behind us in the south. All we can hear are the birds singing, bees buzzing and the distant peel of church bells. It’s exactly the place we needed to find for a couple of days of peace and quiet. This is bella Italia.
What light through yonder window breaks? A very hazy light. A mist hung over the lake, when we looked out of Eileen’s windows the next morning and the tops of the mountains didn’t even show us their outlines. If we hadn’t seen the mountains the day before, we wouldn’t have believed they were there. But it was still so beautiful. We got lots of chores done in the morning; all the time relishing the tranquillity of the place we were in, and then just before 1pm we set off on foot downhill. And we kept going downhill and I began to dread the walk back uphill later….. Finally, we found ourselves down at lake level in the village of Pescallo and as it was nearing 2pm and worried that lunch would not be served much longer, we went in to the only eatery we could find, the Ristorante di Pergola. It turned out to be a good decision. The tables were set right on the edge of the lake and we both ordered fish because it seemed appropriate that close to the water.
Suitably sated, we set off through the village and up an enormous staircase of cobbles to a ridge and then down an enormous staircase in to the village of Bellagio. The streets were all very narrow and cobbled, though some small cars were somehow still managing to weave their way through.
Down on the waterfront, with gelatos in hand (tiramisu for Rodney and Toblerone for me; we’re trying not to repeat flavours unless absolutely necessary), we watched the pleasure boats and ferries criss-crossing Lake Como and Lake Lecco.
From Bellagio, we ambled right along the edge of Lake Como, past the Lido and the beautiful gardens of Villa Melzi to the silent village of Loppia. We had hoped to get a cold drink here before our climb back uphill, but there was only one café and it was well and truly shut. So we headed slowly up through the villages of Taronico and Suira, both of which had no cafes and arrived back, very thirsty, at the campsite just before 6pm. We both needed showers as it had been a very still, hot and sticky day and the haze unfortunately never fully lifted. Then we sat outside to finally enjoy a cold drink, or three, and eat hot goats cheese on slices of toasted baguette, whilst enjoying the view until dusk.
