Still having a great time here in Lake Como even though it is still bloody hot! We decided to give Pippo a treat and take him on a ferry ride as well. We put him on the ferry to go across to Menaggio , then drove inland from Lenno , up the mountain to check out the UNESCO listed Sacro Monte di Varese. Known as “The Holy Road”.

We had a 2 km uphill “hike” on cobblestones to eventually reach the Santuario di Santa Maria del Monte. Along the way up you pass 14 small chapels! When we reached the top, surprise surprise there was a bar alongside the Church , so……… at 10.30am we decided to refresh with a beer! Why not! Greg did continue to say that it wasn’t worth the climb….except when the beers were on offer!

We drove past George Clooney’s Villa , but he didn’t seem to be home so we weren’t invited in for a drink! We did read though that the Mayor of his village was sick of people stopping outside his house , taking photos etc , so now if there are more than 3 people standing there , they all get fined 19 euros! We decided not to risk it! We decided to have a picnic lunch by ourselves on the Lake.

We had to return to Varenna for lunch to check out a few places before Jude arrived! The grilled lake fish was sensational, together with grilled vegetables and a potato gratin, washed down with a bottle of rose from Puglia! Yummo!

That day , when we returned to pick up Pippo, he had a little piece of paper on his windscreen, yes a parking fine! After a number of attempts to talk to the police about the fine, Greg finally got friendly and cosy with the local sergeant! After trying to talk his way out of paying, which they were not happy about, they advised him he had to pay the 40 euro fine , but there were 2 amounts on the notice , a lesser amount if you paid within 5 days. As Greg was paying on day 6 , the “junior officer” insisted he pay the full amount however his new friend the sergeant, said he could pay the lesser amount! Now he is Greg’s best friend and he waves to Greg in the village! Good friends to have!

Last Saturday we had a very early wake up call, 4.45am to head to Malpensa airport to pick up Judy. After coming back home and resting, showering and for Jude unpacking, we took the train to Varenna and did lunch. We had a great lunch at Osteria Quatro Pass. We all a great pasta dish of sun dried tomato ravioli with eggplant chips.

It was a very early night for all of us , so the next day we were ready to party! We decided to take Judy for a ferry ride so headed down to Bellagio first for breakfast, to try to beat the crowds. We sat with all the “beautiful people” , not out of place for us at all.

We spent the day crisscrossing the lake showing Jude some of the smaller villages. Although Mask wearing is compulsory to board the ferry , it seems people think that as soon as you get on , you can take them off! Ours only come off when there is no one else around us!

Yesterday we did a day trip to Milan. Headed off on the early train and had breakfast in Milan. The main event of the day was to visit the magnificent Milan Duomo.

The Duomo is the 5th largest Christian Church in the world and covers an entire city block .It was officially started in 1386 and finished in 1900. It is built from beautiful pink hued marble and is quite stunning. It has more statues on it than any other building in the world with over 3400 statues and 135 gargoyles. We first wandered around inside then took the lift (it was worth paying an extra 5 euros) to the roof top for the fantastic close up views of all the intricate spires. It was magical.

Although we have done quite a bit of touring since Jude has arrived , there has been quite a lot of shenanigans happening too. Also we have realised the alcohol supply is diminishing more quickly now we have one extra!

So it’s that time again, yes time for a drink, and work out our itinerary for the next few days , as the temperature is going to hit the high 30’s for the rest of the week! We think a couple of days driving to the Swiss Alps may be a tad cooler.

Ciao ciao for now

Greg and Rhonda and Jude.