We had decided that we would go and see 'the lakes'.
There are several lakes north of Milan, that come down from the Alps. They are mostly long narrow lakes filling old glacial valleys.
After reading the Lonely Planet book, and looking at the map, we developed a general plan of going up towards the lakes, and then deciding what looked best when we got there. We sort of felt we'd probably avoid Como, cos that is where everyone goes, and would probably be packed with tourists.
So, we set off up the Milan ring-road motorway, and, after one of our customary failures to find the right turn-off (which involved having to go through a toll gate, and then follow our nose through some streets) we eventually got onto the S337. This is the 'back' road to Como.
Although there is a motorway to Como, we had decided that we would not take the motorway. As the boys had been saying, Italy had, up until then, been all motorways and Supermarkets. So, we were going to take the country road and see a bit of rural Italy.
Initially, the S337 was just a motorway by another name, but it did eventually settle down into a rural road, going through small towns and villages - with a set of stop lights at each location. About 40 minutes had us to the edge of Como.
At that point we realised it might be quite complicated to work out how to get to somewhere else, so we decided that we might as well give Como a go.
Finding the centre of Como was a bit of a mission in itself. Despite following signs saying "Centro" we found that we spent quite while working our way around the edges, and not really certain where the lake was. Eventually we caught sight of the lake, and headed for it. Soon enough we were at the city wall. The medieval wall is still substantially intact, and marks the edge of the historic town centre.
The wall does mark a very noticeable demarcation between modern and historic. Within the walls it is all narrow cobbled streets, well-restored historic buildings, souvenir shops and cafes - everything you expect of a popular historic tourist destination.
Fortunately, the place was not too crowded. The visitors centre was open, so we armed ourselves with a couple of really good maps, and settled in to examine them over lunch at the 'Cafe Hemmingway'.
The 'things to do' in Como are either boat trips on the lake, or going up to the top of the steep hills that surround the lake in order to take in the views. We chose the latter. There is a very steep funicular that goes from the lake-front up to the hill-top town Brunate. As we worked our way over to the bottom terminus of the cable car, we met a lot of soccer fans, in the Como blue & white, coming the other way.
Walking along the lake-front, it is evident why this place has been a popular visiting-spot for a long time; the view up the lake is great. Its all wooded hills and cream-walled, orange-roofed villages.
The cable-car worked its way slowly but smoothly up the hill. The slope must have been at least 45 degrees the whole way, and the trip took a good 10 minutes, so we went up quite a long way. The views from the top were in all directions - more wooded hills and orange roofs.
The football fans who we had encountered on our walk to the cable car terminus were now all installed in the stadium, way down below us, right on the lake-front. They were in full voice, and the roar was clearly audible up where we were.
Having taken in the panorama, it was not clear what else to do in Brunate, so we started wandering up a steep cobbled street. This led to a sort of walking track-cum-access road, so we kept on walking up that.
A stone picnic table beside the track made a suitable afternoon snack spot - the boys' energy was in need of replenishment. We set off at a better pace after the snack - although Stephen had got into the mode of suggesting loudly that all this uphill walking was not a good idea, and that he would much prefer to just stop.
The track continued on up the hill, past stone walls, overhung by trees, occasionally crossing the road. We continued to follow it, with no real idea where it was going, but with a feeling that it might lead to something. After 30 minutes or so, much to Stephen's relief, we come out to a little village - bar, church, post-office etc. All with steep Swiss-style roofs.
The track turned into a set of wide stone stairs, with lots of people walking up and down them. We decided that these stairs must lead to something, so we set off up them to see what was there.
Well, fortunately, the effort was worth it. The steps lead to a tower that had been built as a monument to Alessandro Volta - inventor of the battery, and famous son of Brunate (and forever immortalised by his name being given to the unit of electrical energy). The small concrete area around the bottom of the tower provided a wonderful lookout. The top of the tower (exactly 157 steps up an internal spiral staircase) provided an even better lookout. The village just below us looked chocolate-box perfect, with its Swiss-style building nestled in among the trees. A long stretch of the lake was visible as it wound up the valley towards the Alps.
Walking down the hill again was obviously a lot easier than going up. On the way down, we noticed a small stone tower standing up over the stone wall above our track. Maybe it was part of an old castle; maybe it was just a folly. But it did look rather good.
Back at the bottom of the cable car we met all the football fans coming back from the game. It was quite evident that Como had won. Banners were being waved, streams of little scooters were zooming through the streets, with their tinny little horns held permanently on; people and flags were hanging out the windows of cars (whose horns were also being well exercised).
It was exactly as you imagine Italians to behave after a soccer victory. (We found out later that Como had not just won that day's game, they had won the second division competition).
The drive back was rather slow - a lot of traffic on the S337, and long queues at the traffic lights at each little town. We were about to give up and take the motorway when the traffic eventually thinned, and we got back to Milan at a good clip.
We went to Como several times after that. Stephen tried to drown me in the lake!
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