Italy Day 10 - 5th September 2009

Back at Lake Como in Northern Italy, for that is where I left off last time, we woke to another glorious morning and the view from my bed was one I doubt I could ever get used to. This isn't a great photo but I wanted to show how it really WAS from my bed !!

Once up and about, we all posed with each other taking photos on our long balcony which covered both rooms and as you can imagine, we didn't want to leave the place even though we had half the trip to go with plenty of places still to visit. As a few kind (mad) people have told me I should include more photos of myself on these posts, here we go.

We then went downstairs and although the hotel was small, they had put on a decent spread for breakfast. As usual Daphne photographed it and, with her permission, here it is.

Then it was back to our rooms to finish packing and set off for Venice. Of course there was still time for one last balcony view of the lake before we left and it helped when a decent sized boat came into view to break up the otherwise empty waters.

We went down to the rental car and I think we all took photos looking back up at the hotel and our rooms, which had afforded such wonderful views over the lake. I didn't want to spoil this photo by adding in a large arrow showing our rooms but if you really want to know, they were on the 2nd tier and 2 and 3 in from the right end. You can see those windows (glass sliding doors actually) are close together and led to the balcony.


We drove the few miles back south to the town of Como where we explored a bit and then went to the lake shore to get one of the many ferry boats which criss crossed the lake. We picked one that had several stopping points up and along both shores as we felt that would give us a good overall view and as it lasted an hour, it was also excellent value for money.

Daphne took this 'up close' photo of me soon after we set off.....

And not to be outdone, Stephen took one of me around the mid point of the trip.

And that's more than enough of me for one blog post. Well maybe one more at the end !

The ferry took us past a lot of beautiful private homes, public buildings and grand structures which fell into both categories. We never did find the home belonging to George Clooney, mostly because we weren't looking for it, but if he did indeed have a home on the slopes overlooking Lake Como, he should spend more time there and forget about LA. He'd be sure to get more peace and quiet there.

Stephen took a great view from the back of the boat and must've used a wide angle setting on his camera.

Back on shore in Como, we had lunch and then set off on the 200 mile drive to Venice which involved heading south towards Milan and then going due east to Venice. He didn't want to arrive in Venice until the next morning so we decided to get to about an hour from the city and then find a hotel.

The drive was pretty dull and certainly uneventful which after the tyre blowout from a few days earlier, we didn't mind at all. We stopped along the eastbound A4/E70 for a mid afternoon snack and then we stopped for the night just outside the town of Vicenza, at a Jolly Hotel.

I'm not describing the atmosphere at the hotel, simply the name on the sign outside. It was actually the NH Vicenza and very nice it was too. Modern without being soul-less.

As it had a lovely restaurant "ensuite", it saved us having to leave to find one. We settled into our rooms, freshened up after the drive, and went down for a meal. A meal so unpretentious that even with 3 photographers at the table, no record exists of it. Shame on you Daphne !

Speaking of photographic evidence, we come to the last photo of the day and another one of me ! Once back in my room, I was captured, albeit with my full knowledge, nicking the hotel toiletries. This is something I do everywhere (they were particularly good in Italian hotels) so be warned if I ever pay you a visit.

So never mind your daughters, it's your toiletries you need to lock up !

Arrivederci fino a la prossima volta as they say in parts of Yorkshire.