Vernazza, Verona, Varenna

We'll. It is hard to use just a limited amount of words, or even any words to describe Lake Como. I have found my happy place and am never returning to America. I can live forever here without mcdonalds, cheeseburgers, English, my cell phone, underwear, bud light (okay, maybe Bud Light is stretching it a bit....). It is BEAUTIFUL! But I am sorry to report that I will not be posting any photos this evening because I left my camera connector cord in Florence. Shame for you all, but I promise to put them up ASAP tomorrow night when i unfortunately will be leaving here :(

Yesterday's train ride was easy. Departing Florence at 6pm, we arrived in Milan at 7:30. Perused Sephora like the girls that we are until our 8:05 departure to Varenna. After a slower paced hour long train ride full of grungy men, we made it to the smallest town. Seriously. Everything is empty by 8:00.... As we lugged our weekend bags down to the bay where our cozy hotel awaited us, a car drove past us and abruptly came to a stop with a young woman hopping out in a flurry. She yelled my name and immediately my reaction was panic. Then it was not only a familiar face, but one of my sorority sisters' who was ironically staying in the same hotel as us. We ate dinner at our hotel, Hotel Olivedo and were off to bed.

Today we hiked to Castello di Vezio where a falconer puts on a show with birds of prey but we skipped the show to see the gardens and climb the watch tower. We missed the main road so ended up hiking about an hour extra through the woods - similar to NC - in the drizzling rain. All was beautiful and there were free toilettes.... Hot commodity over here. We then ventured to Villa Mon..something to see the gardens and then had lunch in the center of Varenna before returning to the hotel for a quick rest and shower.

We embarked on the 10-minute ferry ride to Bellagio across the lake. We ate at Enoteca Cava Turricolo and had the BEST meal to date. Three courses, three different wines and great company of a couple from America. He teaches at Penn state and teaches a six week abroad program for supply chain classes. We had proscuitto with mozzarella, pesto lasagna, and assorted cheeses. To drink we had a sparkling white, Pinot grigio, and a red. It was amazing... Pictures to come.

Tomorrow we venture back to Bellagio to hunt down George Clooney to make him my own.... And to check out the shops! Post when I get home. Xoxoxoxo ciao