In transito da Milano a Villa Camilla, Santa Maria, San Siro, Largo Como, Italia
Today we travel to Largo Como to start the Christmas Holidays with the family. Damilia is coming in from Sicily where she has been staying with Maria and Carmen. Pietro, Serra, George and Luisa will drive up from Torino, and seven of us will take a Mercedes Sprinter 8 to Villa Camilla. Harry V arrives at Linate Airport about 11 and Damilia arrives about an hour later. The driver will meet them at the airport, drive to IV at the Sheraton and come over to pick us up at the Excelsior Hotel Gallia. Then it is about a two hour trip to Santa Maria and Villa Camilla.
It is difficult to describe where on Largo Como Santa Maria is. Largo Como is kind-of an upside down Y. At the bottom end, or feet, is Como to the west and Lecco to the right. It is at Bellagio that the two legs join and the lake becomes one. That point, at least on the eastern shore, is what most American and Asian tourists think of. It is dominated by Varenna. Varenna is probably the easiest point to get to on the lake. It is a quick direct train ride from Milano Centrale which takes about an hour.
The northern end of the lake is dominated by Colico on the east side, Gera Lario at the top of the lake, and Domaso and Dongo on the western shore. This area is better known to the Germans as the holiday place and is dominated by campsites. The western shore is more difficult to get to. There is no train beyond Como on the western leg. There is one two lane road running up and down the western shore. Even in the off season this is one busy road. The other way to get to the western shore is to take a ferry from the eastern shore.
Santa Maria is about half way up the lake from where the two “legs” meet at Bellagio. Compared to the eastern shore it is north of Varenna. It is on the western shore opposite somewhere between Bellano and Dervio on the eastern shore. The nearest ferry stop on the eastern shore is Menaggio. Menaggio is a “high end” tourist destination. Therefore getting here really means driving. You could probably take the train to Varenna, then the ferry to Menaggio and either rent a car in Menaggio or simply take the taxi from Menaggio to Villa Carmella.
Knowing the schedule, we asked the hotel for a 1 pm check out. My internal alarm clock went off just after it had gone 5. The nice bathtub was calling my name and a nice warm soak sounded like a good way to quietly spend the morning. I took a good soak, shaved, washed my hair and just chilled out. Before the wrinkles got too bad I got out and got dressed. I sat quietly at the desk in the room and wrote a little in the blog.
Mary got up and going just before it went 7. At 7:30 I texted Grace to see if her and Oliver were still coming over for breakfast at 8. She responded they were running a little late. I told them no hurry that we were still pulling things together. That is the truth, I was pulling together the suitcases and getting them ready to be picked up by the bellman. Mary was getting herself together and working a little on her suitcases.
It had just gone 8 when Grace said her and Oliver were on there way over in an Uber. Mary and met them in the lobby at 8:20 and we headed to Gallia Restaurant where the breakfast buffet is served. This is a really nice buffet. They literally have anything you want. It is spread out over three rooms. Meats, cheeses, a variety our breads, fresh fruits, a fresh juice station where you can select your own combination of fruits and vegetables to run through the juicer, an omelet station, and on and on. It is needless to say but it was a nice breakfast.
After breakfast we got our coats and headed out to look for Grace’s and Oliver’s shoes. There was a €600 pair of shoes Grace liked. There was a €400 pair that Oliver liked. We took the Metro to the Duomo to meet VI who was interested in buying some salami and cheese from the pop up shops which outline the Duomo at Christmas time. He was concerned he couldn’t buy what he wanted in English. So we walked the shops looking and the goods, interpreting the signs and eventually making a few purchases.
Then we headed northwest down Corso Vittorio Emanuele II towards the San Babila metro station. Apparently IV had seen a Valentino show shop near the metro station on his walk earlier that day. Mary and I were really amazed at how much the shopping area around the Duomo had expanded. We walked down Corso Venezia and found the Valentino by Mario Valentino shoe store. When we arrived it hadn’t quite done 10 yet and the store wasn’t open or even looking like it would be open any time soon.
Grace did a quick search on her phone and discovered they opened at 10. Right as the near by bell tower was ringing out 10, two young women came and opened the shop. Grace, with her usually efficiency, looked over the selection and made a choice to try on. There were two pair of white tennis shoes with different color accents. One was a neutral tan, and the other was a dark rose similar to the leggings she was wearing. While the dark rose looked outstanding with this pair of leggings it might not go with everything, so Grace opted for the more neutral look. Upon inquiring about the price, it was found that they were more reasonable than the €600 pair we were going to look at. In fact, the shoes were only €200. Needless to say, again, it was less expensive to buy two pair at €200 each than one pair at €600. So yes, you guessed it, she got both pair.
The store Oliver wanted to visit was on Via Alessandro Manzoni near the Montenapolene Metro station. The route to get there took us through the Quadrilatero dalla Moda. This is THE high fashion, high end shopping district in Milano. The shop was supposed to open at 10:45 and we were early, so we ducked into a small bar and had espresso and cappuccino while we waited.
They were a little late in opening the shop, but by 11 we were already on our way back to the hotel. Oh, what were we looking at? This was the Limited Edition Nike Low Dunk in LCUA colors. There is a little elation when someone picks out sneakers that cost €400, but there is some relief that they weren’t the €3,999 pair. However we saved money by taking the Metro back to the hotel rather than taxi or Uber.
Back at the hotel we received a text from IV that Damilia’s plane from Sicily was running late. So, I decided to go down to the cigar lounge and have a cigar while we waited. Back in the room at 12:45 calling down to the front desk to send someone to pick up the luggage. The bellman took the luggage and we went downstairs and checkout. A few minutes later and the Sprinter showed up. The luggage was loaded, and we were off to Villa Camilla and Largo Como.
A little over two hours later we arrive at Villa Camilla. We were the first to arrive. We were greeted by the staff and everyone took off to look the place over. Pool for swimming, billiards table, tennis table, hockey football table, big front lawn, lots of lovely rooms for entertaining. After a little while Pietro and Serra showed up. The boys played football on the lawn, Serra organized things, Pietro talked with the staff and I took a short walk around the grounds.
The bedrooms were assigned, the luggage delivered, and the aperitif served. I went out to the smoking area and had a cigar. Then we sat down to a lovely dinner of lasagna, salad, bread and a few other dishes. We sat around admiring Luisa, talked and planned for the next few days. Then it was off to bed.
Buonanotte. Ciao Enrico
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