Bella Bellagio

Bellagio

To make the most of some beautiful weather and looking for a tourist destination to impress our visitor from the UK, we headed to Bellagio, the 'pearl of Lake Como'.   Bellagio is a little town that lies in the narrow point that divides Lario into two branches.  It is almost entirely surrounded by the blue water of the lake and looks out to see the snow peaked Alps in the distance. 

We boarded a fast boat from Como and enjoyed the magnificent views of the lake and small towns nestled into the mountains lakeside.  We opened up the back door of the boat to take some evidence of the beauty, to be quickly joined by 50 other passengers keen to click click, joined very quickly by the boat crew to usher us away from the forbidden stern area.  Opps, at least we got in a few shots first, and I felt like a bit of a trend setter, (it's been a long time, and who would of thought that rolled down and layered fluro socks would of been a fashion craze in grade 3?).



View from back of boat

Lakeside towns

Dock at Bellagio, snow peaked moutains in background

Jet ski riders making the most of the view



Bellagio boasts the traditional narrow streets, Neo- Classical Villas, and it has steep steps, not ideal for prams or weak parents. But with a friend in toe, she was told she needed to work for her overnight accomodation and shifts were taken in this weight training. Did you know that progressive resistance training dates back at least to Ancient Greece?  Legend has it that wrestler Milo of Croton trained by carrying a newborn calf on his back every day until it was fully grown.  No offence kids, but this is the general direction I feel myself heading in, that is if the Arthritis does not swallow me whole first; if only my cows would produce milk instead of consuming it.

See... clowns are not funny!

We had a stroll around Bellagio, took in a nice lunch and the unhurried atmosphere that the town provided.  True to form, we did things in the wrong order by collecting the pamphlet for the walking tour around Bellagio at the end of our visit.  For future reference, probably makes sense to go to information points at beginning of day.  We did not really see all that much apart from excited children in the streets dressed in costume and throwing confetti at each other; it was the start of the week long celebration of Carnevale.  I was glad to see that the children enjoyed these festivities and were not spooked at all by the freaky looking clown that accompanied them, (I am pretty sure I watched the movie It by Stephen King at an age that was far too impressionable).  Clowns are not funny people.



Carnavale celebrations in Como



We enjoyed a lovely boat ride back to Como and made good use of the rest of our day by doing some window shopping, consuming some gelati, avoiding confetti in the face by the little ones, and admiring some beautiful frescos in some churches.  Como and the surrounds really is beautiful, and I am glad that it still has so much for us to explore.



Lake Como



IF Interesting Fact

Bellagio is a luxury, award-winning hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip that was inspired by the Lake Como resort of Bellagio in Italy.  Bellagio is famed for its elegance, in both Italy and Las Vegas.  One of its most notable features is an 8-acre (3.2 ha) lake between the building and the Strip, which houses the Fountains of Bellagio, a large dancing water fountain synchronized to music.