Day 25: Mandello del Lario and Bellagio (Italy)

"Bonjourno" from Italy!!  That's pretty much the limit of our Italian.... so the next few weeks we might be screwed.  Our translate app's camera function has been translating written content for us - which has actually been great (Thanks Horse - great tip).

We took a leisurely drive from Chur (Switzerland) and crossed the border into Italy via Julier Pass (as suggested by the B 'n B folk), which added about 1.5 hours, but went through some absolutely gorgeous scenery.  

The guys from Top Gear would love the roads up here... I did....

Roads like this may have had something to do with the extra time ... but not much....as they were pretty cool to fang through

The lakes were simply stunning with crystal clear water, and only a handful of people there enjoying it.

Silvaplanersee lake... a pretty impressive part of Switzerland

...yep ...couldn't resist looking in it for fish...



We spent the night at a B 'n B at Mandell del Lario (on Lake Como across from Bellagio). Absolutely wouldn't have made it there without a Sat Nav (thanks Dad!). The people running the B 'n B also ran a restaurant next door.  Dinner was awesome, and breakfast totally on par ... Best home-made Italian we've ever had.  Giovani was an excellent host - so helpful, he helped tweak our plans too for the next day to avoid the local events.

Before heading off we went about 50m and up the clock tower to take some snaps of Lake Como - an amazing part of the world, and a hot spot for some of the worlds rich n famous.... so Ink was on George Clooney, or Bradley Cooper watch today... Jennifer Hawkins wasn't there either though.... :(

Lake Como in the background - stunning place to visit

Kids found the swimming event on...

We arrived in Vareena and caught the ferry over to Bellagio.  Kids loved the ferry ride checking out everything possible.


Took a few sneaky snaps on the way - parking over here is a nightmare.

Some colourful houses at Vareena as we crossed over to Bellagio on the ferry.



Bellagio ... wish we had more time here (assuming we could afford it - looks real expensive)



Bellagio ... yep .... must be expensive with gardens like this on the shoreline

 Driving down south-east of Bellagio, you could understand why so many people lived here.... its awesome.


... these guys grab any piece of beach they can find.  Parking is a nightmare pretty much everywhere along the shoreline, and nothing is out of scope.

Crazy suckers though.... the streets along the shoreline were about 1.5 car widths (or 2 smartcars squeezed together) which made driving a little interesting in a manual left hand drive car, but we made it without scratching the pulp out of it.  Especially loved the fact that you can just stop and park your car on the main road to get your stuff out of the boot to take down to the beach.  We knew it was totally legit though, as they had his hazard lights on...

Enough until tomorrow...