After a few days in a bustling city, we were ready for some relaxation and lake life!  We hopped into our tiny Fiat rental and cruised north to the tiny town of Laglio.  Because I am unoriginal and American and was overwhelmed by the number of amazing AirBNB and hotel options on Lake Como, I settled for an adorable AirBNB directly behind George Clooney’s house, Villa Oleandra.  I figured it it’s good enough for Amal, it’s good enough for me, no?

Driving into Como is indescribable.  Lake life on another level.  We zipped along narrow roadways through mountains, past waterfalls, luxurious mansions and quaint cottages, right up to the edge of the lake.  Our AirBNB was a dreamy little place tucked on a hillside up a maze of cobblestone stairs and alleyways, which felt like our own secret garden.  But first we stopped to see the most amazing gardens at Villa D’Este in Cernobbio, which was on the way as we drove into Laglio.  A friend had recommended Il Gatto Nero for lunch, but we arrived too early and had time to kill, so we decided to wander the grounds of this luxe lakeside hotel built in the 16th-century.  I felt like an imposter peasant and a princess all at the same time.

Next up was lunch at Il Gatto Nero, a romantic, hilltop spot with sublime views of the lake.  Our local friend bemoaned the fact that the prices had inflated since the arrival of George Clooney and friends, but we found the food to be delicious and the prices worth the view, and I am always on board for anything cat-themed.  Our service was attentive and friendly, but we were also literally the only people there as we’d booked their earliest lunch seating.  It felt like a private restaurant just for us!  We enjoyed their signature onion soup (in a bread bowl, lol) and a delicate tortelli pasta made of ricotta served in a mint cream with a salty crisp of pancetta laid over the top.

We were in need of a few groceries so we asked the server if there were any little shops where we might find wine, meat, cheese and basic groceries.  We later discovered a charming locally owned shop just down the hill from our rental, but we unfortunately took the server’s advice and headed to Bennnet supermercati – a crowded, loud, enormous supermarket that felt like if a Walmart grocery store was inside of a shopping mall.  Just a few minutes inside the bustling store was enough to ramp up my anxiety and demolish the tranquility of the day, but we grabbed what we needed and were outta there!  If we had been staying in town for longer, I could see where this would be helpful, but for our purposes, the tiny market near our place was more than sufficient.

Once we were finally checked in, a light rain began to fall.  We opened the windows to our little private courtyard, turned out the lights, and fell blissfully into an afternoon nap.  When we woke up that night, there was a steady rainfall so we cracked the bottle of Nebbiolo we’d gotten from the market and feasted on olives, prosciutto, cheese, arugula, and leftover roasted fish and cherry tomatoes from our last meal in Milan.

The next morning we set out to explore the lake and were abruptly stuck in standstill traffic.  After much maneuvering, mapping, and rerouting, we resigned ourselves to sitting in the traffic… it was still raining but was supposed to stop within the hour, so I figured we’d wait out the rain, listen to music, and enjoy the view.

An hour later we were still waiting.  Ryan was about to lose it.  I finally hopped out of the car and walked in the rain past the line of cars to the front of the traffic, where 2 police officers explained in broken English that a stone wall had collapsed and was completely blocking the road.  They were rerouting traffic up into the mountains, adding at least another hour to our commute.  However, there was one parking spot left on the side of the road and if we just took the short walk into town, we could hop on a ferry to just about any destination on the lake!

So we did exactly that.  We treated ourselves to an espresso and pastry while we waited and took our first ferry ride to Lenno, home to Villa Balbianello, a breathtaking villa built at the end of the 18th century by Cardinal Angelo Maria Durini, on the site of an ancient Franciscan monastery.  Movies like Casino Royal and Star Wars: Attack of the Clones had filmed here, so we were excited to see the grounds where James Bond had been nursed back to health by Vesper.

Naturally, it was now raining harder, and as the villa was set on the tip of a small peninsula, the wind was whipping our umbrellas inside out.  We stayed as long as we could but were quickly soaked through.  We had walked in on a paved road, so Ryan wanted to hike the wooded path up the hilltop on our way out.  Unfortunately the rain had turned this path into a small waterfall down the side of the mountain so I basically slid my way down the side of the mountain in my ADIDAS shell toes.  I’m sure it would have been lovely under dryer circumstances but was pretty miserable in a rain storm!   By this point, I was hungry, cold, wet, and cranky, but tying to keep my spirits high.  It was between lunch and dinner so naturally everything was closed.  We wandered the edge of the lake until we found a small pizza parlor with soccer games playing on the TVs.  I ordered a negroni to take the edge off and it came out super-sized, along with a pizza that was tastier than expected.  My spirits were lifted considerably!

The rain finally died down, so we hopped another ferry and made our way to Villa Carlotta, a villa and botanical garden in Tremezzo.  This place is GORGEOUS – do not miss!

After a full day of exploring, we finally settled into dinner at a quaint, quiet restaurant called La Tirlindana.  It was raining again so we were tucked inside.  It was so good that we went back the next night, but this time we got to sit outside on the water, which was a completely different experience.  Between the two nights, we got to try every item on the modest menu, including a special recommended by the owner and prepared by his wife – a lemon ricotta ravioli typically reserved for only for the tasting menu.  TO DIE FOR!  We watched ducks playing with stray kittens on the edge of the lake and enjoyed tagliolini with clams & asparagus and warm cheese with duck sausage by candlelight.

I try to remember that part of what makes travel an adventure is the trials – collapsing stone walls, stand still traffic, and torrential rainfall did nothing to dispel the magic of Como.  On our final day, the sun finally came out in the late afternoon and we drove until we found a tiny beach as I was determined to go for a swim.  The water was freezing but the sun was warm. Perfecto.