enjoying Varenna on Lake Como

After spending a night in Bellagio, Julie and I took the ferry back to Varenna (the town where we originally got off the train). Varenna is a great little town as well. Julie and I found a lovely cafe and had breakfast with the water just in front of us... where we watched a couple swans and some ducks enjoying the morning.

We met up with my good friends Robert and Mary... and had a great lunch inside the yellow hotel shown below:

"We found them...!"

Bellagio FAVORITES with Julie

Below are my favorite photos from our overnight in Bellagio on Lake Como:

Julie and me... reflected...

Views of Bellagio on the lake:

Julie and Stacia take on Lake Como!

Enjoying time with a good friend that visited me in Italy!!  : )

On Lake Como with Bellagio in the background:

wine cave - Bellagio

Julie and I had a late lunch at the little grotto in Bellagio... it's basically a cave of wine. I first went here during my orientation week to school after first arriving in Italy. (You can see that past post here.) We really enjoyed this small meal (and then had gelato for dinner later on. Ha!)

I think the name of this place is Enoteca Cava Turacciolo but I don't see a website for it to link to.

This kind of snacky meal is my kind of a meal. I ordered a mix of cheeses and salamis/meats... which comes with bread and honey. Yes, please! I also like this place because it's like a library of wine.   : )

Legs of meat up above...

Mmmmm cheeses, salami and meats, aaaand honey!

Yeah! Julie had a lovely cheese plate and a fish spread...

Bellagio on Lake Como with Julie!

After spending a long weekend in Manarola (Cinque Terre) with my good friend Julie, she then went on to travel for the week while I was back at work. She spent a couple nights in both Florence and Siena and then a final night in Venice before returning back to my place in Milan. The following morning we took the train up to Lake Como - YEAH!

40 minutes on the train from Milan... about 6 euro... and we're at the lovely Lake Como. Amazing.

We spent one night in Bellagio - in a lovely apartment that we booked through airbnb. The apartment was in the center of the town and really gorgeous - I wish we could have stayed longer!

Our apartment was the middle floor with two large windows onto a small balcony of the building shown below, straight ahead of Julie!

View from the balcony:

The main room in the apartment... 

There were two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a small kitchen as well!

As seen from our balcony  : )

Hand-painted Lake Como and Bellagio wine bottles:

View of the sunset and mountains from our apartment:

mmmm waffles

I really like mornings when Lenny makes waffles with applesauce!!

Yes, please! And thank you   : D

Chihuly at Denver Botanic Gardens - YEAH!

Denver Botanic Gardens currently has a hugely popular exhibit. Barb and I went earlier this week and it was a great way to spend the morning! I've never seen the gardens to crowded before... but we still enjoyed the visit and the space still felt quite peaceful within the city.

Dale Chihuly learned about blowing glass in Venice, Italy and now creates avant-garde pieces, which are simply pieces of art. Incredible pieces of art. This garden exhibit of his pieces has been traveling to various locations since 2001 and now the Chihuly exhibit is at the Denver Botanic Gardens until the end of November. ...It's most definitely worth the trip. (The exhibit is supposed to be awesome at night as well... all lit up!)

I enjoyed seeing how the placement of the different pieces were placed... often it seemed that the nearby flowers matched/complemented the glass blown pieces. Just beautiful.   : )  Below are some photos of just a bit of what we saw:

I can't get over how many pieces there are in this exhibit. It's incredible!

Reflected in the lily pond:

This one reminds of a Dr. Seuss tree! ...If we ever lived in a world with Dr. Seuss trees!