Sala Comacina
We’ve recently returned from a much needed break where we stayed for 6 days at Lake Como. It’s been a very busy year for us. Apart from the challenges of watching my father slowly deteriorate through Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, we’ve also moved house and business. Our daughter and family went to Lake Como and enjoyed it, so we decided to try it for ourselves. We had also spent a very enjoyable week at Limone, Lake Garda 25 years ago where I was inspired to paint.
Although I’m used to driving abroad, I didn’t want to hire a car, so we used public transport. It proved to be very frustrating and time consuming. It seemed that we always just missed a train or bus or ferry, so much of the time was spent waiting around. Our plane landed at 11am. We didn’t arrive at the small village of Sala Comacina until after 4pm. A car journey would have been less than two hours.
Unfortunately the weather was varied. The first two days was cloud and quite heavy rain. I managed to do a sketchbook watercolour the day after we arrived. It was of the view from our apartment window which was just a few yards from Lake Como.
Mennagio
The water was inviting so I did go swimming several times which was very pleasant. That evening we ate at Le Tout Paris just 2 minutes walk from our apartment. It was one of the best Italian meals we’ve had with an excellent choice of wines. Well worth booking a table.
The following day we took the C10 bus to Menaggio, just 6.5 miles north of Sala Comacino. Again, it began to rain not long after we arrived, so most of our time there was spent wandering in and out of shops and cafes. I made start on another sketchbook watercolour before tiny drops of rain began to land on my wet paint. They seemed to add to the overall effect of greyness which gave the study a little more interest.
It brightened up when we got back to the apartment. I love painting the narrow Italian streets that are full of character, so I painted Via Bordoli Umberto which was less than a minute away. Shafts of sunlight fell on the walls of the old buildings and cobbled street creating lots of interesting diagonal blocks of shadows. This should work well as a slightly larger studio painting.
Bellagio
On day three we had glorious sunshine so we decide to take the ferry to Bellagio. Unfortunately it wasn’t running until after noon. We took the C10 bus to Tremezzo and booked tickets to Bellagio and Varenna for fifteen Euro each. Bellagio was packed but despite the crowds, we enjoyed wandering around. After lunch we took the ferry to Varenna but that seemed to be even busier. We didn’t stay long before getting the ferry back to Sala Comacina via Bellagio.
We thought we’d take a chance with the weather and visit Como the following day. Almost as soon as we arrived it started to rain which was a real shame. The rain was relentless so after only a couple of hours we gave up trying to explore and took the bus back.
Our last day in Lake Como was the best with glorious sunshine all day. We had seen that there was a 6 mile walk called Greenway del Lago starting at Colonno, through Sala Comacina to Griante. The initial start of our walk was quite challenging for Susan getting up a series of steep steps. However, once we made it to the top, we were rewarded with stunning views of the Lake Como.
Greenway del Lago
Within 15 minutes of getting onto the cobbled walkway, I had my paints out to capture the terracotta rooftops and church spire with Lake Como in the background. There was no way Susan was going to be able to walk the full distance to Griante. We stopped several times for refreshments, rests and eventually a delicious light lunch at the San Giorgio Hotel that overlooked Lake Como at Lenno.
Susan was too tired to walk back the way we came so we took the slightly shorter walk back along the main road. I went back to the view point where I did the sketchbook watercolour and did a quick pen and ink drawing of Sala Comacina to remind myself of the view.
Like most places, Lake Como relies on good weather to really appreciate the picturesque towns and villages. The public transport isn’t the best, so you do need to be patient if you just miss a bus or ferry. However, when the sun is shining, it’s a very beautiful place to explore, particularly if you enjoy walking. The highlight of the trip was definitely the walk Greenway del Lago.