Voila! The Villa in Varenna

I don't know whether anyone's noticed; but when DJ and I travel, it's usually by the "seat of our pants".  I mean going into this Italy excursion, we knew there were a few things we were "supposed to see".  After all, we owned two gorgeous travel books on Italy that I purchased for an imaginary trip that David had to plan in a jr. high class complete with budget.  Besides, I'd had good suggestions from my cousin, DeeDee Johnson, world-traveler extraordinaire!  But usually we leave home with a map (sometimes) and a hotel reservation (usually, more so here in Europe), and an idea of what we want to do; that's it (besides the suitcases)---no detailed, planned-out-to-the-minute iteneraries for us.  This trip was no different, but we did know that we were staying on the best part of the lake because all the stuff we were "supposed to see" was in close proximity.  Beyond that, no clue how or when to catch the ferry or where all these hot spots were located.  Sometimes that makes for finding fun, out-of-the-way treasures; sometimes it makes for frustration; almost always it makes for sore feet from a lot of walking; but we always come away having had a wonderful time.

Friday, after a nice breakfast at the hotel on their glassed-in terrace....

...we headed off to the boat landing which we had scoped out on our walk the day before.  We got a ticket on what they call a steamer, but what was a big excursion boat with a diesel-engine (at least that's what it smelled like---definitely not a steam-engine!).  We had a wonderful ride across the lake.  I forget how therapeutic being on the water can be! 

We arrived at Varenna (having asked the hotel clerk his advice about how to go about our day); and we started meandering.  The village of Varenna is perched on a steep mountain-side, and the boat landing and narrow lane along the lake are about the only flat surfaces before the mountain begins its ascent upward.

If you wanted to get to the next block over, this is how you got there:

When we went ashore, we had seen a sign that pointed off to the right which read:  Villa Monastero.  We had read somewhere that the VM was something we should see.  Getting there was an adventure, as we went through a maze of pathways, stairs, alleys, and the like, but we eventually found it. 

Villa Monastero was a medieval convent which was shut down in the 16th century because of a scandal.   It was closed by Cardinal Charles Borromeo (who incidentally became a Saint).  We found this interesting because Charles hailed from neighboring Lake Magiorre which we visited in 2000.  The Borromeo Islands were once owned by his family, and the large palace and gardens are open to the public on Isola (island in Italian) Bella.  The garden is ten levels from the shore of the lake to the top where the palace sits, and they're incredible!  But that's a whole other story.....back to the Villa Monastero.

We found that the gardens of this villa weren't as well manicured as others, but still charming and worth the few Euros we paid to visit.  So without a lot of verbage (I know, that's rare), here's what we got to see:

This was truly a botanical garden.  There were all kinds of species of flowers and trees (some of them bearing fruit) each marked with a small plaque.



I must comment on this!  Why they hadn''t cleaned the mold, mildew, algae, mineral deposits, and whatever off this dude's face, I don't know.  It looked like he was sick to his stomach, and it almost made me sick to mine!

Okay, I have to comment on this picture of a tree trunk.  THIS is a magnolia tree---it was huge.  It was not in bloom and too massive to get a picture, but I can't imagine how absolutely beautiful it must be when the flowers are out!



There is a difference in how we travel today versus even 10 years ago.  Then, it was hurry, hurry, we need to see everything or as much as possible in an allotted time.  Now, we savor the views, sit and just soak it all in.  We did that at this exact spot.  Though we had to look through the haze, the mountains were gorgeous, the lake tranquil.  We would just sit there and say, "Who would have thought 37 years ago, that we'd be sitting here in Italy enjoying this"---never in our wildest dreams.  DJ was going to teach math and hopefully coach basketball.  Two changes in his major, two years on the job, and we ended up working for a company which was partially owned by the Huntsmans.  For the last 31 1/2 years, we have been on quite a few adventures because of DJ's work---but none so incredible as this.  We are so grateful for this assignment.


While we were sitting at this spot, we noticed these, and I just had to post this picture for my sister, Livi, who loves the cousins of these little guys who live at her house:

This is a close-up on the pathway going up the hill---many of the roads are similar but with bigger cobblerocks.  Good shoes with good thick soles are needful for comfort!!!



This is when you know your husband really loves you---he carries your purse so you can man the camera!   What a guy!

  

DJ had to man the camera on this one, put it up as high as his arms would reach, and snap it without looking---hence part of the missing "W".  We couldn't back up any, or we would have fallen off the hill!  They had planted small ornamental cabbages to spell out Welcome here and in another place, Villa Monastero.  They had a green netting over the top of them to protect them.  I would imagine that will come off later.

  

Up at the top of the gardens/villa, we came to a road (it must wind up from the other side of town).  Across the street from this church was an outdoor cafe where we had lunch (the biggest calzones I have ever seen!).

Then it was a walk back down through a different part of town.  By now, it was around 2:00 so we decided we should head to Bellagio.  We found the boat dock, boarded the next boat, and headed mid-way across the lake to the penninsula where Bellagio is located:

  Great ride on the water again.  More coming....

P.S.  While stopped for a cold drink at an outside cafe on the villa property, we started a conversation with a mother and her two-year-oldish daughter because they were speaking English.  Come to find out they lived in BASEL.  Wendy is from New York and is married to a German photographer who has a studio here in town.  She is a human resource executive with Colgate-Palmolive who is here assisting with a merger.  We've exchanged phone numbers, addresses, etc. in the hopes of getting together here in town!  How serendipitous!!