Lake Como

Almost same picture as 10 years ago Hedges are taller is all

After a great meal at the Locanda de Convento, the very best Gnocchi I have had, though the Hungarian Bistro’s was superb as well, and an overnight stay there, we drove across the top of Italy and headed to Mennagio on Lake Como. A nice lunch on a vista overlooking the lake and then Gelato in Mennagio we headed just west of town to a hotel we had stayed at 10 years earlier. 

That story is so memorable for us since it was truly “a dark and stormy night”. 

We had on that occasion around the 22 May 2006, chosen to ride over the Gotthard Pass from Switzerland into Italy. Rain turned to snow, the Gotthard was closed and we detoured with the rental moto to take a lower pass that snow hadn’t accumulated on. Because of the storm everything had closed down, no gas stations and I was running out. The trek from Lugano to Mennagio I always characterized as driving inside a firehose, super dark and wet. 

Finally we saw the lights of this hotel and before we ran out of gas we pulled off for the night. Soaked, the hotel staff asked if we had eaten since their kitchen was closing and it was about 8:30 pm. They prepared a great meal for us that night and the next day we had a splendid breakfast before seeing Lake Como for the first time. 3 weeks later crossing back over on a more eastern pass we saw snow still piled up on the side of the road. They explained that the snow of 22 May had closed the passes for nearly 3 weeks and they had just re-opened.

The weather was so nice that we sat out at the pool for the remainder of the day and again ate supper there before heading to bed and the Matterhorn the next day.