Exploring the lakes
While we were exploring a motorhome had arrived and parked in the space in front of us, however, so close that we could not leave without them moving as we needed to roll down our tyre ramps forward. After a quick chat they confirmed they would be leaving by 10am so we decided to get ready to go before the rugby, as we had to leave the campsite by 12. They did not surface until quite late (maybe something to do with the box of Becks outside the door!) so we sat and watched the rugby - once they showed the trophy being engraved for South Africa - we started to leave.
We drove to Lake Maggiore, stopped in Verbania to buy some food (Michael - in Lidl - I was not impressed! - but the food and wine was excellent!!) then onto an aire at Oggebbio. The mountain road to Oggebbio is quite narrow but not as narrow as the small road up to the aire. The road up was quite steep and sadly Mike took it a bit fast and whacked the mirror on a brick wall. With the mirrors dangling off we finished our journey to the aire. Luckily the mirrors clipped back into place (a new bit will be needed) and after working out how to prepay (only cash accepted) we parked and breathed again. The aire was really nice and we would have had a fantastic view of the lake - if the cloud had not been there.
After a quick lunch, we walked up into the village and looking at the map we realised we were in a key nordic walking area. So we agreed to follow route 5, which joined onto route 4 and then we added route 3 before getting back to Vincent 3 hours later (having touched routes 1 and 2 as well) . The walks were fun and we only got lost a couple of times, although we did loose Mitzi for 5 mins which was a bit scary. The routes took in the local villages, passed kiwi trees and chestnut tree woods - a bit spikey for Luna's delicate feet (funny for us to watch as she looks like she is walking on hot coals)!
In the morning we woke to pouring rain, so as we could still not see the view, we drove back down the lake (missed the wall this time!). We had planned to stop at the world famous botanical gardens at Villa Taranto, which were established by a Scotsman, and cover 16 hectares by the lake. However, we decided that walking round gardens in the pouring rain was not much fun so we continued our drive, past the Verbano marathon to Lake Comabbio. We parked in a small carpark behind a pizza restaurant - with four other motorhomes - luckily one left as we finished our lunch and we grabbed the 'prime' spot by the lake and got one of 4 electric sockets. After lunch we had a quick explore and walked the dogs up into the town. Mike then spent the afternoon PC fiddling (we have a route of our journey .. to be published!) and I decided to run round the lake in the pouring rain, as there is a cycling path all the way round.
I had read differing reports of the length; 7 miles and 12.5km - it was definitly 12.5km. In the evening we decided to treat ourselves and popped into the restaurant for an amazing pizza and choclate souffle (well I had definitly deserved it).
This morning we woke to a lovely sunrise and on the whole we have enjoyed a lovely sunny day. After taking the dogs for a short walk part way round the lake we drove to Como.
We had identified some parking near the centre of town which although narrow, we got into quite easily. It was right on the lakeside so had amazing views across to the other side of the lake. We walked the dogs briefly and then settled in for a quick lunch. We were entertained by a couple doing a photo shoot of a bottle of wine - with the lake as a backdrop.
After lunch we left the dogs in Vincent, and walked into Como. The historical centre of the city is pedestrianised so we had a lovely walk exploring the streets. The main tourist attraction is the Duomo (Cathedral), a gothic cathedral dating back to 1396. It took three and half centuries to complete and the interior is adorned with huge 16th century tapestries. The ceiling and stained glass windows are beautiful. We then walked round the lake to look at the Volta temple and the Life Electric monument which is situated in the lake. This monument is in honor of Alessandro Volta, a scientist from Como who invented the first voltaic battery. Como is a very pretty and cosmopolitan town but consequently full of tourists!
We got back to Vincent at 3.30 and decided that we did not want to stay in the car park overnight but drive up the east side of the lake. We carefully negotiated the very narrow one way system to leave the car park - mirrors in this time and arrived at the aire at Colico at 5.10pm. The sun was just setting and the views of the surrounding snow capped mountains amazing. We drew up the barrier to be welcomed by a sign - 'Closed on Mondays' (It did not say that on the website). There were two other campers in the aire but nobody around. So we decided to try and find somewhere else, but after driving around for 10 minutes Mike decided he would just park by the barrier for the night! So we returned to the aire to find a very nice German man outside his camper. He told us to turn the key by the barrier and just drive in - success! After parking we took the dogs for a walk around the town and were rewarded with lovely evening views of the lake which we hope we will be able to appreciate tomorrow. The town has a lovely laid back feel, not too many people, so maybe we will stay two nights.