Lezzeno, Bellagio, Varenna, Bergamo - DAY 3

This is part of a series of photos from our Italy trip. 

To see other Italy posts, click on Intro, Day 1, and Day 2

Lezzeno

Our second night in Italy we didn't get to our bed & breakfast in Lezzeno until after dark. I knew it was an incredible location, but I didn't fully realize how awesome it was until I opened my eyes and looked out the window in the morning.

Isn't this view incredible!? I wish we could have stayed a few more days. The water came right up to our "backyard". 

We went downstairs and found a little kitchen set up with tons of fresh, delicious food to eat. It was a dream!

This was our view from the balcony. If you look closely you can see a man on the dock fishing.

They also had little kayaks just sitting on the shore, for anyone to use. 

Our place was the red building behind us called "Nest on the Lake" (thank you Dansies for the recommendation).

For me each new scene was so beautiful and struck me with extreme reverence, but for Andrew it went beyond that...this was his home for 9 months and each scene was not new for him but held deep significance. 

From the boat we could see where Andrew took this picture when he was a missionary here over a decade ago:

If you look at the picture below just above the little town and see a trail going up the mountain...that is where he took the picture from.

Isn't this woman gorgeous! Those Staceys lucked out in the gene pool.

At this point I could have hopped a plane back home and felt completely fulfilled. Not that I wanted to leave, but it just felt like it couldn't get any better than this...kayaking in Lake Como surrounded by the Swiss Alps.

Bellagio

We drove to Bellagio which was just a little further north. Even though it was more touristy, I didn't mind at all. It was still dreamy.

I know, it's blurry. But I love when I can catch one of Andrew's awesome faces. 

After some window shopping, we hopped on a ferry to little town called Varenna.

(This is a view of Bellagio from the ferry)

Varenna

Varenna was also charming, without all the tourists.

We arrived during siesta and most of the stores were closed.

There is always a church to explore. This one didn't seem advertised or well-known. We just stumbled upon it. This church, I believe, was built around 600 AD.

A sun dial on the wall of someone's home

I took about a thousand pictures of doorways.

We hiked up to a fort on top of a hill

At the top there was a kind of creepy statue of someone looking out over the water. 

Bergamo

After descending the mountain, we said goodbye to the most beautiful lake in the world and jumped in the car headed next to Bergamo.

The newer part of Bergamo that you see in the background is actually kind of a hip college town. But above it is the old walled city of Bergamo (called Citta Alta) that you enter by way of a stone road...it feels like crossing the drawbridge of a castle.

In Bergamo, we were on a quest to recreate this picture, also taken in Bergamo over a decade ago:

But the sun was quickly sinking and this was the closest I got (Marika has some better ones)

Do you think we were tired yet?

The answer is, only when we sat down for longer than 5 minutes.

I wish we had more time in Bergamo. Just like everywhere else we visited, it was enchanting and beautiful.

(this picture was going to be so awesome, but a very impatient driver doing a hundred-point turn sort of messed it up)

After this we went to Iper...reminiscent of an American Walmart except waaaaay better food. We were all drooling so much over how cheap all the good fruits, meats and cheeses were, that admittedly we stayed a little too long. Around 10 pm we started driving to Genova, arriving around 3am (thanks to some road closures). It was a long, amazing day!

Up Next: The Cinque Terre