This blog will, I hope, wrap up the second half of our journey. Once again I have been super busy and feel like I haven't much time to get this blog posted, so for the most part, I will let the photos do the talking.
I left the last blog as we were leaving Mezzana and were about to start the long drive to Lake Como. This drive was incredibly long, even more winding and it was a very warm day. Half way through, we stopped for a light lunch.
As we ate, we were all slightly creeped out by the sculpture on the stairs...
After lunch we continued to drive, eventually finding our way to Lake Como, but on the opposite side of the lake from where we needed to be. After some discussion and thinking, we decided to drive around the lake instead of take the ferry across. This was quite a lovely scenic drive... except for the last section which was so incredibly narrow and scary with drivers coming from the opposite direction and fairly high speeds. The view of the mountains was stunning and the lake itself was beautiful but the twisting drive didn't allow for much concentration on this.
But make it to our apartment we did. This was our home for the next 5 nights.
Having arrived after 6pm, we were all quite hungry and tired, so we settled for dinner at the tiny restaurant at the foot of the steps to our apartment. And it was a lovely evening. Even though the waiter insisted he was so busy he could only seat us at the back of the restaurant, we thoroughly enjoyed a private section of the restaurant all to ourselves, and some good quality service with a few extras including a complimentary champagne on arrival and a plate of sweets at the end. 
The food was really yummy, although Sharon and Denis both said that the next day the meal hadn't agreed with them. At the time though we all really loved our food and we all tried some more unique items. In particular, my desert was a delicious pana cotta, but it was served with a coca cola jelly!
Michael of course had the chocolate tart...
This was the plate of complimentary sweets.
After dessert, we went for a short wander up our street and enjoyed the gentle sounds of Lake Como lapping at the rocks right next to us. It was a beautiful night, but we were all very happy to make it home to our beds for some sleep.
The next day....
Sharon and Denis went in one direction, while Michael, Tess and I went another. For Michael, Tess and I, a later start was in order, followed by a leisurely stroll to our nearest grocery store. Tess and I had lots of fun here, finding lots of new foods, and funny versions of food we already know well like pasta but in really strange shapes. Also products we know well, but with different names!
Best of all were the enormous bottles of wine. We could not believe how big you can get! 3L was the biggest, and it was heavy! It also made me look like an alcoholic, so I quickly put it back down!
After a bit more time wasting in our apartment, we eventually decided to head into Bellagio itself to poke around. The walk into town itself was quite beautiful, and because of traffic restrictions in town itself, it was most easily reached via a botanical garden. Because we were staying right at the entrance to the gardens, we had free daily access to them and we were able to walk through them till we got to town. It was particularly lovely as it was a beautiful walk along the water of Lake Como itself.
Once in the city, it was a surprising place to discover. Built in an escalating fashion, the town was mostly staircases with shops and restaurants lining both sides of the stairs. We stopped for a bite to eat at a little pasta cafe, before wandering through some of the more beautiful hand made Italian gift shops, including a few Italian Leather shops. Of course I got a new handbag, which is a gorgeous blue filigree stamped leather with brown trim. And it is so soft to touch. I do love a good piece of Italian Leather!
We then went for a stroll out to the other side of town, to the waters edge where there was a lovely look out across Lake Como. There were a lot of people swimming there and while it was a warm day, I don't know that I could have jumped in.
We finished up with a delicious gelato before heading back to our apartment. We settled in for an afternoon nap, along with some cheese and crackers, and fresh salami of course. It was nice to get out of the sun for a bit. At some point in the afternoon, Sharon and Denis came home too. They had been for a swim in the lake just across the road from our apartment.
At the end of the day, we all got a bit dressed up and headed for an exceptionally lovely dinner in town, sitting right on the lake and enjoying a beautiful sunset.
The following day, we decided to get away from Bellagio a bit, and we took a ferry across Lake Como to the opposite bank. to Tremezzo. It was here that we made our way up to the Villa Carlotta.
of course Michael took a photo of a car...
This was a beautiful old villa built for the Milanese marquis Giorgio Clerici in 1690, but through sales, marriage and birth, it was eventually passed to Charlotte, Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen. It is not just a villa either, with the gardens spanning over 70,000m2.
We went first for a bit of a wander in the villa itself, but not without passing a water fountain at the front which contained a statue of turtles. The statue was incredible, and so lifelike... and then a turtle moved. They were in fact real turtles sunbaking on top of each other in the warm Italian sun. Not moving a muscle unless they absolutely had to!
Inside the villa, it was quite pretty, well decorated and well kept in its original style. And on the top floor was an art exhibit of a modern glass artist from Italy that was exceptionally beautiful. But it was the gardens that particularly pleased us.
We only saw a little of the gardens as it was a very warm day and Sharon's knee was not good, but it was clear that the gardens had been designed to be enjoyed more than the villa itself. There were several different styles of garden, including a Japanese quarter, a rock garden and even a rainforest gully! It was beautiful and worth the walk in the warm weather.
After Villa Carlotta, we wandered up the road from Tremezzo towards Cadenabbia, stopping for lunch along the way. Of course, me being me, ate capsicum and went into anaphylactic shock. And for the first time, my medication (a new one the doctor had been trialling me on) didn't work to plan. Oh, it stopped me from dying - that was great. But it left me feeling really sick and in the space of 10 minutes, I went from feeling great (albeit hot), to sick and faint. So as we boarded the ferry in Cadenabbia, Sharon and Denis made the choice to continue on to another location across the lake, but Tess, Michael and I jumped off the boat back in Bellagio and headed home so I could have an afternoon nap and drink lots of water.
By evening, I was feeling somewhat better, and so we headed off on a walk not far from our apartment, in search of a restaurant that Sharon and Denis had found on a previous wander. It was a local fish restaurant, serving a whole host of fish speciality dishes. We all started off really keen to try some of these local tastes, and chose the degustation menu. About 10 minutes after we had ordered we watched as the large table next to us received their meal, the same thing we had ordered. And the more we watched, the less excited we became about our own meals.
For entree, we were served a plate of small tastes including a fish pate (which I really enjoyed), a small whole grilled fish, a fish patty, and something wrapped in a fish. We each found something that we didn't mind the taste of, but the thing wrapped in the fish was hands down the most awkward and unappetising dish. 
We followed this with a risotto (fish of course) which was nice flavour but the rice was still hard. The last main dish was a platter of different fish, all cooked different ways. Some of the fish was really tasty but the problem was the bones. I really enjoyed the wine though...Tess didn't eat the same as us, she ordered a fish pasta recipe. Again, nice enough flavour, and a creamy sauce, but the fish had been almost crumbled into the sauce, bones and all, and as fine and as delicate as the bones were, it felt really weird eating them.
But we did at least get to finish off with a nice sorbet for dessert.
Having just about had enough of the little area of Bellagio, the next day we all piled into the car and started a drive along the ridiculous narrow and winding road down the other side of the inside point of Lake Como. This eventually put us out onto a highway which led us almost to Milan.We parked the car safely at a train station a bit outside the city and caught a train the rest of the way as it was easier and safer. Once inside Milan though, I finally realised what people had been telling me. For the longest time I had wanted to get to Milan - the capital of Fashion, a beautiful city of Italy. So many people had told me just how lovely it was. But almost exactly the same number of people had told me the exact opposite. Which is unusual. Usually its a unanimous vote or only one or two haters/lovers that go against the general consensus. So I must admit, I was intrigued regardless so I could see for myself.
Turns out the haters were right. It was possibly the most disappointing venue I have ever been on a holiday, anywhere in the world. For a start, when we arrived, we were immediately attacked by sales people. I know that happens in most touristy places but it was by far the quickest we've been approached.
Once out of the underground and away from those annoying sales people, I must admit that the Milan Cathedral did take my breath away. It was a stunning structure, beautiful architecture and reminded me very much of our time in Spain. But that was where my appreciate for the city stopped.
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| my offensive shorts |
We all thought it would be really nice to head inside the cathedral and see what it was like, but there was a queue at the door, where they were doing clothing checks. Tess quickly grabbed Sharon's scarf and wrapped it around her legs over her shorty shorts. I on the other hand had long shorts on, almost to my knees and thought that would be fine. I could not help but express my absolute disgust to the guard when he told me my shorts were not appropriate. Especially when the man next to me wearing shorts that showed much more leg than mine was allowed in. The rest of the family had gone on inside ahead of me assuming I was right behind, so I had to wait until they all came back out.
After that disappointing start to our sight seeing time in Milan, we went into a shopping centre right next door to the Cathedral, because all the tourist books say that it has an even better view of the cathedral roof than from the cathedral roof itself. They were right. It was lovely. A great view of the architectural skill. The shopping centre we were in itself was super posh, and on the top floor were several flashy cafes/restaurants. There was also a nice market place for foody things. We even found chocolate shoes, and emoticon lollipops! 
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| Chocolate shoes!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
From here, we decided it best to split and do our own things for a while. Tess, Michael and I went off on a wander around the shopping district to see just how many big brand names we could spy. Tess was also hoping she might spot George Clooney!We did go into some affordable clothes shops but nothing appealed to Tess or I.  |
| me lusting after shoes |
Lastly was a pizza lunch which resulted in an argument with the waiter over cover charge, and very disappointing soggy pizzas. All in all, we walked back to our meeting spot with Sharon and Denis late and grumpy.
Together we walked up to a local castle and through the gardens on the other side. By this stage, we realised we were all super exhausted, not feeling the best, hot, and were not exactly sure where we were or how to get back to the train station. Michael did eventually figure it all out on his phone and after yet another walk, we were on a tram back towards the city.
On the train back to the car however, Denis unfortunately felt really ill. It was incredibly over crowded on the train and there was an immense amount of body heat, so I wasn't surprised. Back in the car, we drove back to the safety of Bellagio and I cooked a simple pasta dinner for us. It was nice being able to sit outside in the evening sunset and enjoy the cooler peaceful air.
And parked outside our apartment that evening - a dream for Michael... and Tess!
The next day was our last day in Italy before our Sunday drive home, so we decided to head to Como itself. Como was actually really lovely and despite my gammy leg playing up, we spent the day wandering around the old town. We saw countless churches, had yummy lunch, ate multiple gelatis and did some shopping.
We also saw some unique things around the town... including ducks with really cool feet, penguin bollards and the coolest way to sell a rockmelon that I have ever seen!
In the afternoon, we caught the funicular up the mountain side and got a birds eye view of Como. I will admit that it was hot, overcast and muggy, but beautiful.
Of course, when it was time to head home, Tess and I were having too much fun!
The next day was Sunday, and that meant a long day on the road, making our way back from Italy to Munich. Not much to explain about this day other than we caught the car ferry from Bellagio across to the other side. This meant once off the boat, we just kept driving north rather than having to drive all the way down the inside point of the lake, then back around the outside to go north. And it was quite a nice scenic start to our day.
Once on the road for about 30 minutes, it started to bucket down. We had had perfect sunny weather the entire time in Bellagio and then the day we leave and are just a little bit away from the lake, it just rained and rained.
We took a few pit stops along the way, including at the coolest roadside toilet any of us had ever seen. Tess and I were desperate, but once we came out and exclaimed how cool they were, everyone else decided they needed to go as well, just so they could see what we were raving about!
We stopped for lunch in Chur in Switzerland. This was of course a place that Michael and I had been before so we happily showed Michael's family around for a bit and chose a nice bakery for a quick bite, but of course I had to bring home a traditional Nuss Torte (nut tart). It ended up being no where near as good as the one we bought in Chur last time (January 2014) but it was still good.
We finally arrived home around 6pm after getting stuck in a traffic jam just as we came back into Munich. We unpacked and I cooked dinner for everyone.
This was the end of our Italian Holiday, but not the end of the Mulcahy's time in Europe.
Now I know I've written about this place before so I won't go on and start sounding like a broken record. But I will give a few minor details about the day (not the castle). It was a horrible dreary day, constantly raining. When we got the town at the foot of the hill to the castle, we discovered that the line for tickets was beyond massive, and in the end, Sharon and Denis decided it was ok if we just walked up to see the castle and not worry about the inside tour.
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| note my look of shock/disgust (I'm on the left) |
That aside, we saw some nice things around the castle and then made the walk up to the bridge so we could look back at the castle. Regardless of weather or anything else, it is, in my opinion, still one of the most beautiful sights - but I do love it in the snow!
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| Tess found a friend! |
Once back down the mountain, we ate our pre-packed picnic lunch in the car, all trying to dry off different things. For me it was my pant legs and shoes and socks that were drenched. I had made everyone a really yummy breadroll filled with delicious meats, cheese and salads, and then once on the road again, I produced a goody bag full of chocolates. It was at this time that Sharon, Tess and Denis discovered the world of Awesomness that is Toffifees!
That night, once dried off, we headed to a local beer hall for a dinner, and where Denis sampled some more beers, and Tess tried a Hugo, which is one of my favourite drinks here in Germany.
Tuesday marked the last day for the Mulcahy's in Germany, but my holidays were over. Back to work I went. Michael went to his Germany class then met them in the city for some final sight seeing.
The next morning, we said a very early goodbye to Michael's mum, dad and sister as they headed off to the airport for the final leg of their journey - France - for a week. It was so nice having Michael's family visit, especially as we had not seen them in a whole year. And I must admit, when it came time to say goodbye to my little sister-in-law, I lost all self control and bawled like a baby once again. It was like saying goodbye in Brisbane the year before.
But the memories I now have of our week + together here in Germany/Italy I will hold onto for a lifetime.
Surely next to visit will be my mum.....????
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