Dei laghi

I have come to really like Milan for many reasons. One of these is the proximity of Milan to so many different types of nature destinations: beautiful beaches, the famous Alps, and lovely lakes all within an hour and a half drive. I decided to tackle the lakes, taking two separate trips to two different lakes that are found within an hour from the busy city.

Ieva atop the hill

The first, Lago Maggiore, I saw from the small town of Laveno with my friend from class, Ieva. Taking the train out of Milan one early Saturday morning, both of us groggily watched the landscapes become greener and denser until arriving at the end of the line. The forecast promised sunshine, but unfortanately the day was a stereotypical Lombardian gray with patches of low laying clouds. The environment that resulted was actually quite mystical and magical looking out onto the water. The lakes in this northern region of Lombardia are at the foot of the Alps, so each lake is surrounded by hills or small mountains rising up all around. With clouds encircling the steep inclines of the land where it meets water, it led for a very esoteric scene. Walking around the waterfront, we clumsily found our way up the surrounding hills upon which the town is built and, by chance, arrived at a little park that houses bit of castle ruins. There happened to be some sort of event going on, seemingly historical or political or both, with a procession of musicians that played the Italian national anthem towards the flag that was raised only at half mast. After watching to procession a bit, we got some pictures of the beautiful views from the top of the hill before taking a winding street down and through the small town. We grabbed a gelato to eat while retracing our steps around the lake and chatting a bit before heading back to the station to catch the train back to Milano

una stradina (little street) in Bellagio

 

Lecco

A few weeks after, I had arranged an excursion to Lago di Como with my friends Marco and Katie. After taking a train to Triuggio, the small town where they live with  Marco's parents, we drove all together to Bellagio, the town which inspired the Las Vegas hotel and casino. It's a very small town that was first built up as a vacation destination for European nobility and now is largely a tourist destination for Italians and non-Italians alike. The lake was really just stunning and the town quite cute. We did a walk up the steep steps of one of the town streets and then around the lake a bit as far as we could without getting on a boat. We actually did look at taking a ferry, but the prices were a bit high and the times inconvenient. We were happy to wander our way back to the car to drive to our next stop, Lecco. I really liked Lecco, I must say, more than Bellagio. While Bellagio is more aesthetically beautiful, I liked that Lecco is its own town, one where people really live instead of just travel to. We walked around the waterfront where everyone else was walking as well and enjoying the nice, spring weather. We stopped part of the way down the path to drink a beer together and enjoy our surroundings. After talking for a bit, we paid and made our way back to the car for the drive back to Milano for a quick dinner. 

It's really one of the great things about Milano: that there are such beautiful things so close by. It's really the only way I could live in a large city because I'm so used to having beautiful nature like the Rockies right outside my window. Milano does offer a lot, however, and not only in it's famous reputation for fashion....

...Coming up: Things to do on your day off in Milano