Sunday, June 17, 2007

Chernobbio, Como and Piscogne

Friday

After our 5 days in Milan we hired a car and made our way to Chernobbio. A darling little village on the edge of Lake Como. Our hotel was so pretty, four flights of stairs and no lift mind you! Poor Barry did struggle with our luggage but he did it. The room was decorated in the style of Pauline. Pauline is a friend of mine that decorated her house in peaches and soft greens and stencilled the walls. All beautifully done and very homely. It was stunning in Chernobbio, we sat and watched and relaxed with our beer. It simply took your breath away after the hustle and bustle of Milan.

Como

Saturday

We could see Como across the lake so decided to go over on the ferry and spend the evening there. We had a gorgeous meal, again people watching and feeling so relaxed and happy. The waiter took so long to serve us, but that was OK, we were in no hurry. We finished our meal and noticed a great crowd of people buying tickets for the ferry. We wanted to take some photos before the light went so we decided to get our return ticket when the crowd had died down. So we went for a walk, merrily taking our photos, and I think Barry took some photos of the ferry. I expect you've guessed what happened? Yep, the ferry terminal was all chained up, the last ferry left at 21.05 and Barry photographed it going! No taxi's anywhere....what to do? Walk? It was a long walk back, about 4 miles so it was do-able but my legs had already had a day's activity and didn't really relish the thought of walking but walk we did... About halfway back I noticed a taxi coming towards us, made Barry notice it too and he waved in the direction that we were going and the taxi driver appeared to acknowledge us, we waited a while but he didn't turn round to pick us up so onwards we walked. I didn't do too much talking, but I was happy even though my legs ached. A bit further down the road though, the taxi stopped in front of us and tooted. Such bliss, to sit down! The lovely man, all twinkly, grey moustached and tired from a hard days driving told us he lived in Chennobio. He dropped us outside our hotel and would take no money, he gestured to us to have a drink on him instead. What a gentleman! Sort of made missing the ferry all the more worthwhile. I always say things happen for a reason....


Sunday


Barry nearly killed me, well us actually....we went for an exploratory drive! Off the beaten track and for some reason he thought it would be a good idea to go up this road, and it got smaller and smaller and smaller and I got quieter and quieter and quieter. He then got out of the car and left me perched on the edge of a dirt track with a massive drop on the driver's side. he ran off down the track, seemed to have been gone for ages but he came back and then carried on driving along this dirt track the width of the Fiat Punto we had hired. I was so scared but I thought that maybe the road widened and carried on a bit further on so I just held my breath occasionally squeaking 'Oh Barry'
but after he said 'Don't do this to me now Marie'
I thought it best to shut my eyes and my mouth and let him concentrate on the road so I didn't ask him what he was doing. So we progressed slowly and a bit further on there was a house. It had a small driveway for Barry to turn the car round in (we are talking really narrow here). After about the 25 point turn he turned the car round and all the time I was thinking that turning the car round meant that we had to travel back along the track again and this time I was next to the edge of the drop and I felt sick, I mean really sick.... I tried shutting my eyes but that was worse so I kept opening and shutting them and eventually we made it back down the road. Barry needed water, he never drank water but right then he did! I was so shocked, angry and bewildered that I continued to say nothing...I think Barry thought I might beat him up or something, it was good to be alive!

We made out way to some pretty little villages and I noticed there were yellow ribbons everywhere, and then red, then green then pink then blue. Each connecting village was dressed in another colour, we ended up at the blue village, Piscogne(I remember that name because it poured with rain there...get it?), where there was an event going on. It was a knockout competition between all the villages, that was where the last lot of photos were taken and the light and scenery were out of this world!

After that we made our way to the airport and had another bad time with the horrid airline that we hope we never have to use again!

Now I am looking forward to my best friend from Southampton coming to stay with us until Friday, I hope the weather is kind to us, but if it's not, we still have plenty we can do to keep up happy...like chatting and stuff! I have knitted her a facecloth and I am just about to sew a bag for her..


sorry about the line breaks...blogger won't let me alter them.....

Have a good week TTFN!

7 comments:

Gill said...

Oooh, I know people who've decorated their house in that style, I'll always refer to it as "Pauline" style from now on!
Thanks for sharing your holiday with us, it sounds fab, I want to go too!
I love when people have adventures on holiday, they're the things you remember even if they're not funny at the time :)
I can relate to the scary drive, we had a very similar experience one time, but even worse decided to take the scenic route back which resulted in a 3 hour drive through mountains and villages. We vowed never to drive up into the mountains again whilst on holiday!

Gill

Marianne said...

What great adventures! Of course, I'm the one who loves roller coasters...so the scary drive..as long as it's done safely...wouldn't have bothered me, it would have bothered Bobby though!

The little villages sound so wonderful..I'm so glad you two had such good times on your holiday!
(the line breaks all seemed to work)

xoxox

Taoknitter said...

This may sound hokey, but your photos always give me such a nostalgic feeling, like I am missing something. I wish I was a traveler...big sigh.

As for that steep road, long drop car ride...Michael and I would be divorcing over that! I would have been unable to be quiet and I would have gotten out of the car! Granted, I would have had to crawl all the way back down the road (FEAR of heights is putting it mildly!).

Such wonderful memories you will have! Thank you so much for sharing it!.

XXOO

Joanna said...

I usually alter the line breaks in html, because Blogger never does do what I ask it to, what a lovely end to your holiday, and what an adventure down that road, hope you have a lovely week with your friend Marianne!

razmabaz said...

Hmmm .... what Marianne didn't say was - that drop was about 300 feet in places! And ... the side of the track/road was solid, unforgiving rock. I was a BIT scared, but we did take out additional insurance on the car! Ha ha!

The real tragedy was we never took the two (stunning - I sound like a fisherman) shots that I went along this track to do. Stunning view of a ancient ruined fort with beautiful, recessive light with softly, silhouetted mountains in the background and a gloriously illuminated Alpine mountain with the peak shrouded in bubbly clouds.

Still, we are glad to be able to tell the tale. How the people who live in the house where turned around get on in Winter is a mystery. How did they get their furniture there? Marianne reckons they inherited it!

A beautiful week (work apart), a real peaceful adventure, punctuated with a very brief moment of terror!

Mrs.Kwitty said...

OMGosh--I was sweating a little just reading your road story--I am so afraid of heights that it's not funny! I probably would have passed out! lol I'm happy you made it through alright.

It sounds like you are having an amazing adventure, I'm so jealous!! lol Have fun and be safe!

Smiles, Karen

CG said...

Scary!! Glad you are both ok!!

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