The past few days have not been Chamber of Commerce Brochure weather days at Lake Como.  It is overcast with intermittent rain and a bit on the cool side.  We have filled the days with a wide variety of activities as the photos will show you.

There is an easy walk called the Green Way trail that meanders quietly through the towns above the lake and, in places, supposedly follows the original Roman road to the north.  You get to walk among houses and small gardens and get views of the town and everyday life that are not available from the main road lower down the hills. We plan to walk more of this trail before we leave the area.

Later in the day, we ventured to the opposite end of the experience domain by joining a couple of Houston business partners who are staying at the elegant Villa d` Este, just to the south of us in the little town of Cernobbio.  This historic villa is quite grand and as Laura noted during our first short visit there, can definitely be the “place to hang” for the rich and famous.  Our friends invited us because on this day, immediately below the hotel terrace restaurant, The Italian Gran Prix power boat races were being held, and we got to enjoy the excitement while we lunched. (Here, that translates to 2:30 in the afternoon).

Yesterday, in spite of intermittent rain, we started the day at the street market in the town of Lenno just north of us a couple of miles.  It was a classic Italian market with goods ranging from wonderful fresh and cooked meats, cheese, bread, fruit, vegetables, kitchen ware, and clothing.  We are now well stocked with meat, bread, and veggies in our little refrigerator.  We will be eating in for the next few days.  After lunch, we drove back down into Como for a bit of shopping which resulted in a new pair of shoes for me, and two pair of gloves for Laura.  That makes three pair for her so far! The girl loves her gloves.

There is always somebody in the neighborhood who does not understand the color scheme. Easy to find though.

We are not sure what the significance of the bundles of twigs and yellow ribbon are on this entry way.

Maybe the Romans really did use this path.

Great views from up in town.

Itty bitty narrow stairs abound for getting up and down from one level to the next.

This might be why the owner of the house in the first photo chose his color!

Laura read that only 1% of Italian households have clothes driers in them! As a result there is always an array of fabric drying, or this week trying to, hanging from the racks on the balconies. We have found out that this makes your terry cloth towels a little bit crunchy!

A day at the races complete with helicopter filming crews.

Yeah the Villa d` Este is a bit schmanzy! I did find a bit of grass that needed trimming.

This is a Sycamore tree on the grounds of the VdE that is supposedly over 600 years old. The trunk has a diameter of 8 feet!

Enough high brow stuff. We are off to the market and food shopping! A little more of reality here.

Chickens, turkey breast, and sausage on the spit. There is no way you can walk past these guys!

One of those. Two of those. And half a dozen wings please.

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The market even comes with entertainment but getting him to smile must have cost extra. Lots extra!

Ravioli almost too pretty to eat.

And if/when it rains there is always some place interesting to duck into to stay dry.