Lake Lugano and Lake Como, Italy

We took the opportunity over a bank holiday in May to visit northern Italy, just a 3 hour drive from our house!  It had been raining a lot the couple of weeks before, and we saw so many amazing waterfalls on the drive down to Italy!

We stayed at an amazing hotel resort, Parcos San Marcos, on the northern shore of Lake Lugano, just a 10 minute drive from Lake Como.  This area is absolutely beautiful!  And the hotel complex was really nice (this is what perpetuates Nathan's love for hotel breakfasts in Europe).  We stayed in a family apartment and had usually dinner on the resort.  There was a kids club with kids activities (Dave and I went to dinner at the nicer restaurant one evening on our own while the kids were in the kids club). and various other activites for the whole family.

Nathan and Will tried Tai Kwon Do and Elise, Dave and I did rock climbing!  I had never tried it before, and when I looked at the wall I thought I would just go a little ways up (I am, in fact, scared of heights).  But as the other adults starting going up, they were all making it to the top and ringing the bell.  So, of course, I wasn't going to stop in the middle!  It was really fun - I made it to the top and rang the bell!  It's really not so scary - since you are just looking at the wall and the next hold.  Elise made it all the way up several times (there were 3 kids about Elise's age and they all took lots of turns).  And Dave made it all the way up too.  The beach here was really beautiful, although the rainy weather wasn't ideal for swimming!  But this place is absolutely incredible.

One day we drove over to Mennagio, on the coast of Lake Como just across from Bellagio (apparently where George Clooney owns a hose).  We then drove down along the lake to the city of Como where we did some shopping.  They are famous for silk, so Elise and I each bought a silk scarf at a shop there.  Even Will found some Ben 10 socks at the market!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I must say that I think Italy is my favorite country to visit. Every time we've been there, I have loved it. There's just something really special about the feeling there - relaxed, pleasant and exciting.

Menaggio, Italy.  Beautiful!