UNESCO World Heritage Site: Sacro Monte di Ossuccio on Lake Como

When you peruse the UNESCO World Heritage Site list, you will quickly notice that Italy has more than its fair share of places to visit.  Out of 981 properties, Italy has 49.  Almost 5% of the world's most-cherished sites.  That's almost three times as many as Greece and ten more than each of France or Germany have.  In fact, if you quickly eyeball that list, only Spain and China come close.

Here, take a look, while I get to the point of this post:

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/

I like to fancy myself a UNESCO site collector (I'm up to 63 sites so far), so, when it finally dawned on me that Lake Como has its own UNESCO site I decided to act upon it at my next opportunity.  Which occurred in 2012 -  so this blog post is a little behind.  Oh well.

In May of 2012 my Mom and I had another of our visits to northern Italy.  She's becoming an old hand at this part of the world - each of my four visits to Lake Como were with her.  One morning on our trip I decided I was going to walk up to see the Sacro Monte di Ossuccio which is not far at all from our favorite place to stay, in Lenno.  She wasn't keen on an early morning walk so I crept out myself and enjoyed a lovely post-dawn walk along the lakefront and then up into the hills. 

There are fourteen chapels on the way up the hill to the church which contains the 15th chapel.  The complex was built during the course of the 17th and early 18th centuries and apparently was built on top of the 16th century Sanctuary of the Madonna del Soccorso (I know what Soccorso means, because during our trip Mom had to visit the Pronto Soccorso - another story for another day.  She's fine). 

Up I climbed, with frequent stops to take photos and to look around me at the ever-expansive lake behind me as well as the various homes I passed along the way.  All of the chapels were closed - I imagine they would have been open at a different hour, though.

I made it to the top just as the church bells pealed 8 AM.  There is a road to get there as when I reached the top I saw a Range Rover.  There appeared to be a tiny little place for refreshments but it was early and no one was there. 

This church is actually in use although I wonder how tiny its congregation may be. You are not allowed to take photos inside, and, at that hour (despite being a Sunday morning) I was one of only two people silently wandering around. The votives had candles in them, some lit, so clearly there was life nearby. 

Here are some photos from my wander.  Enjoy!

At the beginning.  Look at all the chapels!

A few of the chapels:

Tada, some photos from the top.  See, I wasn't lying about being up there at 8 AM!

A view of the promontory.  On the other side is Villa Balbianello.  Directly below would be Ossuccio, and on the left side you can glimpse Lenno.

I love, love, love this photo.  This is the ferry, pulling into Lenno.  I've got it zoomed way in so it's farther away than it looks.  What a peaceful, peaceful morning.  Look how still the lake is, but for the ripples left by the boat. 

Villa Balbianello on Lake Como, Part II

"Villa Balbianello is bathed in sunlight all day", sayeth Miss Bentley, a.k.a. Vanessa Redgrave in "A Month by the Lake". 

The villa is at the southern end of the area called the Tremezzina which is the most beautiful part of the lake. A bold statement, perhaps, but an opinion shared by many.

Yesterday I wrote a little bit about the villa itself, and today will be a wander through the grounds.  If I recall correctly, we were not allowed to take photos inside so all of my photos are of the exterior and the gardens.  In the lower left of the photo above you can catch a glimpse of the truly massive plane tree.  It is hand trimmed before winter each year. 

I appreciate very much the fact that this villa also has signs of life.  In the summer they hold weekly cocktail hours, and, you can hold your wedding here and probably fetes as well - all outside, I'd wager.  I heard (perhaps apocryphal) that they allowed Vanessa Redgrave to stay in the villa during the filming of "A Month by the Lake".  If true, she would have been one of the few people to sleep there since the owner died.

Below is the old chapel door.  It is now part of the house.  I think the kitchen lies behind it. 

Below is a private water entrance. 

Below is where the final scene of "Casino Royale" was filmed, and also a Star Wars scene.  The statues are overlooking the Gulf of Venus - aka the start of the Tremezzina. 

Cypress trees, meticulously manicured plane trees, wisteria, box hedges and azaleas (among others) greet you as you wander around the terraced gardens.  Apparently the rocky promontory is not conducive to the typical plants you'd find in an Italian garden but I'd say they did pretty well.

That little gecko blends right in, doesn't he?

The villa is not merely one building, there are several.

And, back to the water gate...

a domani...

Villa Balbianello on Lake Como

Buongiorno!  I'm taking a detour from the "photos from our trip" series and will highlight Villa Balbianello for a few days (next post will be about wandering the grounds).  I'll include several photos to thank you for the patience of reading this long post. 

As I've mentioned before, it's tough for me to pick my favorite villa on Lake Como.  They all have their unique details and unique stories.  Villa Monastero seems to go on forever and is lush with a wide variety of flowers.  It also has life - it is now an education center.  Villa Carlotta made me sad on my first visit.  Such a beautiful home, a wedding present, named after a young woman who died within five years of her wedding.  It felt so empty to me the first time.  She died in the mid-1800s, and Italy confiscated the villa from the family at the onset of WWI - I wonder how long it's been since someone lived there?   There are many other villas to mention, but, I digress.

Villa Balbianello is found at the tip of a rocky peninsula jutting out into Lake Como.  You have two ways to get there:  by boat, or by walking from Lenno (and only on certain days as they close the gate to the property otherwise).  On one side of the peninsula is the Gulf of Diana, where Isola Comacina is found.  On the Lenno side is the Gulf of Venus which is the start of the Tremezzina, the most beautiful part of the lake. 

A few of the photos below were taken from a seaplane; Aeroclub Como (in Como) will take you up for a ride and while you visit the lake you will see many of their planes buzzing about all day long.

Villa Balbianello, to me, seems full of legends; you step into another world when you visit.  Originally a private, secluded retreat of a Cardinal, eventually it made its way into the hands of Italy's James Bond.  Well, I think of him as James Bond, anyway. 

Fay Ce Que Voudras ("do as you please/do what you want") is what you see engraved on the entrance gate when you arrive by boat.   Guido Monzino, a son of a wealthy Milanese businessman, bought the villa in the mid-70s.  To call him a world traveler would be an understatement.  He was the first Italian to scale Mount Everest (1973).  A few years previous to that, he led the first Italian expedition to the North Pole.  He climbed Kilimanjaro and the Matterhorn when younger.  What didn't he climb, actually.  And then he bought this magnificent villa and filled it with all the artifacts of his memorable life.  Sadly he only lived there for 14 years, as he died, too young, at age 60.  He was buried on the grounds of his beloved villa.  He willed the villa to the FAI (Italian national trust) which is why mere mortals like us can now visit. 

A visit to the villa will highlight his library and the map room.  His expedition room, full of treasures from his travels including the sled he used on the North Pole.  His extensive art collection.  His bedroom, with views over the lake and with a secret stairwell to another water entrance.  His smoking lounge, redolent of dark, heavy leather chairs and cigars.  It looks as if he just popped out for a second to get another bottle of scotch.  Think of the evenings there with friends, over scotch and cigars, telling his travel tales. 

I fell in love with the villa before I even visited.  A must-see which will have you dreaming of Lake Como is the movie "A Month by the Lake".  Vanessa Redgrave, Uma Thurman, and Edward Fox star, and their hotel was played by Villa Balbianello.  The movie is charming if somewhat thin on story but I still love it and watch it a few times a year.  The filmmakers clearly wanted to make Lake Como the star just as much as the characters. 

Next up:  a wander around the property...

a domani...

Photos from our trip: Lake Como

Good morning!  I hope you are enjoying this series. 

This photo was taken from our balcony at Albergo Lenno (and I cannot recommend this hotel enough, for your stay on Lake Como).  Lenno is a jewel and has become our favorite place to stay.  It has a tiny little waterfront village and the rest of the "town" (mostly just houses/condos) extends above the Via Regina, the white-knuckle narrow road that follows the west side of Lake Como.  The waterfront is where the charm is.  You can even walk to Villa Balbianello from Lenno.  That is another story for another day, so come back later for pictures of Villa Balbianello and its story. 

See the plane trees?  They had recently clipped them down, but good!  On previous visits they had a lot more foliage.  In fact, do you see that bare, tall "stump" of a tree in front of the ferry stop?  That was quite large and luxurious.  I wonder why they cut it down so much.

Across the water is the peninsula on which you will find Bellagio.  Bellagio itself is off to the left of this photo.  You can just barely see San Giovanni, to the left of the photo, in between two branches of the plane tree. 

a domani...

Photos from our trip: Lake Como (What George sees each morning)

Good morning everyone and as promised, here is the counterpart to yesterday's photo.  This is directly across from Laglio, where George Clooney has a summer villa or two.  George must wake up every morning and look upon this lovely vista.

According to Google Maps, this must be Pognana Lario.

Photos from our trip: Lake Como (where is George?)

More in the series.  As we drove from the southern part of the lake to our destination in Lenno, we paused for a few minutes above Laglio.  The Via Regina is the main road on the western side of Lake Como, and in order to visit the little villages there are usually smaller access roads.

George Clooney has a summer villa (or maybe two?) on Lake Como.  We are pretty sure I'm pointing the camera in the right general direction.  Tomorrow I will post a photo of his morning view from Laglio.

Photos from our trip: Lake Como

OK, so I didn't post this the NEXT day.  The fact it was within 7 days is amazing given how much I've neglected my blog!

This is the view of the same street but wider.  I bet you've seen this scene before.  If you have any interest in Lake Como at all, I am sure you have. 

This was taken within hours of our arrival.  We've been to Lake Como four times now and it feels like home.  We don't stay in Bellagio but we always spend time eating there, or going up and down its various stairs - and shopping.

Photos from our trip: Lake Como

This is Salita Serbelloni, taken from the very tippy-top of the stairs, in Bellagio.

Even if you haven't been to Bellagio, odds are, if you've seen a photo of Bellagio, you've seen this scene.  Tomorrow I will post the "full on" photo from the top of the stairs and see if you recognize it!

Photos from our trip: Lake Como

This is Villa Monastero, taken from Villa Cipressi.  It may be my favorite villa on Lake Como (although it is in stiff, stiff company for competition).  It extends so far along the lake, the vista you see is much of it - roughly to the last smaller clump of cypress trees...

Photos from our trip: Lake Como

This was taken in a little hamlet called Loppia which is on the water not far from Bellagio (walk through Villa Melzi and keep going).  We had lunch at Darsene alla Loppia, out on their covered patio.  I was intrigued by the building nearby!

Sunset on Lake Como

Good morning!

I am picking through some random photos I took last summer.  This one was in Varenna, on Lake Como.  It was so very hot in July, and we melted our way around the lake.  Finally when the sun would start to go down over the mountains to the west it would cool slightly.  I took this just after we sat down to eat at Vecchia Varenna.  Canon S90. 

2010, we hardly knew ye...

Once again it's New Year's Eve!  Where did this year take you?  Did you stick to your resolutions (even if it was to make no resolutions)?  Did you get to travel, did you welcome new people into your life, did you pay off those credit cards? 

Each December I take stock of the year that is being quietly ushered out the door - and abuse friends and family by sending the annual Xmas newsletter.  I also look to the year ahead and wonder where it will take me.  A friend recently put a bug into my ear about the "Seagull Century" because she and her husband completed it for her 50th birthday.  This is an annual fall bike ride, 100 miles in length, and it starts in Salisbury Maryland.  Apparently it's "easy" because it's spread over two days and as it is near the shore it's quite flat.  In 2010 8100 riders biked; the youngest was 6 years old and the oldest, 88.  You know, I think I can do this...  ("can" and "will" are still not merged...)

I want to thank my readers for reading (and viewers for viewing, since my first MO was to make this a photo-blog).  I know you're out there even though I don't know who you are in many cases, and maybe I don't hear from you so much.  If you follow me, I will follow you (google-blog speak, but it sounds like a Phil Collins song doesn't it?).  I have been watching my "google stats" and each year the blog has grown a little bit.  I started posting occasionally in 2008 and that year only 861 individuals found me (2213 page views).  In 2009 2030 people found me (3774 page views).  In 2010, 3144 people found me - 7888 page views!  Granted, it looks like most find me on google and then bounce away, but in the past three months the return visitors have outnumbered the ones who run screaming into the night.  I hope this means I am slightly more interesting than I used to be!

So if you are out there, drop a line, post a comment, let's get to know each other!  Happy New Year!

The photo selection today is where I'd really like to be... Lake Como in June.

Canon 7D.

TGIF

A toast to Friday!

Above:  from the Eremo Gaudio in Varenna, Lake Como.

Below:  from the Vecchia Varenna in Varenna, Lake Como.

All photos taken in Italy.

My other car is a Mercedes

Ha, ha, ha. You know those bumper stickers that say "My Mercedes is in the shop" or "My other car is a Porsche..."

Hannah Belle is finally home from Germany.
I never did expain why I named her Hannah Belle.
Here is a hint: We drove her across the Alps...

This is on the car ferry from Menaggio to Varenna, on Lake Como.

My first-ever photo competition!

Hi everyone!  This is Varenna on Lake Como.

I just got home from my first ever entry to a photo competition. I joined a photo club in February and haven't been able to get my act together in time for the competitions.

I finally got two photos matted for the competition. This is one of them.

Since this was the end-of-season party it was a "judging by your peers" competition. Out of 44 entrants, each person was to select their two top favorites. The official counters then selected the top 5 based on the number of votes, and then the whole group was to look at the top 5 and vote on their favorite out of the top 5.

Well, when we filed back through the room the second time, I was happy to see that mine was one of the 5!

We then all voted on our favorites. (No, I did not vote on my own either time).

I came in third! Out of 44 photos by some really talented photographers. I am pickled tink. And the funniest thing of all - I took that photo with my Canon SD800IS - in other words, a little point and shoot.