Prossima Fermata Italia!

Sparkling water! Lakeside villas! The Clooneys! Who couldn’t fall in love with Lake Como? The truth is…we Finkels. I think I arrived in Como with visions of aperol spritzes on sun soaked lido decks. But, we had a little bit of bad luck.

All smiles waiting for the train.

Ben and Eli finished the first Harry Potter book on the train to Italy. Ben is now living Hogwarts 24-7.

I did drink exactly two Aperol Spritz’s while in Lake Como.

In a region where all activities involve water, boats and beaches, a windy day and a rainy day kept us off the lake for a fair bit of our stay. Plus, after the incredible efficiency of the Swiss transportation system, relying on public transit in Italy was much more challenging.

Also (and yes, I recognize the irony of making this comment as a tourist about other tourists), the area – particularly Bellagio where we stayed – was nearly over-run with travelers. While the town was charming, particularly in the early mornings and late evenings when things quieted down, it does ruin your experience a little bit to be admiring a cobblestone street next to a line-up of people waiting for the right spot to take selfies.

Our favorite moments were the times we got further away from the crowds and spent a little more time at the less popular attractions. In particular, something I realized in Lake Como is that traveling with kids, and doing kid-oriented things, helps you to find local activities, events, and restaurants and pulls you away from the big crowds. For us, this was a good thing. We saw exactly one villa, among the dozens of famed estates on the lake. Instead, our most lasting family memory will likely be the day we spent at the public pool.

Villa Melzi, in Bellagio. The only villa we visited!

Not pictured: Children who do not find botanical gardens to be particularly entertaining.

The kids quickly recognized that a highlight of being in Italy is eating in Italy. Both kids feasted and Ben has now, likely permanently, changed his favorite food to pizza margarita. Our daily gelato habit is now deeply engrained in our lifestyle.

All up, we had a good time, but it fell a little short of my expectations and we were ready to move on after a few days. I’ll post some details about our daily outings in the next few posts.