Today we took a bus to the next town over, Siusi/Seis and then a cable car up to the Alpi di Suisi. These are high meadows of the Dolomites at about 6200'. Hiked the recommended trail (hard beginning!) up to Arnika Hutte for a light lunch & then on around the circle (Puglatsch Umlauben). Skies were overcast but with all our efforts we did not get cold! The predominant language here is Austrian/German with Italian second. Most service people speak enough En...

After a sumptuous breakfast, took the in-town chair lift up the hill & walked back down. Some sunny meadows & some wooded trails. Great views of town & nearby hamlets as we walked down.

Yesterday was mostly a travel day. Ferry to Varenna, train to Milan & Verona, bus to airport & picked up a car. Larger than we expected & manual Trans. After figuring out reverse we finally were on our way. Just a few trickey road challenges & we made it. Driving into the mountains was such a contrast from everything else we've seen in Italy. Small hamlets with big church steeples & a couple of castles can be seen from the road. Hotel was tuck...

Guess I'm falling down on the job! We used our last day in Bellagio to wander around, do laundry, & visit the Melzi gardens. It was also a national holiday - Festa da Republica - so every place was crowded. But the weather was warm & sunny for our last day. Lake Como is magical & now we know why the area is so special.

Breezy on the Menaggio side of the lake. Rick Steve describes it as more "urban." That means there's a main road going thru it. A nice lakefront area & then lots of private villas. Had great pizza for lunch on old town.