It’s true that there really is no place like home and I'm fortunate enough to have two of them. Whilst I've lived most of my life on the outskirts of London, my dad was born and raised on the Lake Como and has now retired back to the village in which he grew up. When I say 'on the lake' I mean it literally. The family house is less than a few steps from the water's edge and each time I wake up to that beautiful view, I wonder how on earth I've resisted relocating myself.
When I was younger we'd spend entire summers on the lake and so this place holds hundreds of happy memories for me. However it's only in more recent years that I've come to truly appreciate its beauty. Whilst as a child I’d judged the place purely based on its potential for activity, I now find that admiring the stunning scenery has become a full time activity in itself.
It was late when we stepped off the train from Rome but even through the darkness I could sense we were home. The evening air was refreshingly cool and the scent of the lake was brought to me through the breeze. Breathing in deeply, I felt my chest slowly rise and a calming smile spread across my cheeks. Lago di Como; home.
Whilst the rest of the world accelerates forwards, life on Lake Como maintains its slow pace. From the cracked paint of the terracotta houses, to the ice-cream flavours sold at the only gelateria in town; nothing here ever changes. It’s been a whole year since I visited last but I don’t expect any surprises. Fabio will still be conjuring his magic in the stone oven pizzeria; Franco will still be serving limoncellos at the bar. (It’s for this reason these establishments aren’t known as their real names. They’re not Creme Caramel or Zanzibar; they’re Fabio’s and Franco’s.)
Perhaps if things were different I wouldn’t feel so at home. Certainly, when I left London for a year I returned as an alien but I’m confident that with Lake Como, even after a decade I’d slot straight back in. There’s a real comfort in knowing there’s somewhere you’ll always belong.
The next morning I couldn't wait to draw back the curtains and take my first look at the lake glistening in the sunshine. The mountains which surround it are just as beautiful, standing grandly like a fortress which protects the hamlets within. Though fearsome to some, they're familiar to me and I love to stare up at them, wondering all the time who may be gazing back.
To my horror, it was raining! My dad had warned me that they'd had the worst summer on record but my mind had refused to make the connection between this place and rain. However, whether it was my persistent positive thinking or simply a stroke of luck, it had cleared by lunch time and the forecast had changed to show a warm few days ahead. Thank goodness; the whole world is a lot prettier with a little bit of sunshine.
Making the most of the improvement in weather, we marched straight outside and walked up to Campo, my dad's small farm up in the mountain. Each year I visit, there seem to be new animals around and this time it was two tiny kittens which came bounding down the hillside like bunny rabbits as soon as they saw us at the gates. They're abnormally small but absolutely gorgeous and I immediately abandoned all ideas of helping my dad, to stop and play with my new friends for an hour.
From high up on the hillside, the view from Campo is simply stunning. There's a house up there which is currently uninhabitable but is another item on the Pelizzari project list. One day when the road reaches our patch of land, I would love to open a B&B. In reality it will require a lot of hard work but at the moment I have the perfect vision; serving breakfast on the terrace overlooking the lake, with fresh fruit from the garden, eggs from the chickens and strong Italian coffee to start every day.
Back down at lake level (and with my head out the clouds), we took the kayaks out for a spin. Unfortunately, I spun far more than I intended! Even when the lake is calm, it’s difficult to keep the boats straight and I found a special talent for turning around. Eventually, however, I seemed to grasp the hang of it and we paddled all the way into the next village. Though a bit of work out, it was still incredibly relaxing as we stopped regularly to admire the beautiful villas along the lake front.
That evening we realised that I’d been in Italy for five days and had not yet had a pizza; such shameful behaviour had to be fixed! Fortunately for us, the best pizza in the whole of Italy (all biases aside) can be found at the restaurant two minutes from our house. This guy really is something else. The pizzas he serves are the largest I’ve ever seen and yet we still always come away wanting more. They’re so, so delicious and a fraction of the price of good pizza in London (if such a thing even really exists.)
One of the most wonderful things about Italy is that I can justify eating three massive meals a day, not only because the food is too good not to, but also because it can be easily counteracted with a beautiful walk, cycle, swim or row in the great outdoors! This week we chose to climb Mount Grona which is a relatively easy hike to the 1,736 metre peak.
Even from midway up, it offers breathtaking views out across the lake and the villages below. Through our binoculars, we could make out the road above our house and even see people (which we presumably know) sitting outside at the bar. Fortunately we took a few photographs at this level because by the time we reached the top we’d become completely engulfed within a cloud. Though we should have been able to see for miles around, we were faced with nothing but a wall of white. Nevertheless, we were pleased to have made it and cracked out the hip flask for a celebratory swig.
My first few days on Lake Como have been amazing and I’m so thankful to have another two weeks left to go. It’s the first time in a long time that I’ll have spent more than a few days here and I’m looking forward to settling properly into life on the lake. To make it even more exciting, some of the girls are flying out to join me and I can’t wait to share this loveliness with them!
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