Weeknote 165

Trip to Como ups and downs

• Arrived early evening in Como on Wednesday evening after a scenic train trip from Zurich onboard one of the fancy new-ish Giruno trains.
• Stayed at a pleasant Airbnb located just outside the city walls so quiet and great value.
• On my first day in Como I explored the city and took in the sights and enjoy freshly prepared Italian coffee.
• Wasted time queuing for next-day boat tickets, only to find a small sign near the sales booth stating that only same-day sales were allowed. I'd tried online booking, but it wasn’t available due to limited allocation for online sales which sell out weeks in advance.
• Went on the funicular up to Brunate. Again, long queues to board, but worth it for the views from above. Trekked up to Faro Voltiano, which was incredibly steep along cobbled roads. More magnificent views over the Alps, albeit a little hazy. Descended back down to Como and my apartment on foot via a steep pathway decorated with poetry at intervals. It took me over an hour, but great exercise and scenery along the way. Still have sore leg muscles days later, I probably should stretch more!
• For May Day, I was up early to secure a place in the queue for boat tickets at 7:45am. After an hour finally got my ticket and boarded the slow ferry to Bellagio. A beautiful ferry and relaxing trip with spectacular views along the way.
• Predictably, Bellagio was swarming with other tourists. I retreated up hill to an out-of-town restaurant for pizza and slightly more affordable price, but still with great views across Como Lake.
• Briefly headed acros the lake to Menaggio and joined another queue to get ice cream.
• All too soon it was time to catch the last ferry home, or so I thought. I paid extra for the fast ferry, queued in what I assumed was the line for people heading to Como. The ferry arrived; no one moved. I stepped forward, effectively queue‑jumping, but it was too late, the ferry left before I had time to board.
• A quick dash to the bus as my only way of returning to Como. It was very late-running and overcrowded, thankfully nabbed a seat for the hour plus ride back to Como.
• I escaped the Lake Como crowds for my final day of holiday and crossed the border to Lugano, Switzerland. The vibe there was much more peaceful albeit still fairly busy with tourists.
• Spent the afternoon walking along the hour-long trail to Gandria. More beautiful views of lake, mountains and fine architecture.
• My bus back to Lugano station didn’t go smoothly. It was late, infrequent, and the card tap‑in wasn’t working. The driver started yelling at me in Italian as if I were trying to dodge the fare, then fumbled with his handheld device to take payment from my card. It seemed to go through, but with no internet in Switzerland I couldn’t check my Monzo app.
• On arrival back in Lugano, the driver kept the exit door shut and wouldn’t let me get off. He called over an inspector or another driver to demand payment from me again. Only once I was back in Italy and had internet did I see, to my horror, that Monzo showed duplicate payments.
• Homeward bound to Heathrow on Sunday via British Airways from Malpensa, all went smoothly thankfully! I was able to take a couple of regional trains that avoided the busy terminus stations of Milan.