I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed), considered the first example of the modern novel in Italian (though the language is a bit antiquated today), is a story every educated Italian knows well, in part because they study it in school. We heard a lot about it in Lecco in particular because its author, Alessandro Manzoni, was the town’s most famous native son, and much of the action of the book takes place around Lecco and other parts of the Lake Como region, and in Milan.
Want to see (and, in winter, ski) the Alps? Get off the train in Lecco and walk across the station parking lot to the bus stand in via Montello, where the #5 bus departs, roughly every hour, for the Funivia (you can buy bus tickets at the newsstands inside or outside the railway station, or on the bus itself, though that will cost more).
Take the #5 all the way up the hill to the end of the line at the Funivia (cable car). Take the cable car to Piani d’Erna:
…where you will find ski facilities, restaurants, hotels, bars, and an unbeatable view of this end of Lake Como (above).
The ferry runs from Lecco (on Lake Como’s southeastern tip) only from spring to fall. The slow boat to Bellagio (one and a half hours) is the best way to see this branch of the lake. With its steep, craggy mountainsides plunging down into the water, it’s reminiscent of a Norwegian fjord.
The boat hops back and forth across the lake, stopping first at Mandello.
Along the way you see gorgeous lakeside villas (no, not George Clooney’s!):
I’ve been trying for years to capture a fanfara (band) of the Bersaglieri, and yesterday finally had my chance. Because I was commuting back home from Milan, the only equipment I had on me was my new Canon SD800IS digital camera, which I’d never tried for video before. Now I’ve learned the hard way not to use the zoom during video. But the sound quality is surprisingly good.
The occasion was a teaser for an exhibition of marching show bands held in Lecco last night, which we did not attend, nor did I stick around to record the interventi (speeches) by local politicians which always “grace” such occasions.
Note the military deployment of cellphone at the very end of the video!
