After nearly two weeks in Milan, I already got bored with touristy places like Duomo and Navigli district. So I woke up Saturday morning and decided to go for a day trip to Lake Como (Como Lago) with my uni classmates.
The morning chill still lingered as we gathered, but the sky was so blue and all of us were so excited to start our first get-away trip in Milan. From Cadorna railway station, our group of 12 took the Trenord train to Como Lago which departs every 30 minutes and takes roughly an hour to get there. Getting away from the city’s hustle and bustle with friends from six countries and four continents is such a fascinating experience. A friend said Lake Como is home to American actor George Clooney and other celebrities like Madona and Donatella Versace. I pictured in my head some calm and beautiful landscape with lake and sky reflected, ancient churches, private villas and lots of flowers.
We hopped off the train at Stazione Como Lago, crossed the tracks and headed towards the lake shore. But things were not as I expected. The lake town was lovely but crammed with tourists, restaurants and shops. Apparently there was a street food festival on the lake side, with small food trucks, loud and funky music, moving statues and clowns so people were flocking there, bringing along their kids. What can I say! It was Saturday, and the famous Como lake is just an hour of driving from Milan.
We made our way through the crowded park along the lake to a wooden pier where we spend some time to take group photos in front of “Life Electric”- a newly built sculpture dedicated to the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta. I did not get the meaning of its design, but at least we learned it was meant to remember the inventor of an electric battery. From the harbor front, we could also view Como and its beautiful surroundings — the boats ready to sail, the colorful houses on the foothills of the mountains and the serene lake surface.
From the funicular at the east end of the lakefront, we got in a packed cable car to Brunate, a quiet mountain village that overlooks the Como city and lake. The car was a bit stuffy, but once we stepped out of it, a beautiful wonderland welcomed us with fresh air, enchanting villas, fragrant herbs and flowers, tiny stairways every 10 mins of walk and stone paths that would eventually lead us to the Volta Lighthouse. I was stunned by a beautiful catholic church with angel statues on the top and a fountain at the front. Chiesa di Sant’Andrea (St. Andrew Church) looked new, probably it had just been renovated. The church’s decorations dated back in the late 19th and early 20th century (due to sustained work), and some paintings inside were even created from the 17th century.
I later joined my gang for a breathtaking panoramic view of Como on the lighthouse’s terrace. The lake has the shape of an inverted letter “Y” where the northern branch begins at the town of Colico, while the towns of Como and Lecco sit at the ends of the southwestern and southeastern branches respectively. In fact, what we saw was just the most populated part of the whole stunning lake, where most the tourists go.
The Bubbly Traveler 