Today we journeyed to the city of Como and its truly stunning lake. The town itself is just as you picture small Italian towns to be in your imagination. The roads are small and mainly devoid of cars, gelato counters and outdoor seating areas are plentiful, and the people are stylish and quintessentially Italian. We ate lunch as a full group today. I ordered pizza napoli, which is pizza with sardines on it. The pizza was very good and also quite large.

After lunch, we were given about an hour to explore Como. I visited the Duomo and also got gelato at one of the aforementioned counters. After gelato, I rejoined the group for a brief walking tour of Como and then a boat tour of the lake. The boat tour was definitely the highlight of the day. I love being on the water and the incredible views provided by the mountains and villas surrounding Lake Como made it even better.

After visiting the lake, we returned to Milan and had a late dinner at Camillo Benso. Despite finishing dinner around 11 pm, there were still Italians who were just sitting down for dinner when we were leaving. The culture here is very relaxed and this is reflected in the timing of meals.

Tomorrow, we leave Milan for Florence which is about a 4 hour bus ride. I’m looking forward to seeing how different cities in Italy compare to each other in terms of architecture, culture, and feel.

Ciao!