Lago di Como: A Northern Italian Paradise

Sharing is caring!

After two days in Milan, enough was enough and I needed to get out of that stinky, polluted deathtrap of a city. So I headed up north to the famous Lago di Como for a few days. Nestled at the foot of the Alps next to Switzerland, apparently Como is a pretty big vacation destination in Italy, something I was completely unaware of before booking my trip. It wasn’t really on my travel radar at all, but when my plans fell through for the Cinque Terre thanks so massive mudslides and flooding in October, I had to come up with an alternative. And let me tell you, Como did not disappoint!
When I told my mom I was in Como, she actual flipped out! And let me tell you, my mom does not flip out. It turns out that not only is Como the weekend playground of Milan’s beautiful and elite, it is also the home to many a famous person, like other than…wait for it….GEORGE CLOONEY! Swoon! I love George Clooney, and so does my mom! He’s the reason I want a Nespresso machine, and why I love older men. So, new personal goal while visiting Como: find George Clooney.
Como is a beautiful little town next to the lake, bursting with cute little cafes and restaurants, intimidating fashion shops, and lots of beautiful old, crumbly buildings of different colors. Since I was there a few weeks before Christmas, the city was decorated with lights and trees with several different little markets set up. It was a great place to hole up and relax for a few days while on vacation, something I usually don’t do while traveling. Also, not that many people there spoke English, so watching me attempting to speak Italian, which usually came out as Spanish with an Italian accent, was pretty damn funny.
Highlights of the trip included having my rental car agreement totally fall though at the airport (eff you Honk! Car Hire—don’t book with them ever!) wait that wasn’t a highlight. Real highlights included drinking the most amazing hot chocolate on the face of the planet. This was serious hot chocolate people, so thick that the spoon stood straight up in the glass on its own. It made Spain’s hot chocolate look like Swiss Miss cocoa mix. I think I might have moaned out loud when I took my first sip (bite). But my favorite moment of my whole week in Italy was going up to Brunate on the funicular, a little village on top of the mountain next to Como and watching the sun set over the lake and mountains. I walked around the empty village gawking and taking the same picture about a 100 times before tucking in on a balcony of a little cafe with a capuchino to watch the sunset. Unreal.
Don’t worry, this was not the end of my Italian Adventures. The Quest to Find George Clooney continues soon…
Have you ever been to Como? Has a city ever taken you by surprise? Do you love G. Clooney as much as me?

About the author

3 Comments on “Lago di Como: A Northern Italian Paradise

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. thanks! I love taking photos, ya tú sabes 🙂

    I know, I can´t believe I did´t know about him living there. now i feel like I see tons of stuff about it, but whatever.

    don´t worry, I used to read those mags all the time at the gym or at work when people left them around, though I would never admit to buying one myself hehe

  2. Gorgeous pictures–me han entrado ganas de visitar la ciudad!

    Anyway, I can’t believe you were ignorant of George Clooney’s favorite vacation destination. It’s only in like every other People magazine. (I confess to read this only because my neighbor passes them on to me and I read them for free.)

Related Adventures

Wait, we're in Switzerland?

While hanging out in the northern Italian paradise town of Como, I met…Read More

Ciao Milano

So in early December I had a week off from work (love Spanish…Read More
More travel stories
css.php