The name's Bond........ James Bond

As we settled into our hotel room overlooking lovely Lake Como, a familiar site could be seen a kilometer away. Sitting on a nearby peninsular was a magnificent looking Villa which looked just like the one used in the last scene of the Casino Royale movie. A quick Google search by Adrian confirmed that his James Bond knowledge is still spot on and he ran past it on one of his evening runs to take a look (unfortunately closed but available for rent at 1,000 Euro per night!).

Now back to the trip...... we had a couple of lovely days at Lago di Como. Our hotel was near the town of Menaggio and our room had a fantastic panoramic view of the lake. We spent much time on our balcony eating pizza, drinking, playing cards and just taking in the view. We cruised down the lake on one of the regular ferries to the town of Como, calling in at a number of small villages along the way. The views from the boat of the villages and magnificent villas set against the mountains were breathtaking. The town of Como didn't impress us that much, but we did ride the funicular railway up to the village of Brunate high above Como for some great views of the lake (and more gelati!). We also visited one of the oldest and best kept villas on the lake, Villa Carlotta, which is some 350 years old. The botanic gardens were very expansive and had plants from all over the world. The villa itself was also impressive and contained furniture from different eras of the region. We wish we'd had some more time at the Lake, but it was time to head back to the mountains, this time the Dolomites in the NE Italy.