Nick has been a fan of Tom Waits for ages, but since Tom Waits is famously not a fan of Australia, Nick has never been able to see him live. When Tom Waits announced a European tour recently he also left London off the itinerary, so we decided to head down to Milan for the show on the date which coincided with Nick's birthday.
We arrived in Milan late morning on Saturday after catching a very early flight from Heathrow (the new Terminal 5 - my first time and all very new and exciting - and we only took carry-on so no chance our bags were going to go missing!) When we arrived in Milan we caught a bus from the airport to Central Station and then walked about 2 minutes to our hotel, the Starhotels Anderson (bizarrely I had booked the same hotel - without realising it - that Melissa and I stayed in on our trip in 1995! Fortunately it had undergone a few renovations since then...) The check in guy was very snooty, but graciously allowed us to check in to our room early anyway. After a quick freshen up, we headed out to get some lunch and see a bit of Milan.
The weather was quite warm again - not as hot as Rome but still much warmer than London. A colleague of Nick had made a few restaurant recommendations so we tried to find a pizza place on the list but unfortunately it was closed. However there was another place just down the street and so we grabbed some lunch there before heading towards the center of Milan. First stop was the amazing Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, a covered shopping arcade full of boutiques and cafes -
Next was into the Piazza to see the amazing Gothic cathedral -
From the side -
After a stop for gelati, we went back to the hotel for an afternoon nap before grabbing a quick bite to eat and then off to Tom Waits. See Nick's blog for a detailed review.
The next morning we checked out of our hotel and caught the train from Milan to Como, the biggest town on the banks of the famous Lake Como. The train trip was just on an hour and after arriving in Como we had another fantastically short walk to our hotel, the lovely Albergo Terminus, about 5 minutes from the station. Again, we were lucky to get an early check in and immediately headed out to have a look around.
The day was overcast but still very warm and we walked around the streets near our hotel, taking in the duomo and getting some delicious foccacia for lunch before deciding to take a boat trip around the lake. The trip was a relatively short loop around the southern end of the lake, stopping at 5 or 6 different towns where you could get on or off the boat. The view from the boat -
We decided to stay on and just do the round trip, although Nick was convinced the boat was unsound and we would be swimming back to Como. Fortunately we made it back safely. Nicky after getting off the boat -
After an afternoon nap, we took the recommendation of the front desk at the hotel and had some fantastic pizza a few minutes walk from the hotel. Nick was fascinated by the shape - not your traditional round pizza, but rectangular with one end finished in a twist of dough and served on wooden boards. Unusual, but really great pizza. We topped this off with some amazing gelati from the place next door, although neither of us could finish my chocolate fondant. We watched a movie back at the hotel and were also treated to a great fireworks show over the lake which we could watch from our window! We're not quite sure what it was for, but it was pretty spectacular!
If we were a bit underwhelmed by Lake Como on Sunday, we were completely overwhelmed on Monday when we woke to a beautiful blue sky (compare to the photos above). The view from our window -
In the sunshine you could understand exactly why people want to live here (including George Clooney) considering the lake is not really used for swimming - it's just beautiful. We went for a walk around and decided to take the funicular up one of the mountains to take in the amazing view. The funicular -
Como, featuring the duomo -
From northern Italy to the Swiss Alps -
Me enjoying the sunshine -
After heading back down the mountain on the funicular, we decided to do the same boat trip we did the day before. This time our boat was much nicer and we sat right at the front to get the best view (and slightly splashed!) Heading north -
Nick's colleague had recommended a great restaurant in one of the towns that was included on the boat trip - we hadn't been inspired to get off the day before but with such beautiful weather, we decided that lunch on the lake would be perfect. Arriving in Torno -
The boats in the tiny, tiny harbour of Torno and the front of the Belvedere, our restaurant for lunch -
Nicky in one of the streets near the harbour -
The view (to the right) from our table -
And to the left -
After some lovely lunch (almost as nice as the scenery!), we caught the boat back to Como and grabbed our bags from the hotel. After that, we headed back to Milan on the train and then took the bus to the airport to catch our flight back to London.
