Lecco
Lecco from Malgrate
Lecco
Malgrate
San Giovanni Train Station platform
Como
Como August 2016
[from FB post: August 19, 2016]
I finally made it to Lake Como after hearing about it for years. I was just on the very tip of it, not up in the middle by Bellagio or anything. And just WOW.... I really get why people are crazy about it. Even if it's touristy, still... WOW.
I specifically remember Jeff (last name forgotten) from Georgetown freshman year always going on and on about Lake Como. Of course, he was a "rich kid", so his comments were not surprising. As usual I filed them away. Throughout life I learned that, indeed, Lake Como was the playground of the world's rich and famous. Bellagio, where the two southern arms of the lake join to form a kind of peninsula, existed as a playground of those select few we read about in gossip columns, the financial pages, and films.
While passing through little Bergamo, I realized there was a local train that went as far as Lecco (on one of the southern arms of the lake) and it wasn't that long of a journey. I HAD TO SEE LAKE COMO, so I went. The scenery after Bergamo quickly got interesting and by the time I arrived in Lecco it was downright alpine. Little Lecco was a lovely gem of a town with ancient Roman walls, a few old churches and a beautiful lakeside walk. I followed the southern end of the lake perimeter around to the other side (this was its narrowest point) to Malgrate, even smaller than Lecco but with far better views. Both towns were gorgeous and made me want to see the more upscale places farther up the lake. Having visited Portofino, I wasn't sure if I was ready for Bellagio since Portofino was very beautiful yet needlessly attitudy and expensive. I imagined Bellagio would only be worse. There were lots of other places to visit along the very long shoreline of Lake Como.
I could fully imagine a rich Milanese having a home on Lake Como. The place was something like the Hamptons for New York City except in the Alps rather than on the Atlantic. I took a second trip to Como town from Milan at the end of the same trip. That visit was overshadowed by the refugee crisis with one of Como's railway stations being overrun with asylum seekers trying to make it into Switzerland (the next stop was Lugano). San Giovanni Station had been transformed into a huge homeless camp. What a juxtaposition since Como town was dripping in wealth a few paces away. Como was nothing like sleepy Lecco or Malgrate. In Como one sensed what the lake and its environs were really all about - wealth. Como was rich.
On that first visit to Lecco, I was ready to head back to Bergamo and I got on the very local train (which had seen better days) and ended up in a carriage with a lot of Africans. When the conductor came, they all said they didn't have tickets and he just shrugged his shoulders and let them be (after, of course, checking my ticket). Italy cannot just wish its West African migrant issue away. I swear the Italians must think they will wake up one day and all "those people" will magically be gone. Any future solution will not be a happy one.
I had discovered a new beautiful place, if only the very edges of it. It deserved more exploration (with more money). As for when? First, win lotto, then visit Como.
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