Planning and Departing

 As with previous trips Katherine and I have taken, we keep a small running list of the Gate1 tours that are of interest to us.  A tour to Italy might seem a bit "pedestrian" compared to some of our other destinations -- especially as both of us have at least seen parts of Italy in the past -- but what has always intrigued us both was the opportunity to visit the famed Amalfi Coast.  With that in mind, we identified a trip offered by Gate1 which had the itinerary we wanted.  Namely, we saw no reason to revisit some of the better-known locations in Italy, so we honed in on the 13-day tour called "Northern Italy, with Tuscany and Amalfi."  With that in mind, we waited until this tour was offered on sale, and we booked in September 2023 for a departure one-year later.  Italy is known for being a magnet for tourists over the summer, and we figured going in September would offer both cooler temperatures and fewer people.  

Going later in the year, though meant that it seemed a like very long slog until we finally got to take a trip in 2024.  Summer dragged on and, as fate would have it, I got word of my new job only a few days before we were to leave.  That made the timing difficult, but also rather perfect, as this would offer a well-desired break before starting in the new position.

Itinerary of Our Trip

We left home on Friday, 30 August.  We have a new dog watcher, who we "test drove" during our visit to my brother's earlier in the summer, to celebrate my dad's 90th birthday.  She and Chip got along great, so we felt okay leaving him in her care.  We booked a late-night flight, allowing us both to work a full day and not have to compete with all the other international flights departing around dinner time.  We were booked on Lufthansa, and flew to Milan over Munich.  I was excited as, after we booked, Lufthansa changed the plane for our Dulles to Munich leg to the massive Airbus A380; a plane on which I had yet to fly.  It also meant more seats, allowing me to upgrade us to business class for both our outbound and return trips, which always makes traveling easier.

We flew upstairs on the plane, the entire length of which comprises First and Business Class. We had a short delay on departure, but had sufficient padding for our connection in Munich that we had no concerns. I have to rate this first flight as the smoothest long-haul leg I have ever flown.  We felt zero motion the entire trip, which allowed us both to get in some good sleep.

Lufthansa Airbus A380

Pre-Departure Drink!

Making and Missing Connections

Our Plane After Landing in Munich

We both got several hours of sleep on the flight to Munich, which was nice, as it would be a long day.  We killed time in the lounge while we waited for our next flight, and it was interesting, as that day there were regional elections underway in eastern Germany.  There was a lot of concern -- which was later confirmed as warranted -- as a right-wing party won those elections.  It was interesting to hear the color commentary while we waited.

The plane that took us to Milan was a regional jet which, ironically, is the smallest Lufthansa flies.  We literally connected from their biggest to their smallest.  It was a short flight, and we arrived around 4:30pm. As soon as we landed, I fired up my phone, only to receive an email from Lufthansa saying they had failed to load two of our three suitcases onto the flight from Munich.  I was rather shocked at how old the airport was, and it had a much more second-world look to it that I expected.  Katherine waited for our one bag (with her things) while I hiked quite a ways to the lost luggage office.  The place was packed with people and there was a very long line.  It all had a very Soviet-esque look to it.  I saw an empty line marked as "Premier Passengers," and I went that way.  There were only two people working and, ironically, everything was being done by hand, to include the use of carbon paper.  I had no idea they were even making, let alone using, carbon paper anywhere in the world.  These two handled luggage claims for all the airlines, rather than the airlines doing it themselves.  I went through the drawn out process of describing the bags and having them start the claim.  While this was going on, we had a driver waiting for us in Arrivals.  I tried to call him to let him know what was happening, but I never got the call to go through.  After about 45 minutes of fussing, they had our hotel information and told me the bags were arriving on the next flight from Munich, scheduled to arrive in a couple of hours. I rejoined Katherine, and she shared that more than 40 bags were not loaded onto the plane, so there were a lot of very unhappy people.  In hindsight, I think there simply wasn't enough room on that small plane for all the luggage.

Our Small Jet for the Flight to Milan

Big vs. Small

Our driver was very understanding of our situation, so that helped.  We were headed to the small town of Como, on the lake of the same name, which is about 45 minutes north of Milan.  We were arriving one day early for our tour, and I was very happy to have that extra cushion, considering the luggage situation.  Our hotel was right on the waterfront, on the town's main square, so the location was perfect.  It was a Saturday night and the streets were packed with people.  We elected to take a stroll and get dinner, planning to collapse into bed afterwards.  We ate outdoors, on the lakefront, and very much enjoyed our first meal in Italy.  Here, too, we get acquainted with what became our "go-to drink," which was an Aperol Spritz.  In fact, we sampled half a dozen different varieties of spritzes during the tour, but those with Aperol remain our favorite.

View from Our Hotel Room

Our Hotel in Como

Lake Como

Our Inaugural Spritzes

On the walk back to the hotel, I discovered that the airport lost luggage folks had called and left a message that the flight from Munich was delayed and that it would be too late to deliver the bags all the way to Como that evening.  Despite my annoyance at that news, we collapsed into bed around 10:30pm and both fell fast asleep.  

Como at Night

First Impressions and (Luggage) Reunions

By morning I had several e-mails from the airport and Lufthansa, all advising that my bags made it to Milan.  With it being Sunday, they could not provide an estimated arrival time.  Trying to make lemonade out of lemons, we elected to press forward.  We were set to meet up with our tour group for welcome drinks and dinner at 6:00pm, so we spent the day exploring the small city of Como on foot.  I had ordered us an audio walking tour, which we both downloaded to our respective phones.  Similar to the Shaka guide we used in Hawaii last year, the tour described what we were seeing as we walked the city, while also directing us where to walk.  It was a surprisingly good tour, and we both enjoyed it.

Como, During our Self-Guided Walking Tour

Pizzoccheri, which is the pasta shape famous in Como

The Duomo (or Cathedral) of Como

Back at the hotel, while inquiring about our luggage at the front desk, we met our tour director.  His name was Johnny and he made a very good first impression on us.  He offered to do all he could to help us with our luggage, even though he had no obligation to do so. More importantly, however, was that he pointed us to a grocery and department store nearby, where I could buy some essentials.  I did buy toiletries, some underwear and a couple of t-shirts.  I knew Lufthansa and our travel insurance would cover these expenses, but it was nice to at least have something different to wear to our arrival dinner, as well as things to properly bathe.  

I was unable to reach anyone at the airport or the courier service, was allegedly had my bags, so we resumed out walking tour.  We ended up at the funicular, which whisked us to the highest peak overlooking the city.  We later learned that it is the steepest funicular in the world.  There were lots of tourists, most of whom were American or from the Arab Gulf countries.  Evidently a lot of wealthy Gulf Arabs come to Como with their families for the summer months.  Much of the time it was impossible to remember that we were in fact in Italy.  

We weren't able to spend much time up top, as we had to get back to the hotel, clean up, and meet our group.  Though it was already 6:00pm, my bags had still not arrived, but at least I had a clean shirt to wear, lest my first impression with the group were to be of me in wrinkled, smelly clothes.

Museum Dedicated to Alessandro Volta, the inventor of the electric battery

World War Monument (Dedicated to WWI NOT WWII!)

View down to Como from Top of Funicular

Como from Above

Our group was exactly 36, plus our guide Johnny. This made for the largest group we'd ever had with Gate1.  On every other tour, we always started the welcome meeting by introducing ourselves and saying how many Gate1 trips we have done.  Invariably, though we've now done 11 tours, we were consistently on the low end, in terms of numbers.  This time we didn't do formal introductions, but we gradually learned that we were in fact the most traveled in our group, with large numbers of people in our group having never done a Gate1 tour before, and many who had never even left the United States.  It really showed that Italy is a kind of "gateway" vacation for Americans.  All that said, the group was very nice and we very much enjoyed our table that evening.  Johnny went through the basics of our itinerary, to include safety information.

While we were eating dinner, Johnny came up to report that our bags had arrived and he had them portered to our room, which was VERY welcome news.  I know it had been only 24 hours, but I was overly relieved to have the bags back.  We again collapsed into bed.  With our first two days being so long, it all but guaranteed good sleep, with the added benefit of helping us avoid jetlag.

First Sweet of MANY on this trip...

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous

I will admit that I never heard of Lake Como until George Clooney bought a house there and made it famous. I was not exactly sure what to expect, but it was far more mountainous and Alpine-looking than I had thought.  From our hotel and walking around the city the day before, the town of Como and surrounding area reminded me very much of Zurich and Geneva in Switzerland.  In hindsight, that makes a lot of sense, seeing as Como sits only a few miles from the Swiss border.  During our welcome dinner the previous evening, Johnny told us that many people live in Como, or nearby, and then commute into Switzerland to work, given the vast difference in costs of living.  

It was Monday and this was our day to see the region.  Whereas the weather the previous day had been mostly sunny and warm, we awoke to clouds and fog hanging over the mountains that surround the lake.  Many people on our tour had only flown in the day before, so many were dragging when we gathered for breakfast.  The night prior, too, Johnny mentioned that our buses (note the plural) would be picking us up at 8:00am.  While we ate breakfast, I began to think about that.  I knew we were 36 people, but certainly we didn't need two buses, and I couldn't figure out how Johnny would narrate and "guide" us if we were split.  As we gathered in the square outside the hotel we realized that there was another Gate1 tour staying at the hotel on the opposite side of the plaza, and that they would be shadowing us all day.  The second bus was for their group and their guide. As I eyed the other tour, I noted the differences with our group. I was most likely the youngest member of our tour, with most folks looking to be in their 60's, with a few above 70.  The other tour group was much younger.  I figured out later that their tour would mirror ours all the way to Venice, but then they went the "traditional" route, and would hit Pisa and Rome.  It was more of an overview tour of the country, and that's to what I attributed their younger demographics.  

It was quite evident as soon as we departed and the actual touring began that Johnny was a very good guide.  Over the course of the trip we pieced together much of his life and experiences.  We guessed he was in his early 60's and had been a tour guide for almost 30 years.  He was from Rome, and still lives there with his partner, but had spent extended periods abroad, including a stint opening and running an Italian restaurant in London.  We learned, too, that his mother left his father (who was a pilot with the Italian airline Alitalia) later in the life and moved to New Zealand, where she still lives.  In fact, Johnny had gone to visit her in early 2020 and ended up getting stuck there for more than two years.  New Zealand completely shut down during Covid, for people coming and going, so there he sat.  Gate1 kept his position open for him, for which he was very appreciative.  We also learned that Gate1 has an enormous operation in Italy.  They run almost 20 different tours of the country and employ 80 tour directors.  For this month of September 2024, alone, there were 160 tours scheduled.  In fact, in addition to group now shadowing us in Como, we encountered other groups at various times in most of the cities we visited.

Our Tour Director, Johnny

Lake Como itself is rather narrow but very long, and is shaped like a wishbone, with Como sitting at the bottom of one of the wishbone legs.  We drove northward along the coast, which was dotted with beautiful stereotypical Italian villas, many of them built directly on the waterfront.  We did catch a glimpse of the villa that formerly belonged to George Clooney.  We learned that he sold it last year, on the insistence of his wife.  Their children were going to enter school, and she was adamant that they attend French schools, rather than Italian, so they bought a larger villa not too far away, in the south of France.  Evidently Brad Pitt bought a neighboring estate, too.

Driving Northward around Lake Como

The clouds did not dissipate, but rain held off...for now. We eventually boarded a boat, chartered for the two Gate1 groups, and we took about an hour-long cruise along the coast, and then over to the charming town of Bellagio, on the opposite side of the lake. Our tour took us past some amazing properties, many belonging to fashion icons and kings of industry.  For example, we saw a property belonging to Richard Branson (of Virgin fame).  It is only accessible by boat, and though he does not spend too much time there, he does rent it out for 16,000 Euros A NIGHT.  

Villa Belonging to a Member of the Gucci Family

Villa Belong to the Bugatti Family (of expensive car fame)

Church, in front of which Benito Mussolini was Hanged

Private Villa (used to Film Scene in Empire Strikes Back)

Home Owned by Richard (Virgin) Branson; Rents for $16,000 Euro a Night)

We disembarked in Bellagio, which even more so reminded me of a Swiss village.  It also looked a lot like Vale and Aspen, out in Colorado.  There were lots of tourists here, though it appeared that most of them were staying in the town, rather than visiting for a few hours, like us.  We had a short walking tour of the town, and then were let loose for a few hours of free time.  We explored, shopped, and were thinking about getting lunch when it started to rain.  The village is built on a hillside, with two main roads running parallel, one at the water's edge and another further up the hill.  Between the roads were about a dozen very narrow and very steep side streets, dotted with shops, bars, and restaurants.  People were flocking to restaurants on the main drag, which had large umbrellas set up outside, to avoid the rain.  Rather than fight those crowds, we dashed into the next side street and walked up to a very small restaurant partially built into the rocky hillside.  We got the last two seats in the very small dining room and were very happy to be sheltered, as we saw that the skies had opened up.  A small crowd of people gathered outside, hoping to gain entry, but there was no room in the proverbial inn.  

After we were back, Anna asked us about our favorite meal during the trip.  We both thought independently and then unanimously agreed it was this lunch in Bellagio.  It was a very simple meal, but both entrees were outstanding.  Katherine had lake perch with a lemon sauce and I had the famous caccia di pepe (which is fresh linguine pasta which is twirled in a depression made in a giant wheel of parmesan cheese).  The simply roll the pasta around the depression, and the cheese melts into and through the noodles.  SO GOOD!

First of Thousands of Scooters We'd See During the Trip

Boat Which Brought us to Bellagio

Bellagio

Fried Lake Perch Lunch

The rain had stopped by the time we finished, and we still had time for some more shopping before we met for the return boat journey.  We were back on the bus within 15 minutes, as we sailed directly across the lake, rather than taking the scenic tour we had on the way over.

Bellagio From Across the Lake

As a surprise, Johnny had advised us the night before to bring our passports with us today, as were going to take a side trip into Switzerland, to visit the city of Lugano.  The drive up, over, and at various times through the mountains was stunning.  I was unaware, but Switzerland has joined the Schengen agreement, which allows free transit between the signatory European nations, without need for documentation.  That said, Johnny explained that "depending on their mood," the border police might stop the bus and ask to see our passports, hence his request that we bring them.  In the end, we were not stopped, and we were later deposited in Lugano for a couple of hours free time.  It was a beautiful city, but there were very few tourists, which I attribute the staggering costs of things.

Lugano

Church of Santa Mario, in Lugano

Later in the afternoon, we returned to Como, but via the main highway, rather than the scenic route we'd taken earlier.  Within 30 minutes we were back in Italy and back at our hotel.

This trip included more dinners than most of our other tours.  Knowing that we were visiting heavily touristed areas, and not wanting to "waste" opportunities to enjoy good food, we'd planned ahead and made reservations for each of our free nights.  This was one such evening.  I'd already learned when making all of the reservations that most restaurants don't even open until 7:00pm, and we were told that most Italians don't eat dinner until closer to 9:00pm.  They are not as bad as the Spanish, but still it is too late for us.  We arrived at our designated restaurant at exactly 7:00pm and were given a nice table outside.  Only a few tables were occupied, but soon a steady stream of couples arrived, all of whom were turned away, as they had no reservation.  I can only assume that they reserve tables, which you can have as long as you please, and they don't allow people to just wait.  It became obvious during our tour, too, that they were never in a rush to move us along in restaurants.  We invariably had to ask to pay, and even then it took awhile before they came to settle up.  It does, however, make for very relaxed dining.

Como's Cathedral, on our walk to dinner

My First Lemonchello Spritz

Our meal was excellent, and we enjoyed some pre-dinner spritzes and excellent wine.  It was, luckily, a very short walk back to our hotel, which helped, as we still had to sort our suitcases and prepare to depart Como for Venice the next morning.