Varenna

When checking out Lecco and Lake Como on the Internet I found a picture of a small town called Varenna. That one picture managed to capture my imagination as I decided quite a while ago that we had to visit it. Yesterday, I checked on the Trenitalia website and found that trains ran between Lecco and Varenna frequently and for only a few Euros return.

So this morning we headed to the station and using my best Italian ordered two return tickets to Varenna, I had to have a couple of goes at this as the only thing I had got wrong was my pronunciation of the town, as soon as I sorted that we had our tickets and where on our way.

Arriving at Varenna

The trip takes just under 20 minutes by train so unlike our boat trip we we still very fresh and raring to go by the time we got there.

Walking into town

The view back up towards the station

The town itself is just a short 5 minute walk downhill from the station, while the station is a 10 minute struggle up the hill from the town, especially at the end of a long day.

We arrived at the lakes edge in a little piazza where there was a small food and art market in progress, and you know how we love food markets.

A little van full of local produce

Varenna is quite small and is quite long and narrow, with the length of the town following the contours of the lake. Along most of it's edge is a little walkway that gives you very easy access to the rest of the village while also being very picturesque.

Varenna's lakeside walkway

Using the walkway to get around

Soon the walkway opened up into what you would call the town centre, well at least the waterside centre. It was full of cafes, bars, and

The waterside centre of Varenna appears

Laneways leading up to other parts of the village

My collection of stepped lane ways is increasing

All along the walkway were lane ways heading up into the village away from the lakes edge, all very steep, narrow, and made fantastic photos. In some other parts of the walkways, it was continued under buildings where they had made little tunnels to get through.

Lanes and Tunnels

As we made our way about the town we made mental notes of the best looking restaurants, menus, views etc. as later on we would be looking for somewhere to eat when it was lunch time, always a favourite time of our day!

Restaurant off the side of one of the tunnels

Restaurant with beautiful views

We started to make our way up the steps to see the rest of the town.

Time to head up

We eventually made our way up to the real town centre, it was just as lovely as along the lakes edge but for so many different reasons, it actually felt like a completely different town

Piazza San Giorgio

A view back to the lake

More of the Piazza

Everywhere we looked I found myself taking photos, Varenna is a lovely little village and compared to places we had been up to now, not flooded with heaps of tourists, they were there, but not in their hoards as found in some other places

Ristorante Vecchia Varenna

Soon it was time to head back down to the lakes edge and choose our restaurant. This was not going to be as hard as you might think, we chose the one that came off of the tunnel, it had a great atmosphere, a lovely view, and a good looking menu!

So we walked into Ristorante Vecchia Varenna, took our seats, and started to scan through the menu.

Lake fish Ravioli for lunch

We both decided to have the Lake Fish Ravioli with droplets of Lime Mousse and Liquorice Sauce. Sounded and looked very impressive and tasted just as good. Lesley went for a local wine while I had a local beer, again both were very nice

Yum. cheese platter

We finished with a selection of local cheeses and jams, very tasty indeed. After lunch we decided to take a slow walk back and gradually make our way back to the rail station for the trip back to Lecco.

The walk back

Buskers could appear anywhere

At one stage we could here beautiful classical music coming along the walkway, and as we walked through one of the tunnelled areas we came across a busker playing on a Cello, further along we came across another one playing an Accordion, it made the slow walk back even more enjoyable.

We actually got back up the hill to the station a lot easier than I thought we would, which gave me time to go to the toilet and sit and wait for the train due in about 10 minutes.

Varenna Station

On entering the toilet I was faced with something that looked like a shower base with two raised foot prints in it.....the toilet!!!

I think the term is... WTF?

So this must be the type of toilet Lesley has complained about on a couple of occasions. She had spoken about the horror of using these in the past in Greece, and twice since we had been in Italy. I personally could not understand the problem as I stood there and did what I had to do!!

Within half an hour we were back at out hotel, and talking about what a beautiful and wonderful place Varenna is, and how we would come back some time in the future. If you ever get to Como, you have to come here!

 

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