So the Floridians decided that the cold weather wasn’t too enjoyable and the weather forecast for Germany/Austria wasn’t looking much better. Anywhere near Munich was also super expensive with limited vacancy due to Octoberfest just getting underway. So we capitalized on a benefit of our limited planning and changed directions in our itinerary. Checked the Europe weather map for the next week and discovered that just a few hours south we could find sun and mid-70s with a beautiful location.
A couple days later we were all booked with train tickets and an apartment on the shores of Lake Como in a town named Bellano. The weather turned out fantastic and we were all ecstatic to wear one layer of clothes again, plus the budget was recovering with a return to the Euro.
I wouldn’t call Lake Como a hotspot for tourism with kids (at least not in mid-September) but we found it very pleasant, with friendly locals, a playground in every town, useful public transportation on the east side of the lake and enough activities to fill up our week.
We’ll now continue back to our original itinerary destinations of Slovenia and Croatia, but likely extending Croatia to 2 weeks and adding in some time in central Italy before returning to Barcelona in late October for a flight home. Guess we are chasing summer with our southern destination preferences…
Beautiful view from the pebbly beach of Bellano our first day exploring the area.
Charlie’s favorite activity is throwing rocks into any body of water
Hiking up the hill a bit in Bellano to get a view of the town
Day 2 was a 4-minute train ride to Varenna then onto the ferry across the lake to Bellagio.
Found this little guy on our stroll back from a park. Guess we missed taking a park photo, but of course we found one along our stroll of the lakefront near Bellagio.
Ferry ride back to Varenna
The Clooney’s didn’t return our calls to meet up in Bellagio, but hope to hear from them soon.
On our next visit, I may have to speak with someone about captaining this vessel
A regular commuter on the Trenord trains
Day 3 was a return back to Varenna for a hike up to castle. Yoga poses anyone?
Spectacular views from the castle, which was a strenuous 20 minute hike from town
Falconry demonstration about to get started and the birds were getting excited.
Front row seat for the demonstration.
Some video we’ll share later shows how close this bird came to Charlie when landing back on the wall.
Let’s climb some more, to the top of the castle tower!
A game of I Spy from the tower. Interesting difference in vegetation on the north and south side of the castle. Palm and olive trees on the south and pine trees on the north.
Cool fossils on display in the tower staircase.
This owl appeared to weigh more than Charlie
Another ferry ride on Day 4 across the lake to Mennagio.
Our timing wasn’t great for visiting Mennagio with most things shut down for mid-afternoon siesta.
Peaceful sunset for our ferry ride back home.
Back to Varenna again on day 5 for a lunch stop
Delicious burrata and tomato appetizer
Decided to hike back to Bellano after lunch in Varenna. Turned out to be a fantastic 3-hour stroll with a nice combination of nature and small villages.
Gotta keep moving or we’d be here the rest of the day throwing rocks into the river.
Pit stop along our journey for an adult refreshment.
Non-stop scenery on this trail
A great day hiking along the lake
Our last day was a trip north to Colico to rent some bikes and check out a new area of the lake.
Great lakefront park on a Sunday afternoon
Perfect timing for a playground at about 16km from where we started along the trail heading east from Colico along the river.
Looking north into the mountains on our way back to Colico.
First-class lounger enroute from Milan to Trieste.
Enjoying some complimentary prosecco while cruising along at 300km/h.
A view from above the roman theater in Trieste. We split up our travel from Bellano to Ljubljana with a one-night stopover in Trieste with some time to explore before our afternoon bus departure.
Pizza at a locals-only joint in the outskirts of Trieste.
Crammed and stuffy Flixbus ride from Trieste to Ljbuljana, but luckily only a 90-minute ride. We had heard of problematic trains on this route, so opted for a bus instead.
Arrival in a great apartment in Ljubljana and looking forward to some rest after a couple days of travel.
Don’t think we’ll make it to Prague, but let’s try the beer!
Hit up the Hofer supermarket when we arrived and decide to jump right into the local cuisine.
Chris, Cindy, Charlie and Cecily’s Adventure Blog 
how’s the wine in Italy vs France?
Love the pics!
Glad you guys are having fun, love the fact that Charlie is enjoying a great pilsner!!! Start em young!!!
❤👍glad to know you enjoyed your time on Lake Como .