Day 11 Lecco to Morbegno - Ride total 800 k, 5,071 m

We got away from the apartment at about 7:00 and made our way down to the Lake Como waterfront on the assumption that there would be a Cafe down there. We were right in that we found a delightful Patiseri (bakery) that did tea and coffee as well, it was a jam filled croissant followed by a cream and strawberry filled one for my breakfast.

We then headed down to where we thought the Lake Ferries might leave as we thought it will be fun to take a ferry to get up the Lake. 

While both Stephen and Peter are high level management accountants it is Stephen who appreciates the detail and as he has been researching these Ferries over the last few days online our protocol in this situation is let that person continue. So while Peter and I relaxed and took tourist photos of the lake Stephen was busy making sense of the ferry timetable which of course was entirely in Italiain!

Yes, he assured us there was a ferry up the lake leaving at 10:10.

Great I said, that leaves us time to visit Decathlon so I can see if I can get an on bike bag for my Phone. So off Stephen and I went while Peter headed off to find a hearing aid specialist as one of his new hearing aids has decided to stop working! Fingers crossed on that front not only for Peter but for those of us living with Peter... 

Well I had more luck than Peter and it looks like his hearing aid is dead until he gets back to Aus!

We boarded our ferry to travel Lake Como to Ballagio where we waited for another to take us right to Colico and from there we only had an 18 km flat ride to get to our apartment for the night.

The ferry rides were great - something different and gave us a good look at all the villages and towns scattered along the shores and high up on the hills - they ade us question why? Why did they choose to create a village where they have most it appeared had a church with a cluster of houses around it - no farmland, just forest it woould appear bodering the villlage. Something to research at a later date.

We had an enjoyable lunch at Colico and then rode on to the apartment where we were met by the owners and a friend of theirs who could speak "Australian", just as well I was travelling with two of them myself as they all had a right old time catching up on news back home! Gav is a young Aussie who works for the B&B Hosts and as they don't speak English they brought him along to talk us through the apartment. Gav met an Italian girl back in Aus and 9 years ago they moved back here to Italy and now have two young kids - he enjoys it here, but still calls himself an Aussie.

On the Ferry I struck up a conversation with a woman also from Melbourne who was travelling over here with her daughter. The ferries were quite full and we heard more American accents here too. 

The architecture and building design still blows me away and it's amazing how these buildings were constructed and then how well so many of them have survivied.

While it was cooler on the ferry (probably high teens) by the time we got riding after lunch all sign of the rains had gone and it is beginning to heat up again.

Once we were settled in the apartment I went off in search of a Supermarket to stock up on supplies for breakfast and also some fresh cheese and salami for our pre dinner nibbles. And it's time for them now.









 

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