05/11/2025 – On to the Lake Country to celebrate Mother’s Day!
We had a wonderful time in Milan. The Hotel Manin was very nice with an excellent breakfast, the history was amazing, the people were always dressed to the nines (what do you expect in the fashion capitol of the world?), and the weather turned out nicely after a chilly, wet morning. Now, it was time to bail our car out of hotel jail and head to Lake Como! (The hotel offered parking…at 50 euros a night! Plus, you had to give them the keys and you don’t see your car again until you leave!)
The drive to Lake Como was quick and easy. In an hour we were there. That was much too early to check in to our new lodging, so we ditched the GPS directions and tried to find the lake. Yikes! We thought it would be easy to find a large body of water, but Lake Como is relatively skinny and the roads are relatively, no – check that – the roads are VERY narrow. And with buildings on either side of you, you can’t look for a body of water. So, Dave picked a town near the lake and started driving in that direction. Nope! You can be very close to the water and still not see it! So, Dave wised up and put in directions to a ferry crossing. That did the trick.
We got to Lake Como and looked for parking. We followed signs and ended up on this dead end road with an underground parking garage. We saw cars going in and coming out. But then – we stopped. There was a car ahead of us that wouldn’t budge. Another car went around all of us to the garage entrance and everyone started tooting their horns, saying, “Get back in line!” Kathy finally got out of the car to see what was going on. She saw that there were no cars blocking the way at the gate, so she waved Dave to come forward. That’s when the car ahead of us advised us that all of the spaces in the garage were full and we had to wait until someone came out! Ugh. After several minutes, a parking attendant came out, as did one car. The car ahead of us went in, then the attendant told us that, because we had a very small car, he had a special spot just for us. We followed him into the garage and to a spot wedged in between a wall and a car in a designated spot. It worked! Soon, we were walking along the lake. We walked by two VERY large white swans which Dave was able to identify as Mute Swans on his Merlin bird app. A New Lifer for Dave! It was a pretty area, but very crowded – and being mid-May, this was just the beginning of tourist season. After a while, and a snack and drink at a local café, we headed to our new lodging.
The Cascina Mirandola was described as an Agriturismo. It is a 14th Century farmhouse that still operates as a farm. We thought that would be a unique place to stay on our anniversary trip. The 2.5 mile “road” up to the Cascina Mirandola was 2.5 miles of goat path, lined with river rock cemented in place. The little Fiat of ours was not happy. First gear was too much, but second gear was not enough. We puttered, crept, bounced, and splashed along our way until reaching the inn. We could not imagine what would have happened had we met another car coming down the road! And when we arrived and found dozens and dozens of cars there, we could not believe it. They had several terraces of parking, but only one, incredibly tiny, parking space available. Using a little local olive oil, Dave was able to squeeze the Fiat 500 into place. He wishes he would have had a Fiat 490 instead. Maybe that would have fit easier!
We found hundreds of people onsite, with children playing and people eating and talking. As it turns out, not only was today Mother’s Day in the US, it was Mother’s Day in Italy! We were told that there were only 4 other rooms taken for tonight; the rest of the people were here just for the day. That’s when we realized how lucky we were that we arrived when we did, and not when 100 cars were parading down the goat path! Our room is very nice and we ditched our luggage inside before heading off on one of the many trails in the area. As we were walking along the goat path we drove in on, we noticed that the road was lined with Stations of the Cross. We also saw a Grotto along the trail with what looked like an altar and a statue of the Virgin Mary in a niche. What a lovely place! We knew we were in an out-of-the-way place, though, when we saw a helicopter – flying below us! As there was NO WAY we were heading back into town for dinner, we stayed at the lodge and supped. The food was obviously locally grown and made and was scrumptious. Kathy had Ossabucco and Dave had Elephant’s Ear. He was sad when he found out it is made by hammering veal flat to make it just LOOK like an elephant’s ear. No pachyderms were hurt in the production of his meal. After dinner, it was time for bed. Ciao for now!
