Lake Como

Today we arrived at Lake Como, in a little town of 500 people called Ochia.
We had originally booked a room in Varenna about 3 miles down the road, but it was cancelled because the owner was ill. I was disappointed to have to change and I couldn't find a decent priced room in the same village, so we came to a B & B in Ochia. It is right on the lake and we have a room with a view of the lake. We also have a small living room and kitchen that we share and a nice little balcony. Across the street there is a nice tiny harbor where we can enjoy a beautiful view of Lake Como. No wifi, so this will be published later.




We had a great reception by our hosts Maria and Pietro. They don't speak English except for a few words. They are very nice and we did the usual sign language thing to communicate. We talked with them for quite awhile and they loved Paige as all the Italians do. Funny how all the older women just want to kiss her up even when they first meet her. Anyway, they motioned for us to come and they basically took us on a tour of the tiny village up the side of the hill, down narrow streets. What we understood is that the village originated in 1,600 AD, yep, that's correct! Napoleon either walked the streets, built the streets, or something. The village had once been like Venice where you could only reach it by boat, and at the lake there are big rings attached to rocks where they would tie up boats to come to shore. Pietro said his family had lived here for hundreds of years. We are staying in the house of his ancestors. This was an amazing experience!








We were handed a paper asking if we wanted to have a reservation at a restaurant up the road (in English) so we said ok. Later on our tour with Maria and Pietro they pointed out the restaurant, which was not a restaurant but a residence. We walked up the road to find a large house and we asked if it was Lucia, and they said "si". We went in to find it set up as a restaurant, but no name or anything on the outside. It was just two couples, I assume locals, and one very old Italian lady eating. They served one menu, no choice: antipasti, ravioli, green beans, and thin sliced turkey with sauce. Plus, a bottle of wine, water, dessert and espresso. I think it was probably my least favorite food, but to have an older couple serve you in their home (I assume) and not speak a word of English and have to communicate, was really priceless. We had to figure out what to do and the other people were staring at us, but then when they left they give us us a big, ciao!













This is the view as we walked the two hundred feet back home.






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Location:Ochia