Kilometres Walked : Friday 5 km, Saturday 4 km, Sunday 8 km.

Sunday 4th June, 2023

Our last day in Varenna was nice and slow and relaxing with a few last meanders around the village. Inhaling the intoxicating fragrance of the many jasmine vines and admiring all the beautiful flowers. Geraniums, Roses and Hydrangeas seemed to be the favourite and I can clearly see why with lovely pops of colour on every corner, they definitely thrive there. We so enjoyed looking in at all the beautifully maintained gardens and terraces and exploring the cobblestone alleyways like a pair of children. Let’s go this way, no lets go that way! I can understand why it is the most popular place on Lake Como, the way the buildings tumble down on top of each other towards the lakes edge, the promenade walk that hugs the waterline and the lovely private gardens and the fabulous views all around of the surrounding mountains.

Saturday was travel day! Leaving Varenna behind we hopped on a train for Tirano. Tirano is just a stones throw from the Switzerland border and is famous for being the terminus for the Bernina Express Railway that heads straight into Switzerland. With a sick husband in bed (Not Covid),I did a little exploring on my own today. Big tall leafy trees line the streets and the architecture is totally different from anything we have seen yet on our travels. With a distinct alpine feel about the place most buildings have that lovely steep pitched roof and again lots of flowers in their immaculate and well loved gardens. Lots of shutters of course and lots of vegi gardens and fruit trees. The Adda river runs right through the middle of town which is the fourth longest river in Italy. I’m looking forward to exploring more this week. (Hopefully with hubbie in tow)

Everywhere you look the mountains rise high in the sky. It’s really very beautiful, especially first thing in the morning when the clouds sit amongst them. Snow still sits on the far peaks and just sparkles when the sun hits it. Once the sick boy is better the walking shoes will be back on and we’ll tackle a few of them.