Girls Getaway to Como - Bellagio & George Clooney

Yellow villa in center of photo belongs to George Clooney.

The next day we boarded the boat taxi for a tour of Lake Como and a stop at the town of Bellagio, which known as the Pearl of Como.  This little jewel of a town lies on the narrow strip of land that divides Lake Como into two branches.  The town is famous for its traditional, narrow streets, its steep steps, its hotels, restaurants and shops, as well as for its Neo-Classical villas that are surrounded by magnificent gardens.  During our boat ride we met Angelo who is from Bellagio and now splits his time between Bellagio and Florida (how ironic).  He and his wife have a travel agency specializing in Italian vacations.  He was nice enough to invite us to join him for a cup of cappuccino and gave us recommendations for exploring Bellagio.  Although the weather that day was dreary and rainy, we were determined to shop and sight see in Bellagio.  From town we walked to Villa Melzi to see the beautiful gardens and flowers.  We didn’t pay admission to enter but enjoyed our stroll and the quick glimpse of one of the region’s most popular attractions.  

For our lunch in Bellagio, we stopped at Angelo’s recommendation of Ristorante Bilacus that has been operating since 1963.  It was a relaxing and enjoyable lunch in a lovely dining room.  After lunch we boarded the boat to return to Como for our last night.

We packed our things and enjoyed a fairly low key night back at Touring Cafe that turns into a hip and trendy bar for the locals. Before we turned in for the night, we thought we would have one more glass of vino at our hotel’s restaurant.  As soon as we walked in, my mom and I almost fell over.  Our server looked exactly like George Clooney!!!  We found out his name is Mauricio and he has been featured in several magazines as George Clooney’s Italian Double.  We had a great time with Mauricio as he showed us his Clooney look-a-like materials and brought us the final treat from the Tiramisu Trail...he said it was The Best!

This 12-day trip through Italy was a reminder for me of how important it is for us to see other parts of the world, see history and to have the time to break free from our daily lives to think about things that are most important to us.  Thank you Donna, Katie, Mom and Italy for a fabulous trip that re-energized and re-focused me!