Como!
As my semester abroad in Zürich came to a close, my family insisted on coming over to “help me pack.” My parents and I both knew very well that I did not need help packing, but I obliged to their excuse and they took the trek across the Atlantic. After a couple days in London, Paris, and Zürich, we were ready to go to beautiful Lake Como together.
First, we took two trains from Zürich HB to Como S Giovanni, which were more packed than usual. After a smooth trip, we walked through Old City (which was not as smooth, considering the cobblestone streets and our suitcases) and to our Airbnb. The host was super nice and he was so happy to hear me say “prego” and “grazie” that he thought I knew Italian! I had to regretfully inform him that those two words were 100% of my vocabulary.
After dropping our stuff off, we took a walk through the Old City and checked out the main cathedral of the city, Cattedrale do Santa Maria Assunta – Duomo di Como. As with all European-style cathedrals and churches, it was stunning and the attention to detail was marvelous. We then got to the lakefront and first tried to take the speedboat, but the crowd was unbearable. Instead, we took a slower boat and rode it to the town of Torno and back. It was a lot of fun riding on the deep blue water, surrounded by lush green mountains. It was a very smart decision to take the less-crowded slow boat and also gave us some time to enjoy the scenery.
After getting back to Como, we walked around the lake and had this yummy fried dough dessert with Nutella. Every culture always has a yummy fried dessert, no matter which one. Strolling around the lake with some sugary snacks was so much fun. We ventured to the sculpture located at the end of the walkway, which was dedicated to Volta, a famous chemist and physicist from Como after whom the volt is named. My dad and I were super amped up about it (nerd alert). The four of us (mom, dad, sister, and me) then walked back to the Old City. On the way, the bakery Beretta Il Fornaio caught our eyes and our noses and we decided to get some delicious apricot bread, regular fluffy bread, and cannolis. Italians know their desserts!
This trip happened to be right before the final exam period, so I needed to do some studying. As you can see from this website, I spent the entire semester traveling, so I REALLLYYYYY needed to do some studying. I took a few hours to study for my classes and then headed out for dinner at Caffé Duomo. The food was decent, but it didn’t knock it out of the park for Italian standards. While we waited for the check (which took hours), we watched a school band play a concert under the Duomo. Eventually, it was time to head back, and I ended the night with a couple more hours of studying.
The next day started off with some homemade paratha and some of that delicious bread, called Nuvola. We decided to head to the nearby Brunate funicular and went up the mountain to start the ~30-minute trek to the lighthouse. It was steeper than expected, but you could walk on the winding roads for a flatter, but longer, experience. Eventually, we made it to the Volta Lighthouse and the views were incredible. We could see Lake Como, the surrounding valley townships, and the surrounding mountains. My sister and I even went to the top of the lighthouse to get the best views, and I even tried climbing the ladder at the top to get to a forbidden zone (but stopped before I gave my sister a heart attack). We took the trek back to the funicular station and had lunch at Serafino’s Bar, which had some excellent cacio e pepe and tiramisu.
A quick funicular ride later, we were back in the city of Como. The tiramisu didn’t cure our sweet tooth, and we soon found ourselves at Tre Santi for some delicious and fast-melting gelato. To prevent a food coma, we stopped by Caffé Milani for some espresso and other caffeinated drinks. It was also a good study spot to knock out a few more chapters while it began to drizzle outside. The rain subsided enough for us to go back to the lakefront and walk around some more. We even dipped our toes in an inlet and checked out the Volta Museum from the outside. They really like this Volta dude! As the sun began to set, it was time to head back into the city and we grabbed dinner at Il Vicolino del Paninaio. They had some great fresh sandwiches and cute placemats of the wines of Italy. My mom even asked for a fresh placemat to go, and it was such a great(and free!) souvenir. As we headed back, we ran into several motorcades with Turkish flags. I was pretty sure we were in Italy, not Turkey, so it was an interesting sight to see. Turns out, the Turkish elections had just happened and President Erdogan was just re-elected.
We returned to our Airbnb and ate some more of the nuvola bread before turning into bed. The next morning, we woke up early and attempted to Uber to the train station, but couldn’t find a single Uber. So, we trekked to the station in the rain before heading back to Zürich. After doing some more research, they don’t offer the Uber service, and taxis are also very limited. Be ready to walk!
Takeaways
- Italian desserts are definitely worth the hype. From the gelato to the apricot bread to the cannolis to the tiramisu, everything was top-notch (but the food itself was a little overrated)
- The “textbook” way to do Como with speedboat and visiting Bellagio might not be doable in the tourist season. Consider a slow boat and the Brunate funicular instead
- Thank Como for the Volt and basically all modern electrical devices!
- As my parents would say, be prepared to use Bus #11 (two feet side by side look like an 11) because there are no Ubers and limited taxis
Rose (what went well): The lake was beautiful and the views from Brunate were incredible. It was even more fun that I could share them with my family
Bud (what was good but could be improved on): The desserts were spectacular and the food was all-around quite good. However, I had sky-high expectations for pasta dishes here, and they weren’t met. Maybe I picked the wrong spots, but I’ll definitely be back in Italy to investigate!
Thorn (what did not go well): Walking from the station to our Airbnb and vice versa proved to be a difficult task with our bags. Combined with the rain and the general frustration of not getting a cab/Uber, it was a bit stressful. That’s the unfortunate reality in a small and old city like Como, and not having as many cars in the area does pay dividends when it comes to walkability maintaining the vibe.
Rohan Chhaya 