June 2 – June 4

Everyone who knows the Pecks knows that we are not “nature folk.” You have never seen us voluntarily together in the great outdoors since the Taj Mahal tent years (c. 2006 – 2010). But, apparently, peeing behind a tree, burning to a crisp red, and getting eaten alive by mosquitos is actually only our state-side fate. We found out that we were really just supposed to be enjoying nature from a terrace overlooking Lake Como, Aperol spritz in hand. That? Yeah, we got that in the bag.

Mark: Per the post title, most people who know of Lake Como are familiar with Bellagio, but we opted to stay in Varenna. Though a smaller town, Varenna has that quaint Italian village feel and the same (if not better) views of the lake as Bellagio.

Very few words are needed to describe our first night in Varenna, though pictures can hardly do it justice. It rained intermittently the next day, but as I said to Susan, “I would be happy if it rained every day the rest of the trip just to have this perfect night.”

We stayed in the beautiful family-run Albergo Milano on the shore of Lake Como. This hotel came with a dinner reservation on the outdoor terrace, and we really made the most of that resy.

As our new British acquaintances would say: scrummy!

Unfortunately the next day was punctuated by regular rain, but we poked around Varenna (more on this in person from Mark). And nothing beats those misty morning views.

We took a train back to Zurich to meet up with Jeremy, as Avery and Ismael had left Switzerland a day earlier than us to get back to a wedding in Saint Louis.

To be honest, Zurich made a point of reminding us that she exists to provide a lavish lifestyle for the trust fund-endowed and boarding school kids in nearby towns. As much as Mark looooves a mall and some window shopping, we found the areas of Zurich around the train station to be a little too commercial. But don’t get us wrong, we got around, much like this wall of chocolate got expeditiously from ceiling to floor.

Maybe this was for the best, as it let us end the final chapter of an amazing two-week saga. If we could only cite one takeaway from this experience, it would probably be that Europe really is the best of both worlds: it’s almost impossible to not “do Europe well,” but you can always come back for more. Until then!