Day: November 5, 2021

Lake Como – 5 November 2021

Friday was a perfect fall day, cool, clear and sunny. So we decided to enjoy the day and our setting by hiking up to the San Martino Church on the mountain above the lake. You can see it on the ledge about half way up the mountain, in the picture below.

At the start of our hike.

The hike was about two miles up and back, with 800 feet of elevation gain. The views were stupendous.

San Martino Church overlooking Lake Como.
Lake Como from San Martino Church
What a day!
Enjoying the view
Me on the way down.

For dinner we ate at Rodrigo Ristorante Pizzeria near our hotel. We started with a meat, pecorino cheese and walnut salad flavored with honey. I don’t know how they put the honey on the salad but it was the only dressing and the salad was fabulous. There was just a hint of honey in every bite.

Then we had pinse. It is the second time we’ve had pinse on this trip. It’s like pizza but the crust is very special. It’s made with different flours and it’s soft and crunchy. I love it. And we had beer instead of wine for a change!

Pavia to Cadenabbia on Lake Como

As soon as we left Pavia Thursday morning and started heading north we could see snow covered mountains in the distance. It was a beautiful sunny day and I suspect the snow was all new from the storm we’ve had in the last few days.

Driving north towards Lake Como

Booking hotels is always a bit of a gamble. A hotel can look great and have great reviews online but then turn our in reality to be a big disappointment. Especially at the end of our trip when we spend two nights in places we hope we will have a hotel and a room that we will find enjoyable to relax in. The hotel Duke booked on Lake Como, the Grand Hotel Cadenabbia, is in a nice location but it is old. I was a bit worried the room might be small and dark. So it was a huge and very exciting surprise to see our room. We had booked a lake view room but I’m sure they upgraded us. We have a big sunny bright room with two big doors that open out on to a terrace overlooking stunning Lake Como. It’s heavenly.

Our room at the Grand Hotel Cadenabbia
The view from our terrace

During the afternoon we went for a walk along the lake and had snacks on the terrace.

Lake Como