17 days in Switzerland and Italy (13) - Bellagio (Lake Como), Italy

Ballegio! This name always makes me think of the luxury hotel in Las Vegas. Well, in Lake Como area, this is actually the most popular town, and it attracts most of the tourists. (So true! We actually saw a lot of tourists in Ballegio, although it's not even the peak season yet.)

Ballegio is really close to Varenna. As I mentioned in my earlier post, a lot of people choose to stay in Ballegio during their visit to the Lake Como area. The town is more commercialized in my opinion, with more shops for souvenirs and more restaurants and hotels. Salita Serbelloni is the main street of Ballegio taking tourists from the pier all the way up to the town center.

 

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There are several Tripadvisor top-rated restaurants at the top of Salita Serbelloni. Aperitivo et al (Salita Serbelloni 34) was recommended by our friend Patrick so we had lunch there. It's a restaurant/wine bar.The restaurant is small but has a cozy atmosphere. Some people go there for lunch and some are just there to taste wines. I always feel that Italians really know how to enjoy lives. Well, they also must eat a lot! Restaurant menus in Italy always have a long list beginning from appetizers (starters, cold dish, salards), to pasta dishes, main courses, and ending with desserts. We don't have such big stomachs so we always end up ordering one pasta dish and one main course. I ordered Pizzoccheri Valtellinesi and Alex ordered Casola (local stew with sausage & spare rib). Both were really delicious though I felt the dish Alex ordered were a bit salty. It's funny the cabbages in Casola tasted so like the pickled cabbages from Northern east China. Maybe they were prepared in the same way.

At the top of Salita Serbelloni, there's a small street called Via Garibaldi. You can go to the town center from this street, which is just a few blocks away. More souvenir stores but we also found a small shop (Butti Macelleria E Salumeria) that sells all kinds of cured meat, such as salami and prosciutto. Alex got excited immediately (haha, meat lover!) and yeah...we did purchase some prosciutto after visiting there. (Who can resist trying prosciutto in Italy!)

Our Ballegio visit was more like a food trying tour. Walking around the small town with gelato in hand was so relaxing. I also bought two scarfs for the two moms, which were made in Lake Como. Well, I didn't know that the Lake Como area is also famous for silk products till then. 

After some shopping and walking at Bellagio, we hopped on the ferry and paid a short visit to another small Lake Como town, Menaggio. Compared with other towns, this is a really quiet town without many tourists. No tourist traps, either. (Quote from Alex's words) 

I have to post the picture below. :) Las Vegas is even famous in Italy. haha

Finally, it's dinner time. Did I say that we tried several restaurants on Bellagio? Yeah...we actually took the ferry back to Bellagio just to try some good restaurants there. This time we picked a restaurant (Ristorante Bilacus) with good TripAdvisor reviews (Ranked #3). Surprisingly, it's next door to Aperitivo et al (Ranked #1 on TripAdvisor), where we had lunch.

Alex ordered risotto with perch fillets from Lake Como. What I ordered was more like a fish sampler, with perch fillets, salmon, and another kind of fish. Huh......it was ok. We both felt the risotto was too salty. But, well, you will have to try a restaurant to tell whether it's good or not.