Our last stop! We left Cinque Terre and got to drive through La Spezia one more time on our way up north to Lake Como! The four hour drive flew by and I wish an iPhone camera from a car window could capture what we saw once we got to Como. Surrounded by mountains/alps and the most beautiful HUGE lake. It was stunning.
We stayed a little past Como in Tremezzo. It was perfect!! We loved every inch of that small, fairytale town.
THIS was my favorite place we stayed. Back story - it was listed much cheaper than normal due to construction work being done on the property next door. The upside... we were there for the weekend so we didn't see one construction worker until we were leaving. Blessings!
This was our view from our private patio. I want to move here!! Logan was happy for some extra crawl space.
Such a beautiful home. Our host Mario, grew up here and his whole garden and yard was incredible.
The "garage" where we parked.
Garage view looking out over the lake.
Headed out for our LAST grocery stop of the trip. By this point, Mom and I were pretty efficient at knowing which Italian yogurt, bread, cheese, and salami we wanted. Even heard some Myles Smith while shopping!
Then we headed for Villa del Balbianello. A gorgeous villa we walked about half a mile to get to. Lots of steep hills and gravel-maneuvering for Logan's stroller, but so worth it once we got to that beautiful villa and garden.
They filmed some of the Star Wars' here!
Oh man, we were in heaven with those views.
Logan was grateful for some paved walkways so he could take a snooze.
Everything was green and tropical-feeling. It sure didn't feel like a late September day!
Another reason why Lake Como was one of my top places we visited: Free parking lots. Hallelujah! Even if they're on a grassy soccer field, it was nice to not search high and low for somewhere to leave our trusty car.
We took a walk and got acquainted with the ferry timetable before retiring for the night.
The ferry is part of the villages' public transportation. How cool! I would love to take a ferry to work or school everyday.
The sun went down and the city lights came on. It was magical being tucked away in those mountains. <3
The sunrise that morning did not disappoint. The whole sky was bright orange! We're keeping it real with the crane in the picture too. No editing that guy out. Ha!
Sweet Logan was on his fourth pack-n-play of the trip and did so well in each of our new places.
Our nice host, Mario. Something that I really enjoyed was meeting our hosts at each bnb. Now they've popped up in my "people you may know" on Facebook haha.
We hopped on the first ferry of the day and rode to Bellagio.
This was another highlight for sure. I love anything water related. Ocean, lakes, rivers, you name it. We saw a couple of water skiers the day before... It would be a dream to boat on that lake.
Walked all over that beautiful city. It was quiet and peaceful at 9:00 in the morning. Just an hour later as we were leaving, the streets were already filling with people.
We hopped back on our ferry and drove to...
Lugano, Switzerland! There was a funicular that would take us to the top of San Salvador. The town was beautiful! It still felt pretty Italian though. We later found out, if we had driven 30 more miles, we would've been in the heart of the Swiss alps. Next time!
We boarded two funiculars that took us to the top.
Lake Lugano!
Then back to Tremezzo and Lake Como for one more Italian meal and gelato. <3
The faces of two happy, tired travelers. I can't believe we did what we did! So many prayers answered with no mishaps the entire trip. We felt so blessed.
Angel baby woke up ready for one last travel day to Berlin.
We packed up our tiny car for the last time!! I can still picture exactly where each carryon, backpack, stroller, and snacks went so everything could fit perfectly.
Bye, beautiful Como!!! I will come back here one day.
We drove to Milan and boarded our plane for Berlin. Justin was there to pick us up and had an enchilada dinner waiting for us at home.
We took Mom to the airport the next morning for her last travel day. It took a couple of days to decompress and relax after what we did. It was the trip of a LIFETIME. I'll never forget it. So grateful that we were able to make it happen. <3