Varenna

These are of Varenna, a beautiful little town across the lake, which takes about 20 minutes by ferry. It is a very small village, clinging to the little bit of land available at the bottom of a mountain, like many of the villages and towns around the lake, or so we hear (Varenna is the only place we've been besides Como, outside of Bellagio). We went there on a rare sunny day last week.
This is the village from the ferry, with the steeple of San Giorgio rising above. This church has, on an outer wall facing the lake, a wonderful frescoe of St. Christopher carrying the Christ child across the river. He is patron saint of all who travel on water, as these townspeople have had to do for centuries.

Above the village on a "small" hill are the ruins of a tower that was part of a castle/fort, reputed to be the stronghold of a Lombard queen, making it something like 1300 years old.


View of Villa Monastero, an ancient convent that was closed because the nuns were too licentious. Knowing what a lot of medieval convents were like, this one must have been pretty darn bad to be closed!
One of the main "streets" in Varenna, via XX Settembre. It lies parallel to the lake, high above it, with very steep stairway "streets" going up and down. They are even steeper than those in Bellagio.

Looking at a house that lies on one of those steep stairways going down towards the water. This was just lovely, another one of those moments that make me stop and marvel at the beauty. Every time I see something like this, I can't believe how lucky I am to be here.