Some mornings the lake gives you back your whole childhood before you have even finished your coffee. I woke early at the villa, before the light had properly settled, and went out onto the terrace in a swimsuit and one…
Lake Como
Lake Como – The Sound of a Riva
There is a particular sound that means summer to me, and it is not birdsong or church bells but the low, patient burble of a wooden Riva easing out of its boathouse while the water is still the colour of…
Varenna – The Town That Climbs
The lake is crossed differently than it is arrived at. Yesterday Bellagio assembled itself out of the haze, slow and uncertain, a town deciding whether to appear. Today it was only a matter of crossing to the other shore. The…
Victoria’s Complete Guide to Lake Como
The complete guide to Lake Como, from the ferries and the villas to where to stay, where to eat and when to go, written after a slow week on the water.
Bellagio – the First Day
There is a particular quiet that comes off a lake. It is not the quiet of the sea, which is really only distance. It is closer than that, held in by the mountains, the way a room holds a conversation…
