The last morning of anywhere has a particular light to it, and Como saved its best for me. I woke before the house did and did not get up. I lay across the bed with the shutters half open and…
Lake Como
Lake Como – His Two Great Loves
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 – 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
There is a particular light on Lake Como in the late afternoon, when the sun drops behind the western ridge and the water turns the colour of pewter and old gold at the same time. The ferries slow down. The…
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…
