Lenno, Villa Balbianello, and Villa Melzi

Two major highlights from today’s excursion were Villa Balbianello and Villa Melzi. Villa Balbianello is located near the quiet town of Lenno on Lake Como. In days past, the only way you could access it was from the water, but now you can get there by taking a short hike through the wooded area that surrounds it. Once you get there, you are rewarded with amazing views and an exquisite villa with an interesting past.

View from the gardens at Balbianello

Posing with the statues

The Villa Balbianello

You may recognize some of the areas if you watched Star Wars II — they filmed a few scenes on the property

Remains of an old church that was originally on this land. A Cardinal bought the property, kept the facade of the church and built his villa behind it. It’s five stories tall and has 16 rooms!

Look familiar? They filmed the hospital scene from Casino Royale under this tree

After touring the Villa Balbianello, we stayed in the town of Lenno and ate a late lunch at one of the outdoor lakeside cafes. Leaving Lenno, we caught a boat back to Bellagio. From there, we walked to the Villa Melzi. Here’s a picture I caught on the way there. I accidentally hit the black and white setting on the camera, but it turned out pretty cool!

Another B&W picture in the gardens of Villa Melzi

The lake entrance to the villa

Villa Melzi

After the Villa Melzi, we walked to the other side of Bellagio to the point (or punta). From here, you can get some great views of the mountains and villages across the lake, especially when the sun is setting. We just hung out for a while enjoying the beautiful evening and the picture that God was painting in the sky.

Back in central Bellagio, we had dinner at one of the ristorantes in the village. The food was great, but the most memorable moment was when Gary got his pizza — cheese with french fries! I’m not sure if this is an authentic Italian dish or just something they cooked up for the tourists, but he loved it…haha!

More new pictures from today are uploaded to the Bellagio Photo Album. Check them out if you’re bored. 🙂