This is a continuation from the previous post. 🙂 On the Poggio Verde website I divided the day into two descriptions. It was a long but fantastic day full of gorgeous scenery, tasty food and excellent fellowship with old and new friends.

After our lovely lunch in Lenno we continued north then turned west toward Lake Lugano.

Mark and I had very fond memories of visiting Monte Bré many years ago with Lauren (when she was two!), so when we realized we were going to pass right by there, the group was willing to give it a go. We the Garmin (“Guida”) for Monte Bré and followed the directions to begin the long series of steep switchbacks to the top. (We later discovered we could’ve parked at a funicular stop down below and taken the tram up! Some day maybe…)

Continue reading  on the Poggio Verde Country Villa website/blog.

What a wonderful day full of new discoveries, stunning scenery and good food!

After much investigation on google maps, it was decided to drive toward the Como Greenway, visit Villa Balbianello and maybe Villa Carlotta, then cross to Lugano and return home, perhaps with a stop in the lovely Cernobbio near the famous Villa d’Este hotel if time allows. (This post is about the first half of that trip, which would under normal circumstances make an excellent day trip if Villa Balbianello had been open. For the second half of this day, see next week’s post).

Soon after breakfast, the group drove northeast in the direction of Como, then north from Como to Tremezzina (the address that was found on a Villa Balbianello site). Some of the GPS devices couldn’t pick up Tremezzina but we later found that Lenno is a better choice. After a couple of wrong turns (and highly amusing attempts to turn two cars around on a very-narrow road) parking was located on the right side of the main road near the little hotel La Provincia. The lake was easily found down a sidewalk between buildings and stunning vista opened up…

Photos and more description on the Poggio Verde Country Villa website.

After several cappuccini and lingering on the terrace with a stunningly clear view of Monte Rosa and the Brianza hills due to the rain, we loaded up the cars and headed north toward Piani d’Erna. It’s such a short distance to the parking lot of the cable car that took us up, up, up for some extraordinary views over Lake Lecco and the surrounding mountains.

Photos and description are on the Poggio Verde Country Villa website.

Our friends had weather issues yesterday and couldn’t make it until today so we made a Malpensa run to get them, got them settled in and went for a late lunch at Nuova Trattoria Dac a Tra, groceries at Rex, which was closed, detour to Montevecchia, back to Rex and then a lovely dinner at home.

Photos and details for May 9 are on the Poggio Verde website.

Gretchen wanted to open up the villa and make sure everything was ready for the group so she took us up, which was so nice! The train is so easy from her place but it was great to have an extra 40 minutes of chat time in the car on the way up. We opened all the shutters, checked the kitchen garden, checked this and that and then she headed back to Milan. We unpacked and got situated a bit as we waited for the Hannings to arrive.

Checking the kitchen garden

Ready for action

The 2nd terrace and the pool (under renovation)

View to the southwest from the terrace

Out the master bedroom window

Gardenias on the terrace outside the master bedroom

Checking the plants and the view from the terrace

The south terrace of the villa

All unpacked

I knew the Hannings had “James” (the Humphries’ GPS they had used there in the fall) but when the time got to be a bit longer than I’d expected I walked down the road to make sure they made the turn. The wildflowers in the field were in full bloom so I captured a few pics and was walking back when they turned into the road leading to the villa.

It’s always so thrilling to see friends arrive and actually experience the place for the first time. No matter how many photos anyone has seen, it’s impossible to get the feeling of the place (and realize how enormous some of the trees are!). We took a short tour of the inside of the villa and the headed to Rex Market for provisions.

They’re here!

Chatting on the terrace outside the master bedroom

Rex’s hours (for future reference)

Taking in the south side of the villa from the terrace

We discovered Rex was closed so to pass some time we drove on down the road to Montevecchia, the lovely little hilltop town nearby – a perfect diversion! After walking through the town and up the stairs to the church we stopped in at the little Gelateria, which makes a particularly tasty gelato and sorbetto. (There are more great pics of Montevecchia from our last visits there… click here and here.).

Garden by the parking lot at Montevecchia

Another view of the garden

There’s lots of nice walking out of Montevecchia

The villa in the center of town

This little arch had some wonderful views under there…

The Hannings

Our little group’s first selfie

At the base of the church at the top of Montevecchia

The stairs to the church at the top of Montevecchia

So many great options, and seriously tasty stuff.

Beautiful poster in the Gelateria

Bryan and Cindy in front of the villa

We headed back to Rex and picked up our groceries then drove back to the villa. The Hannings got situated and rested for a bit while Mark started dinner. The skies opened up at a certain point and the rain started pouring… Mark had pulled out the grill and gotten it started but getting out there to start the lamb chops was a shaky proposition. Eventually it subsided and he was able to grill the chops (so tasty) and that was followed by a whitefish with tomatoes and fennel and then a salad course. One of my personal favorites. We took a walk around the grounds after dinner but didn’t linger long as there was some jetlag to overcome and a morning drive to Malpensa to pick up the Bursons who were delayed by a day due to weather in Oklahoma City.

First course – lamb chops

Tomatoes and fennel almost ready for the fish

Mark getting the potatoes perfect

After the rain. Gorgeous and crisp and fresh!

The rain stopped just in time to grill the lamb chops.

Final prep of lamb chops

And the fish. SO tasty.

Another view after the train

The villa from the “Portico Coperto”

At the top of the stairs to the second terrace

A back corner of the villa

View out of the Roccolo

Roses growing on the Roccolo

Walking in the Roccolo area