Today we visited Villa Cipressi in Varenna, on the Eastern shore of Lake Como. What could be better than strolling around beautiful, lakeside gardens in a comfortable 24 degrees of Italian sunshine? I'll tell you - strolling around beautiful, lakeside gardens in a comfortable 24 degrees of Italian sunshine followed by a delicious three course lunch at the Villa itself, which is now a very nice hotel. Today is our last day of garden visiting in Italy, and the heat haze coming from the water gave everything a dreamy, impressionistic quality, which I think I managed to capture in today's photos. There was a small wedding taking place on the terrace too, adding to a feeling of perfection about the place. Here are some snaps of the garden:
This is one of my favourite photos of our stay. The hazy quality is puctuated by the strong vertical lines of the cypress trees. I was so pleased that I'd managed to capture the atmosphere of this beautiful place.
We assumed she married the gentleman to her left, and not the dog...
Italians don't do health and safety. But I thought there was something charming about this uneven path.
And now for the food! I haven't had amazing vegetarian food in Italy, which has surprised me a bit. However, today made up for that - this was among the finest meals I've ever eaten. My antipasto was a beautiful and delicious combination of vegetables and pulses topped with cheese:
followed by ravioli stuffed with cheese and spinach and served with cabbage - doesn't sound appetising does it, but believe me it was yummy, so creamy and buttery and well thought out:
And dessert? Sorry but I was too greedy to pause to take a picture! Here are some of the plates of my fellow diners:
The setting was sublime, on the sunny terrace overlooking the lake and gardens:
All in all a perfect day to remember forever! I'm saving today's other garden for tomorrow. Ciao!
A perfect day indeed!Looks wonderful.
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