Bellagio In The Rain

Upon landing in Milan, we arrived to our Airbnb in Como late at night after a couple of train transfer snafus, and woke up on our first full day in Italy to a forecast of thunderstorms. The morning was grey and cloudy, but still super warm out (around 75*F+) and generally not too stormy. Luckily I had seen the forecast while packing at home, so we came prepared with raincoats, but still I had high hopes that the projected forecast of 70% rain would somehow not come to fruition. So we packed up for the day and set out to explore Lake Como. 

Neither of us had ever been to this area, so I had a short list of things I wanted to do/see, but we were largely just exploring loosely and seeing where the day would take us. We were staying in the central town of Como, and I wanted to explore the other ends of the lake at Bellagio and Varenna, for example. After picking up a quick latte and walking through a light drizzly rain, we grabbed ferry tickets and hopped on the rapid ferry to Bellagio – the main touristy town of Como. The rapid ferry only takes 45 minutes, versus the slow ferry that took 2 hours with many stops. Of course the rapid ferry is like 3x the price (15 euro one-way), but worth it to us. 

We got to Bellagio around noon, and began climbing the iconic stairways to explore and find somewhere to get lunch. We found a super cute outdoor (covered) terrace and shared a penne arrabbiata and a pizza. It was lightly drizzling off and on, but it was manageable with just a raincoat and no umbrella, as we continued to meander after lunch… 

However, around 1:30 or so, the rain took a turn for the worst and the thunder and lightning were simultaneously erupting – it must have been directly above us – and the light drizzle turned to a heavy, heavy downpour. We (along with hundreds of other tourists) ducked for cover along the streets under a 2 foot overhang along the storefronts, and hoped we could wait it out. We eventually braved the rain and found an outdoor (covered!) café so we could at least grab a drink, but when we got to wi-fi and I checked the forecast, it said continuous rain for the next 3 hours…. 

I started to weigh our options and checked the ferry schedule back to Como. It was 2pm now, and the next ferries were 2:22pm and 3:50pm. We could leave now or we could sit in the rain for another 2 hours. I was nervous that the thousands of other day trip tourists were doing the same calculation as me, and I was worried we wouldn’t be able to get on a ferry back if we waited too long. (I think the last ferry is at 6pm or so, and if you don’t catch the last ferry out, we’d have to take a very expensive taxi ride.)

So we made a snap decision and ditched our cafe to grab a last minute ticket on the 2:22pm ferry back to Como. Of course by the time we purchased our tickets, the rain stopped and the sky cleared up a little bit… so I felt a twinge of regret with my quick decision, but oh well. We got back to Como that afternoon to more rain, but by evening time it cleared up and even saw some blue skies. 

Bellagio itself was exactly as I imagined, since I had see so many videos and photos on Instagram. Quaint cobblestone stairways lined with greenery-covered restaurants, cute boutiques, and several wine shops. 

The forecast for our second (and last) full day in Como was full-sun and mid-80s. I would have loved to go to Bellagio on a sunny day instead, but we had other plans for day two…