Because I'm not able to post a pic from Lake Como, I leave this for you enjoyment...

[MrScorpio]

[saidsimplesimon]

1. Love the photo, hope you

are enjoying your visit.

[MrScorpio]

2. I'm not there...

I wish that I were... Hopefully, one day I will be.

[saidsimplesimon]

3. My wish as well, perhaps someday soon.

[empedocles]

4. Photo so nice and civil

[lark]

5. Where is this, it's so beautiful!

[MrScorpio]

6. Lake Como, Italy.

[lark]

7. Italy was my first thought.

There and the South of France are 2 places I've never been and Where I really would love to visit for awhile.

[iamateacher]

8. One of the most beautiful places

On earth! And the food isn't bad either!

[OnDoutside]

9. I love it there... I proposed to my wife at the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni.

[elleng]

15. The end of our honeymoon was there!

[OnDoutside]

24. Although it is a magical spot, we never felt so out of place....that was serious money

[elleng]

25. We didn't stay at one of the hi-end places, and ate modestly too.

[OnDoutside]

27. You were better off I think. I remember parking our hire car between a Porche and a Lambourgini !!!

One abiding memory I have is a concierge bringing two suitcases to the end of the private dock that stretched into the lake, and waiting for about 5 minutes. Gradually you could hear a distant engine sound becoming louder as it neared. A speedboat pulled up to the dock and the concierge put the two bags into it. He went back into the hotel and after a few minutes a couple came down the steps, along the dock, into the boat and off they sped. Different world !

[smirkymonkey]

10. So beautiful!

I have been to Italy, but never to the Lake District. That is one of the places that I want to visit the most.

I have been to the Austrian Lake District, which is incredibly beautiful as well. I think I am actually more of a lake person than an ocean person, which is unusual. It seems like most people prefer the ocean.

[Ron Obvious]

11. The Italians have the ability to build houses and towns that actually enhance the landscape

San Diego (for example) has the geographical setting to be just as beautiful, but the sprawling suburbs lie on the land like a giant Fuck You.

Pity.

[FakeNoose]

13. What they do is they build on land that we would consider "unbuildable"

Seriously, look at the steep hillsides and lack of level beach property in this photo. How many American developers would bother building here? Probably very few. And yet the Italians, Austrians, Swiss and Germans can make it work. They create their beautiful homes and enhance the beauty of the countryside at the same time. I'll bet they also have complete waste recycling and no sewage or dirty used water flowing into the lake. The Europeans are decades ahead of us in that regard.

[BigmanPigman]

12. I wish it looked like that when I was there in college in 1983.

It was Nov and really cold, no one was in town and we had no car to go anywhere. If you can't drive and are broke it is really difficult to get around. It was also rainy so we sat in the lobby of our small hotel on folding chairs and watched Italian game shows on a black and white set with about 8 old men.

[CaptainTruth]

14. I was there earlier this year. My wife grew up near Milan.

We went to Lake Como this spring. It looks like that pic was taken from the botanical garden there.

[marble falls]

16. Thats it. Just rub it in.

[llmart]

17. OMG...

that is absolutely gorgeous!

If I had a bucket list, this place would be on it. Come to think of it, maybe I'll start a bucket list.

[DFW]

18. This is not too far from me

About a 80 minute flight to Milano and an hour's train ride north to Como, or else a 50 minute flight to Zürich and a 4:30 hour train south through the Alps and get off an hour before Milano.

If we only had the time.......

[NJCher]

19. Life Rule #1

When you have the money, you don't have the time.

When you have the time, you don't have the money.

[DFW]

21. I'm scared that if I retire too early, I'll die of boredom.

My wife retired 6 years ago at age 60. But even though she's a retired social worker, she can't stop being a social worker, so she has just as little time as I do.

From here to get to Como, if you are on a tight budget, you can even book a train for the whole way. It'll take you about twelve hours, but if you leave early enough in the morning, you could get from here to Como in time for dinner. If you schedule it right, you might only have to change trains once, in Basel. You could probably book a round trip for less than $300 from here to Como and back. If I remember correctly, that is about half of what a night at a decent hotel and dinner for one will set you back in an Italian resort like Como. Places like that are NOT cheap.

[NJCher]

23. oh, I know

The RG (spouse) goes there about 2-3 times a year. Not on a budget, though.

[DFW]

28. If he is coming all the way from North America

Then it is a far bigger deal, and I would hope he wasn't restricted to pizza and a pensione.

[AllaN01Bear]

20. ohm myyyy!!!

[LNM]

22. Varenna! It's so beautiful there.

We were there in '07. I have this same photo.
Lovely town and much more affordable than Bellagio.

[fierywoman]

26. I got lodging and food in Varenna in exchange for playing a (viola) recital -- stayed at

a convent on a hill with a many-tiered garden. Was worth all those thousands of hours of practice!

[LNM]

29. Good for you! The gardens sound lovely.

Did your convent have a view of the lake? We stayed right near the ferry dock but hiked up the hill to a very old castle. Great views!

[fierywoman]

30. I believe there were lake views... The gardens had been there for centuries!

[Demovictory9]

31. nice

[Awsi Dooger]

32. I was there only once

Back in the '70s during a trip with my parents. Great mental images but not until last year did I find actual pictures. I had the '70s long hair. My dad took the pictures from a restaurant overlooking the lake.