Bellagio and Villa Carlotta

On Thursday, June 8th, we had a nice continental breakfast at Casa Nini, then caught the train to Varenna again, where we got ferry tickets to Bellagio.  We joked with Marika about not seeing the dancing fountains--the last time the three of us were at "Bellagio" was in Las Vegas in 2009. We went out to the point where the lake divides and had a coffee, then wandered around the old town, getting lunch sandwiches from a shop.  We took another ferry across to the western shore, stopping at Villa Carlotta, where we spent over an hour touring the vast gardens, finishing with gelato at the cafe.  We caught the boat back to Bellagio, then to Lierna (we were the only ones getting off there).  The day ended with a delicious dinner at the Sisters' Cafe—pizzocheri, a pasta specialty of the nearby Valtellina.  Here’s what Wikipedia says about it:

“Pizzoccheri (Italian pronunciation: [pitˈtsɔkkeri]) are a type of short tagliatelle, a flat ribbon pasta, made with 80% buckwheat flour and 20% wheat flour. When classically prepared in Valtellina or in Graubünden, they are cooked along with greens (often Swiss Chard but also savoy cabbage), and cubed potatoes. This mixture is layered with pieces of Valtellina Casera cheese and ground Grana Padano or Parmigiano Reggiano, and dressed with garlic lightly fried in butter.”