Shopping in Bellagio

It is difficult to express what a wonderful, amazing trip we are having! It's just one great day after the next, and each so different from the next! Bellagio has been very different from the other places we've been so far. It's been quite cloudy and cool, so we haven't had the best weather for photos. This area along Lake Como has an interesting topography. The land is mountainous and yet the people have built on every square inch that they can. It's densely populated, difficult and expensive to park, and having a tiny car or a motorcycle is a necessity because the roads are so narrow, windy and steep. Most of the two-way roads would be one-way roads in the U.S.

We spent some time in the morning driving along the lake to the next town over. It was really exciting! There was no possible way to drive as fast as the speed limit. We came upon people walking and working in the road, cars parked in the road, cars pulling right out in front of us, and lots of driving around blind corners, hoping to not meet another car coming the other way. There were absolutely no shoulders, and at times the stone wall was right up against the side of the car.

After that excitement, it was time to bring it down a notch, so we drove into the Center of Bellagio and parked to do some shopping. It turns out that Bellagio has some quality shopping. At times you have to walk up a steep walkway:

and then what comes up must go down:

And cars were driving along this road! When they came along, you had to dodge into a shop to get out of the way:

The nearby town of Como produces a lot of silk, so there were many shops selling beautiful scarves and ties. However, the shop that most captured our attention was "Arte & Moda", featuring the scarves, ties, shoes, purses, belts, etc. that are the creation of Pierangelo Masciadri. They were true works of art, based on real paintings. Brock and I purchased a set of items for me that all matched, and then we found a tie for him that matched as well!

Here is one of the displays that drew us into the store:

Here is a good shot of the store:

Here is a photo of me with Sylvia, the daughter of Pierangelo. She was a really great saleswoman! In this photo you can also see the items we selected. Brock and I are really going to be stylin'! I guarantee that I will not run into anyone in Nashville wearing the same things! They are very unique.

We had a really great lunch at La Punta Restaurant, all the way at the end of the point in Bellagio. It was a short hike to get there, but well worth the walk. The pasta was excellent!

After all this shopping and fine dining, we felt like this dog:

We had a nice dinner on the water in Bellagio as well. This place really grew on us. We had a blast!