A modern autostrada now permits harried men of affairs to whisk out to the lake in half an hour. Como itself is a charming city at the southern extremity of the lake. Its sleepy waterfront is filled with rowboats and pleasure craft, and nothing is more restful than to sit here under an awning with an apéritif and to observe leisurely boatmen, dozing fishermen, and yawning policemen. In this choice location is the town' best hotel, the aging ALBERGO METROPOLE-SUISSE. Without being exceptional. it is good enough, and its dining terrace is an inviting place to taste the salmon trout for which Lake Como is famous. If you don't see it on the menu, ask for it!
Both the Plinys, the Elder and the Younger, were born in Como, and their sculptured likenesses occupy two niches in the facade of its marble Gothic cathedral. But the average traveler has little time for sight-seeing in Como. once he glimpses that crystal lake surrounded by mauve and green hills. Quite rightly he gravitates toward one of the colorful resort towns along the shore. The choice is wide and tempting, bu space restricts us to two of the most exciting, if obvious, places-the Villa d'Este in Cernobbio and the lovely town of Bellagio.
CERNOBBIO
We'll have to trot out the superlatives once again in discussing the famous Villa d'Este, only a few miles from Como. It is probably the most princely. the most luxurious hotel in Italy, and i is the one which epicurean visitors arc most likely to enjoy to the hilt. It has absolutely everything—a matchless site on the lake front, magnificent accommodations, fabulous food and service, and a rich historic past. The present immense villa was built in 1568 on the site of an ancient convent by Tolomeo Gallio, the distinguished and well-heeled Cardinal of Como. It was then known as the Villa del Gárrovo. Many were its vicissitudes and titled owners in the years following the Cardinals death, bu none of them could rival the title, or the eccentricity, of Carolina of Brunswick, Princess of Wales, who occupied it in 1815. The estranged wife of George IV of England, she created a sensation by her extravagance and strange companions. She had a warm heart, however, and endeared herself to the villagers of Cernobbio by building them a road to Como. Another royal occupant was the Dowager Empress Sophia Federowna of Russia, who leased it in 1868. Seven years later it was acquired by the company which still operates i as the GRAND HOTEL VILLA D'ESTE. Its urbane and gracious proprietor, Signor Willy Dombré, was born here. I is natural to confuse this villa with the original Villa d'Este surrounded by fountains in Tivoli, near Rome, but it is this marble palace on Lake Como which has thrilled generations of travelers. We can't recommend it too highly. The culinary staff can prepare any Italian dish you ask for, and with consummate skill. Such standbys as pizza or fettuvcine, pheasant or filet of sole, arrive a your table so beautifully prepared that they seem unreal. The uncounted thousands of American travelers who in the past have stopped at the Villa d'Este can assure the thousands who follow that a visit there is the thrill of a lifetime.
BELLAGIO
A writer once described the form of Lake Como as that of a slightly berserk ballet dancer with the village of Bellagio occupying the place where propriety calls for a fig leaf. One hesitates to carry this precarious figure of speech any further, but there is no question about the charm of Bellagio' location, with a view of all three branches of the lake. It has been a fast favorite with English and American travelers for decades. Its climate is mild, its atmosphere infinitely restful, and its hotels are more than adequate. One of them, the VILLA SERBELLONI, ranks among the best luxury hotels. It is reputed to occupy the site of Pliny the Younger' villa and was owned by a succession of picturesque people, including lake pirates, before it came into the hands of the Serbelloni family in 1788. They laid out the lovely park which now surrounds it. For decades i has been known as a honeymoon retrea for royalty.
If you prefer something on a more modest scale. Bellagio has a gratifying choice of smaller hotels along the water' edge, each with a vine-covered terrace: They bear the names of HOTEL FIRENZE, HOTEL GRANDE BRETAGNE, HOTEL DU LAC, and the HOTEL EX-CELSIOR-SPLENDIDO. We chose the las named and found it delightful. It is owned by a charming Englishwoman who understands Anglo-Saxon tastes and maintains an unusually good Italian cuisine. Bellagio may not be the most original choice for a stay on Lake Como, but it is a safe one, and certain to be agreeable.
SIRMIONE
To Lombardy belongs the western shore of Lake Garda, replete with colorful waterside villages, but the site which took our eye was Sirmione, a picture-book town on the lake' south shore, a the end of a narrow peninsula. This fortified fisherman' village is guarded by a crenellated castle built by the Scaligeri family, and is an operatic setting if we ever saw one, complete with cobbled streets, overhead arches, and donkey carts. The poet Catullus built his villa here, and the ruins are still to he seen, fragrant with jasmine and surrounded by olive and fig trees, with blue-green water on three sides. If further reference is needed, Sirmione was recently chosen by the Austrian Princess Ira Furstenberg and her titled husband as the setting for their honeymoon. We don't suppose they stayed at a hotel, but in their place we would have chosen the VILLA CORTINE, high on a wooded promontory. It was once a private villa, and its rooms are few but luxurious. Guests dine under umbrella pines and are regaled with some very fine Italian cooking and wines. In the lower town a bevy of attractive hotels has been built in recent years. For chose who come for the cure, the GRANDE ALBERGO TERME is excellent. Among the hotels perched at the water' edge, we found the HOTEL CATULLO attractive and well run. with above average cooking.
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