Making My Way to Menaggio

MILAN and LAGO DI COMO, ITALY -- May 12, 2006

By the time I arrived in Milano, I was over 300 pages deep into 'The DaVinci Code,' and hooked. My grand plan was to finish the book before leaving Italy on the 15th, so that the artfully crafted plot -- which contained a lot of true historical facts about some of the Louvre's masterpieces -- would be fresh in my mind when I visited this world-renowned museum. And with Hollywood's big-screen version hitting theatres in six days, you bet I was planning to spend an evening watching Sophie and Langdon unearth the deep secrets of hidden societies from a comfy stadium seat in one of Paris's cinemas.

I had three hours slated for Milano -- just enough time to drop my bag off at the depository, metro to the Duomo to see the world's fourth largest -- and in my opinion, most visually striking -- cathedral, stroll around the piazza, grab some lunch, return to the station to book my onward train to Paris, and taxi it out of town, heading north to the lakeside town of Varenna, from where I would catch my ferry across Lago di Como (Lake Como) to the town of Menaggio.

All went according to plan, with a few snafus:

(1) The entire facade of the duomo was covered with scaffolding, which was an utter disappointment to someone who had been waiting for years since her college Humanities class to see this brilliant display of ethereal white marble. In fact, I was so befuddled that I completely forgot to climb the staircase inside the Duomo for a birds' eye vie3w of the city, supposedly one of Milano's highlights.

(2) Back at the station, I learned that my plans to take a night train to Paris in three days were impossible -- all seats were completely booked, leaving me with no choice but to take an afternoon train that unfortunately wouldn't arrive in Paris until nearly midnight Sunday. In short, my 4 days in Paris had just been cut to 3, plus one day staring at the innards of yet another train compartment.

(3) By the time I finally arrived in Varenna and found the ticket booth to buy my fare to Menaggio, I was informed that the last ferry for Menaggio had already left. My only option was to take the 21:00 ferry to Cadenabbia, the neighboring town, and then walk the 4km north to Menaggio. Under slightly different circumstances, I would probably welcome an unexpected lakeside stroll in the moonlight, but walking alone at night between two isolated village while carrying all my possessions on my back was not a very attractive evening activity. Nevertheless, it was what it was. When you're left with only one option, you just suck it up and go with the flow!

Those three inconven- iences and a long day of travel were completely forgotten, however, the moment I caught a glimpse of Lago di Como and the dreamlike frame of alpine mountains overlapping in shades of blue. It was more than breathtaking; it filled me with a profound sense of something found. And then I realized, throughout all my travels thus far, I have seen brilliant vistas, explored exquisite castles and fortresses, but this was the first time I had experienced the feeling that was consuming me now -- what I can only describe as absolutely tranquility.

I was moved to tears just looking out over the magnifi- cence before my eyes while waiting for my ferry to arrive, riveted to the overwhelming amount of beauty possessed by this handful of sleepy villages nestled along the banks of some of the most exquisite lake-and-mountain scenery I have ever beheld. The late evening sun was moving into sunset position behind the westward walls of Alps rising into the darkening sky, and like dominoes stacket in succession, the cascade of overlapping mountain ridges unveiled a palette of soft blues ranging from azure to midnight. My 20-minute voyage across the lake was heavenly, as I soaked in the clear mountain air, village lights twinkling from across the lake, and the rippling brush of evening's chill on my shoulders.

The walk to Menaggio was without incident, though forty minutes of looking over my shoulder and praying that passing motorists would simply continue on their way was a bit taxing. Arriving at my ostello (hostel), I settled in and spent the next two hours plowing through 'The DaVinci Code.' Finally, I called it a night, content to finish the remaining 40 pages in the morning.

~Melanie