Actually we left on Monday, going first to Paris (arriving Tues), spending one night there, then forging onward to Milano, then grabbing a train to Como, then boat to Lenno, close to our village of Ossucio. I will soon (maybe in about 15 minutes, but I'm sleepy right now) post pictures of our 3-floor apt that overlooks Como. It is elegantly comfortable and our terrace looks right out onto Como. Today is our first full day of not having to get up early, not having to board some public transport vehicle, so we slept late, drank coffee with a nutty, brown, crunchy bread we bought yesterday at the town's super mercato. Our activity for the morning was to hike to the Santuario Beata Vergine del Seccorso, seeing the 14 little chapels along the way, constructed, to my best understating, between 14th and 17th centuries to counter the effects of the Reformation and display the mysteries of the rosary. These are small chapels, unfortunately closed, but one can peak in the window to see surprising beautiful sculptures and frescoes depicting Christ's life from the Annunciation to the Assumption of Mary into heaven. The trail is steep, and the chapels are scattered alongside of it. Here is an example:
I took this picture through a barred window; it's Jesus as a child at the temple. Each chapel is sol elaborately outfitted, and as we drew nearer to the church, 400 m above sea level, we saw that at least two of them were in the process of being renovated. They are absolute jewels, and I do wish they would open. Dust clings to the statuary, the floors are crude. I have no idea who the artists were-will try to look that up.
At the top of our steep climb on this warm day, we find the church, but, according to a sign, I am not allowed to enter because I don't have on a skirt, although I am modestly dressed.
We sit in the warm sun for a while, then walk over to the trattoria for lunch, and I go to the WC, which, to my dismay, is a small hole at the bottom of a shallow basin--and that is a story that turns out wonderfully well, thanks to a young woman from Slovakia who speaks English, there with her Irish boyfriend, husband--that will be for the next post.
Health is holding up--sleeping excellently well. Off to Bellagio--the real one.
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