Remember that scene from "Star Wars-Attack of the Clones" where Anakin confesses he hates rough sand and like soft skin, shot on a lake shore on some far away planet that Padme visited as a kid? Ouch. That bad scene with corny lines is as painful to recall as it was to watch. Imagine our "delight" when we found out that scene was shot here on Lake Como, about 10 minutes on a bus from our hostel.
To be honest, the villa where the scene was shot is spectacular. Called Barbianello, it was last owned by famous Italian explorer Monsino, who did polar explorations, African expeditions and Everest climbs during the 50s, 60s and 70s. His dad was a department store owner and quite wealthy which translated into his son having lots of time to pursue passions instead of a living. The grounds are rumored to be spectacular. That is where we decided to go today while we played dodge the thunderstorms.
It was not raining when we awoke. We had breakfast at the hostel, then headed to the bus stop to catch bus #10. Riding the buses is a treat and a terror. The roads are very narrow with few sidewalks and no shoulder. The drivers go fast. If there is a blind, narrow corner, they honk their horn as they begin to round the corner, but don't cut their speed, trusting cars and people will make way. The road is right on the lake. The view is beautiful, even with the threatening weather and mildly terrorizing driving.
Thirty seconds before the bus stopped in the middle of the road to let us out, the rain started to fall. We popped open our umbrellas as we exited the bus and began walking the 1.2 Km to the Barbianello villa. There was a street market in the piazza we had to pass through. I stopped and bought an apple to munch as we walked out onto the point where the villa is situated.
We got very confused as to how to get to the villa after we left the shoreline. We ended up on a private road and nearly got locked behind a gate by a property owner who was leaving in his car and locking the gate behind him. We found a gate into what looked like the right area and a road, but it was locked. After wandering around in the rain for 10 minutes we returned to the gate and found it open. This let us onto a paved road, and judging from the number of people heading in that direction (5-10) we figured we must be going in the right direction.
About 200m up the road the sky opened up. Thunder boomed and the rain came down in buckets. It was raining so hard that we just stopped walking and hunkered down under our umbrellas, trying to stay dry. I was in shorts and sandals and could feel the water splashing off the concrete onto my legs. Come on!! We are going to look at a garden outside, for pity's sake. There is no use going if it is raining this hard! But, as we all know, thunderstorms don't last too long, they are the big flash and over type of guys. The rain started to subside after about 5 minutes. We started up the road again and by the time we reached the entrance to the villa, the sun was peaking out.
The villa gardens and grounds are spectacular. They only cover a couple acres on the end of the point. The ground slopes steeply down to the water's edge. The arrangement of gardens, walkways and plantings creates an exquisite setting. Everywhere you look, it is picture perfect. A wedding had occurred earlier in the morning and the photographer had the bride and groom posing throughout this gorgeous setting. At one point, Sally jumped in to straighten the brides bridal train for a shot. Rather than try to describe the place, take a look at the included pictures. It is beautiful. We stayed about an hour and a half. We particularly enjoyed the terrace where the scenes from Star Wars took place. The light alternated between soft when the clouds covered the sun and harsh when it poked through. It gave us the opportunity to see the area in its different moods.
We stopped at a booth selling roasted chickens and bought two, one to eat right then for lunch and a second to use for dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow. We found Costco would have a rival if this man and wife team ever set up in the U.S.
It rained cats and dogs as we waited 15 minutes for our bus. Back at the hostel, the rain stopped and we decided to venture out and explore Menaggio a bit more. We wandered up the hill from the lake shore through the old town, then traversed above the hostel and came down a switchbacking road right to the hostel door. Thanks google maps for providing a map for us to follow. It was getting a bit dicey toward the end as the road narrowed turned to rutted gravel and showed signs of petering out altogether. Add to this the booming of thunder and the beginning of another downpour and we were glad to get back inside.
We enjoyed our roast chicken and cheese sandwiches for dinner, blogged, read and caught up with our Stephen Colbert monologues until we finally let sleep have its way with us. In spite of the weather, it was a great day.
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