Klara and I traveled to Como on April 20. She was tired of life
in the city (she lived in Paris then), and wanted to experience some wilderness. Martin
had to attend school and was not able to join us. We paid Como and the harbor on the
western side a short visit, trying to get out off the city in that direction. After a
while we gave up and went down to the beach promenade in stead. From there, we could see a
cable railway going up to a small village, Brunate, just above Como. Why not try it?
Klara and Unni in Como (199m)
Brunate is a charming small village, but its main
attraction is probably the nice footpaths starting there. We selected one that went
straight up. It crosses the road, serpentaining up the same way, several times. For me,
being pregnant in the sixth month, this ascent was quite tiring, but Klara was kind and
carried all the food.
Klara and Unni at "Faro Voltiano"
(906m)
After some time, we reached a lighthouse, "Faro
Voltiano" (906m), with a beautiful view towards the Alps. The weather was beautiful,
and we took of shoes and socks to let our weary feet have some air. It is possible to get
up in the lighthouse also, but we did not. The lighthouse keeper, an older man, offered to
take a picture of us and was very nice and friendly.
We continued on the footpath, now a little bit of
the beaten track. We walked on the northern side with a terrific view, while the road goes
on the southern side. A nice walk, for a moment we felt like we were walking in virgin
forest: no houses, no other people in sight, and only the sound of wilderness around us.
This was what we had been looking for...
Unni on the path to "M. Boletto"
Unni and Klara - "Monte Bolleto"
(1236m)
We approached the snow clothed "Monte Boletto", 1236 meters. A
nice road went almost all the way up, only for the last 100 meters or so we followed a
true mountain path. A couple of "trattorias", cafes, are located close to the
top.
We stayed at the top for only a short while before
returning down the mountain. We had used three hours from the cable railway and up, but
the descent took only one hour because of the gentile slope that you hardly feel while
going down.
We used the cable railway down again also. At
the bottom, it is possible to buy a round-trip ticket, but we bought only one-way, planing
to walk down again. We had to by a return ticket from the driver but this did not cause
any problems. I strongly recommend this pleasant trip. If you do not want to go all the
way to "Monte Boletto", the trip to "Faro Voltiano" is nice by it
self!
