One of the iconic images that comes to mind when you think of Lake Como is cruising around James Bond-style in a flashy wooden speedboat. We checked into prices for hiring a boat when we first got here and were astonished at the going rates for hiring one of the really nice Riva wooden motoryachts. (Riva is an exclusive brand that has been around since 1842 - they are like the Rolls Royce version of speedboats). If you wanted a private tour for a few hours it would cost several hundred dollars and would include a captain (they don't trust the average Joe off the street to drive these beautiful boats no matter how many miles you've sailed). Anyway, we had almost given up when Kevin found a much more reasonably priced non-Riva group speedboat tour leaving from Varenna. We knew we would have great weather over the weekend so we went ahead and made a reservation. The boat was maybe a few notches below a Riva, but it still looked pretty flashy to me!
We took the ferry over and had a nice lunch in Varenna, then met up with Luca our boat captain. There were a total of 12 guests aboard, but the boat was roomy enough for everyone. We zipped off over to the Como leg of the lake. Sitting in the back with the engine roaring and the warm sun on our faces, Kevin and I felt a little bit like movie stars.
Luca stopped the boat a few times to admire several villas before dropping us all off at the very beautiful Villa Balbianello.
The boat tour included a guided tour of Balbianello, which in my opinion is probably the prettiest villa on the lake. The garden is breathtaking.
A Cardinal bought the property in the late 1700s and built a home here on this narrow peninsula that juts out into the lake. From every angle, there are spectacular views of the water and surrounding mountains.
The Cardinal built several structures including an elegant loggia, which is an Italian word for an outdoor covered walkway or corridor.
The loggia connects two rooms -- a library and a music room (that is now used as a map room). The rest of the villa is in a separate building (but connected via a cool secret passage).
Through the years, the villa was owned by the Visconti family and even an American general before it was held by its final owner, a wealthy Milanese businessman named Guido Monzino. Monzino had no heirs so in his will he gave the villa and its property to the Italian National Trust to be preserved as a museum with stipulations that everything in the house be left exactly as it was in his lifetime. Given that he died in 1988, some of the rooms in the villa are furnished in a decidedly 1970s style. He was an avid collector and explorer and even went to the North Pole and Everest Base Camp. There are museum-type rooms showcasing his collections and memorabilia.
It was Guido (...can I call him Guido if I didn't actually know him personally? It's a fun-sounding name to say so I'm just going to go ahead with it...) It was Guido who built the secret passages and tunnels as an escape route from the villa rooms down through the bedrock to the boat dock. This was back in the 1970s during the wave of violent kidnappings by the communist Italian terrorist group the Red Brigades. They were an anti-establishment leftist guerilla group who committed some high-profile kidnappings and murders. Luckily for Guido he did not need to use the escape route during his lifetime, although it was later confirmed that his name was actually on the Red Brigades' target list. Hard to imagine fearing for your life while living in this beautiful and seemingly peaceful place.
This villa has been used in several Hollywood films, including Star Wars episode two "Attack of the Clones" and the James Bond film "Casino Royale" with Daniel Craig. This place definitely gives off a cool James Bond vibe. I can just imagine 007 sipping a martini -- shaken, not stirred -- while watching the shadows creep up the mountains at twilight.
After the guided tour we had some free time to wander around the gardens and take more pictures.
Then we headed down to the small dock (via the regular stairs of course, since the secret passage is off-limits for tourists) where Luca picked us up and we jetted off like 00 agents. Cue the Bond theme...
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