Italy Travel – Shopping in Bellagio

Friday May 4

After sleeping almost 12 hours, by the time I was dressed it was lunchtime and Sue and I were hungry. We walked up a staircase, called Salita Cernaia here in Bellagio, and discovered a wonderful little pizza and pasta ristorante, La Grotta. I ordered Four Cheese Pizza and Sue ordered Salami Neapolitanese, which is pepperoni pizza. Both were delicious and the waitress was especially nice.

Afterwards we browsed around the shops a bit and I went into the same jewelry shop where I found my daughter-in-law’s Christmas present for my son last year. I wanted to tell the owner how much she enjoyed it, and he remembered me since there had been an issue with my credit card requiring a phone call to Visa. It was nice to talk with him again.

After that we decided to take the Trombetta Express, a small tourist train that goes all around Bellagio in 25 minutes, not a bad deal for five euros. I was able to see areas of Bellagio that I had never seen before.

When we got back to the center of town we headed off for more shopping. One of the shops had some really nice leather bags from Florence and the prices were surprisingly good.

Since this is not yet tourist season, we were able to negotiate with the shop owner for a discount, and Sue and I each bought a leather bag. (Like I need another purse, but it’s really nice). We browsed around, checked out the grounds at Hotel Serbelloni and wandered up towards Bellagio’s church where there were other small shops.

One of the most interesting experiences was inside the shop, Arte & Moda and meeting
designer Pierangelo Masciadri. He owns the shop which specializes in his designer jewlry made of Murano glass, and his designer silk ties and scarves.

He designed the tie that President Clinton wore when he was elected President for the first time, as well as the tie that George Bush wore in a presidential debate with John Kerry.

His pieces are beautiful and he was very kind and humble. I felt honored to meet him and I bought a beautiful pair of transparent Murano glass earrings which he designed. I left there very happy.

Our last shopping experience for the day found us in the same shop where I had bought a silk scarf last year. This time I found several good buys there and afterwards we stopped for a cappuccino and some dolci near the church.

On the way home I found a mini market to buy some coca light. We walked back to the hotel and decided that we did not need any dinner after the afternoon sweets. It was a relaxing evening.