The Closed Pass

approaching Bellano and lunch

If you saw today's route you might think we didn't have access to maps and GPS, since it included a lot of backtracking. We traveled south from Varenna to Lecco on a road that included a number of long tunnels but was infinitely faster than yesterday's slow but scenic ride up the west coast of Lake Como. At Lecco 11 am we paused to to enjoy a lovely 40 minute lakeside walk. Then we headed off for a loop inland and northward into the mountains (one of several roads recommended in our Scenic Driving Roads of Northern Italy book), returning to Lecco at noon to check out the Moto Guzzi--the premiere Italian motorcycle-- factory and Museum, which turned out to be open only from 3-4.  

So north again, past Varenna to Bellano, watching for a market for picnic supplies. No luck, so we ended up (luckily?) enjoying another lakeside cafe lunch.  Then north again to the top of Lake Como and the San Marco Pass.  Oops! The pass is closed?  But Rob is persistent and asks a maintenance worker at the spot where the cars are turning around if the pass is really closed.  Not for motorcycles, he says.  Off we went, with no Italian cars tailgating us. 

up the San Marco Pass

It was a fine ride up and down.  We returned through San Pellegrino, noticing the large bottling plant, and on to Bergamo.  We had decided against using Booking.com to secure a hotel here, noticing the relatively inexpensive prices for the weekend, and after hearing from our Stresa host that Booking charges the hotel 18% of the room rate.  We arrived at the Excelsior San Marco and are now enjoying a relatively luxurious room for $130, compared to $110 for our last two modest hotels.