Why not visit Milano when you're in the neigborhood? You could buy the same flashy green trousers I bought there!
If you go, we recommend driving to Como (San Giovanni station) and taking the train from there to Milano (Porta Garibaldi)
It is cheap to park your car for the day at the station. The trains in Italy are also remarkably cheap. However, there is an expensive catch: After you buy the ticket(s) you should make sure to VALIDATE them by getting them stamped in one of the hidden, unobtrus...
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Just saw a video on Youtube by Dave Renkema featuring Elvira (his wife), Morena (Clay's daughter), Vera (Doriano's daughter) and Clay, the chef himself. See it here then go visit yourself when you're in Lezzeno. Great views, great food, great people. If you see Doriano (lives at number 25) he will suggest you go there anyway.
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In July we spent 2 wonderful weeks in casa3dici. We happened to have great weather. Not all of us have been that fortunate, but there is nothing we can do about that. Garden and house are finished. We installed a new oven, cemented the barbecue and painted the gate to the garden which now clearly marks the casa3dici property. Apart from that we just relaxed and had fun. We bought 2 mountain bikes and lost a lot of breath cycling along the lake.
We also went on a great hike with the Zwaan fami...
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Jaap's adventures  on Lake Como:

Now that we finally finished the restauration of Casa3dici, we can start using it in the way it was ment to be: as a shelter (the spanish call this Parador and created a chain of lovely hotels in the most beautifull places all around Spain) to be used when escaping from work and other less thrilling business in and around the place we live.

To enlargen our possibilities to "live" the lake we thought it a good idea to get ourselves a little boat, a RIO 500 40HP...
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Closest place to do major grocery shopping is in Bellagio. However, for fresh panini, milk, odds-and-ends you might as well support the local smaller stores. There's a tiny store that sells just enough to survive. Walk down to the main street, turn left and go past Restaurant Crotto. It is somewhere in the block on your right hand side.
Hard to explain how to get to this hidden place from there. I suggest you wait and follow a hungry-looking local person. My sister had told us you just enter ...
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You can enjoy a nice view virtually everywhere around Como Lake. But it is hard to find a better view than the one at  Trattoria Baita Belvedere in Chevrio where you seem to hang over the mountain edge overlooking Bellagio and the three branches of the lake. As is the case in most agriturismi type restaurants, the food is fantastic too. If you want to work up an appetite, you should park the car at the Tabbaccharia that is on your right just before getting to Bellagio. From the parking you ca...
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Last Christmas we stayed at casa3dici. My sister and her family were also in Lezzeno. We got snowed in the first couple of days but, mama mia, did it look nice outside!
Best memory: Christmas morning 11:00 o'clock: Washing down fresh oysters (from Zeeland of course) with a good Prosecco with family and Italian neighbors. What more can you wish for?
By the way, Christmas and New Years weeks are still available for 2010 and beyond!

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