Como Cancellations Couldn't Stop Us

Chaos ensued after my last writing. Looked up at the board at the Milan train station when we arrived to look for the departure platform for our next train to Como. Of course there is one train on the board that has “cancellato” where it should have a platform number and it’s ours. The line for the train service provider trenitalia was a million people long and not moving. Word then starts spreading that the trains to Como aren't running because the station is closed after bad rain and wind caused some mudslides down the hills around the lake covering the tracks. Eventually we get some whisper down the lane that to get there we need to go to another service provider Trenord in the Milan station and they will tell us what to do. We linked up with a young Australian couple who were supposed to be on the same train as us and we then found another long line at trenord. Eventually we get this note from the customer service guy after waiting 30 minutes:

The Australian girl got it and he said we had to take the Milan metro to this other station Cadorna to get to one of the other Como stations. That was a mad dash with us and the Australian couple as a unit. We went through the subway system and luckily we got on the right one and got to the next station. We bought new tickets and got on the next train. However, the adventure was not over yet. Some Italian person on the train translated an announcement while on the train that this train wouldn't reach the Como stops and we’d have to take a bus. We got off with everyone at the final stop and were stranded with our luggage with 35 other people in the same situation. No one could get a cab or an uber and it was about to rain. We decided to go to a cafe to wait it out but still needed to get to the airbnb before dark. Eventually uber worked and we made our way up the mountain to this view before the rain:

Everything was closing up shop for the day and we hit this meat shop to make some deli sandwiches for sustenance after not eating all day and a long day of travel. Salami, prosciutto, buffalo mozzarelle, and some pesto toasted:

Just glad we made it though, things were looking dicey. There was rain predicted for our full day in Como, but we decided when we woke up to not trust the rain-caster and get after it anyway. We went and hiked like we planned and it was a great decision. We hiked the Sentee di Sort Trail from Cernobbio to Moltrasio starting at 745ish am. Only a little bit of rain hit us but we did have to cross 2 or 3 little waterfalls.

The views were worth it. We found a cafe after winding down into the next town for a coffee and pastry at the only place that was open at 830 in the morning. We also met a dude from Georgia who was having a crazy travel experience like us. We took the road back to our town and explored a lakeside market with delicious calamari and wings.

Later on we did another little hike through a mini-garden by a creek that flowed down to the lake:

We then followed it up with a well-deserved meal at a place called Osteria Del Beuc. We made the most of our quick day in Como hiking around 13 miles with a lot of climbing. That place is steeeeeep but makes for incredible views. Our place was way on up at the top of the hill in the second picture below so we ended our day with a good last climb.

Time to get out of Italy and move on to the true Alps in Interlaken. Again weather doesn’t great but we’ll soldier on like before. This also marks the halfway point of my trip. It feels like I’ve been gone a while with everything that I’ve packed in, but still a lot of adventuring left to go.

I’ll check back in when I feel like it.