Day 54 From James Bond to Maxwell Smart

Our last day in Como was really a holiday. Can life get much richer than breakfast in bed in your own studio apartment as you look out on one of the world’s most beautiful lakes? We had just about run out of food so midmorning we meandered down to the local shops in the neighbouring village of Laglio.

On the way we again passed the house (or should we say campus) that we suspected belonged to George Clooney. As we got there we were thrilled to see a car about to leave and what happened next could have been from a James Bond movie. Firstly the chain in front of the outer gate fell to the ground and into a cavity. Then the outer steel gate with spikes on the top slowly tracked right across a path to reveal matching inner steel spiked gates. Then the inner gates swung inwards and out came a car. We watched as the car came forward… but unfortunately the occupant was not George. After the car left, the gates closed in reverse order; firstly the inner gate swung shut, then the outer gate tracked left and finally the chain that had dropped into a cavity sprung up, taut once again in front of the two matching gates. This time it reminded us of Maxwell Smart.

After all this one thing still troubled us; were we really sure this was George Clooney’s house? We had seen it on the Internet but doubts remained in our minds. We walked on past the gates where we noticed some mail, a package, had been stuffed into another part of the fence. If we had not personally experienced the Italian postal service we might have doubted that mail would be left just stuffed into the fence, but sure enough there it was. We know it’s embarrassing but we looked! The parcel was a couple of CDs mailed from the States. And there upside down, was the clearly scrawled name: George Clooney. (if you don’t believe us click on the photo on Day 52– then either stand on your head or turn your laptop upside down- see!)

Our day and time in Como ended with some more exploring of local villages, a quick trip to Como where Richard had a haircut (actually that story is worthy of another blog) and we returned for dinner at our local risterante.

The ravioli and gnocchi were sensational. The polenta was ordinary and the local fish from the lake was worse than any tinned sardine. Nothing however could spoil our wonderful week at Curate Urio, Como ( just next door to Laglio, where… did we mention it? …George Clooney lives!)