To Lake Como

We had dinner Inn the hotel and walked over to see the bridge at night - very pretty.
In the morning we have a walk around and buy some lunch for our train trip. Check out at 11.15 and head over to the train station. Lucerne is a lovely city and we easily could have spent another day here. It is a city we could return to if  the opportunity arises.
We board our train and it departs on time at 12.17. There is a scramble for luggage space, but Luggy and Ross rearrange the luggage rack to fit all ours in. It is a delightful train trip, very quite and smooth. The scenery is fantastic with craggy mountains, lush green valleys and beautiful lakes. We spend at least 20 minutes going through one tunnel. We get off at Monza  where we have to change trains for Varenna. The sun is out and it is quite warm, around 27 degrees. We have a 50 minute wait between trains. We find our platform and then spend the next 40 mins trying to understand Italian announcements to see whether they have changed our platform number. Everything is okay and we board our train. Unfortunately this is crowded and we are forced to stand in the doorway again for the next 50 mins.
We arrive at Varenna and now we have to wheel our luggage down to the ferry terminal. It is downhill which is fine, but that means it will be uphill for the return. We pay the ferry man and head across to Menaggio. It takes about 15 minutes. We have checked Mr Google and it should be a 6 walk to our hotel. It is but it is over cobble stones! We arrive with our bags still intact, but we might grab a taxi back when we leave. The hotel is in a great place, on the edge of a plaza area which looks directly across the lake. We check in and agree to meet up at 7. The rooms are neat and tidy, lovely shower area. We have a short walk but all shops are closed, so we have something to eat and drink at a cafe in the plaza. Six beers and six lasagnes! We are outside and have great views across the lake to Varenna. After dinner we head back to the Johnstones room, because they have extra room and chairs! After a couple of ports we retire and are looking forward to tomorrow with an expected temp
of 27.