Our 8am church bell alarm woke us up again. Their charm was starting to wear off. We had nothing planned for today. This is where an apartment as opposed to a hotel room was the better option. We had the space to lounge about as if we were home, rather than be cooped up in a small box of a room.

Breafast was kept simple, just coffee and toast. We were trying to not buy too much food because we were leaving tomorrow.

The morning was spent doing nothing . The tv was on in the background but we weren't watching it. Julie knitted and I wrote up my journal, so at least something prodcutive came out of it.

It was gone midday by the time we saw the light of day. We wandered aimlessly around the streets of Bellagio. Following the main street, Via Guiseppe Garibaldi, until a small sign caught our attention.

It was down the side street, Salita Serbelloni and it read Apertivi - Wine Bar. We took it as a sign to stop for a drink and hopefully something light to eat.

The wine bar was called Aperitivo et al. They had a food menu but their main focus was obviously their wine. They had a selection of 35 wines you could order by the glass. We heard the waiter state this fact to every customer who came in through the door!

The bar was effectively two parallel cellars. In the second one they had a temperature controlled room filled with their bottles of vino.

Julie orderd a white wine from Lugano, which despite sounding very Italian was just over the border in Switzerland. I ordered a large red wine from the Valtellina valley, only an hour's drive North from here. In fact, in the Lower Valtellina valley was the town of Morbegno, a name I recognised because it was twinned with Llanberis, in Wales.

The wine was called Olé Rosso di Valtellina.

They were served in these oversized wine glasses which filled the nose when you went in for a sip.

I noticed on their menu a pasta called Pizzoccheri alla Valtellina.

"A perfect match" said the waiter, complimenting me on my food and wine pairing.

Pizzoccheri was a comforting dish of swiss chard, potatoes and thick ribbons of pasta made mostly with buckwheat flour. Then with plenty of cheese and butter it was tranformed into the most wondeful meal designed for cold wintery days.

I had made it myself at home, so it was nice to see how it should have been properly presented. The one I made didn't have the right ratio of pasta/potatoes/chard. Here the the pasta was the star of the show, with the swiss chard and potatoes the supporting act. Also the cheese was like a creamy mild cheddar rather than a parmesan. It was so good.

With only pasta on the menu Julie had spinach and ricotta filled raviloli with sage butter, which she really enjoyed.

When we paid (€28), we were surprised how reasonably priced it was for the quality.

After lunch we strolled up and down the narrow cobblestone streets filled with colouful bars, restaurants and gift shops. Once we had literally walked each and every alleyway we decided to head to la punta, the point, the end of the Bellagio promotory.

It was back towards our apartment, then further down Via Eugenio Vitali until we reached the end of the road.

There, we came to a breakwater and harbour. It was an extremely peaceful spot. There were a few people walkng about but not many.

Overlooking the harbour was a restaurant, La Punta. We asked if it was ok to sit for only a drink and the waiter nodded as if to say "if you must".

They had the full repetoire of staff. The surly one, abrupt and borderline rude one. The slimey one, too smooth and borderline snivelling. And the junior one that they torment, bully and probably smack around the head when he did anything remotely wrong.

We had a look at the wine list. Usually when ordering a bottle at a swanky restaurant we have a tendancy to usually pitch ourselves in the mid-price range, avoiding the cheapest and never choosing the most expensive.

Our eyes both fixed on a bottle of Chateau Pétrus (2001). It was priced at €3700! I was so shocked I actually swore out loud!

We had a glass of their cheapest prosecco each.

Once we finished our cheap fizz and paid our €10, we walked along the breakwater to get a clear view of the lake from the end of the promotory. It was a grey day and the lake took on the cold dark colours.  It looked uninviting.

In the distance we could see the small flashes of colours from Varenna on the right and Menaggio on the left.

With my zoom lense we could see the whole of Varenna, looking splendid. It made us wonder why Bellagio? What made it the most popular of all the lakeside towns?

We returned back to the centre of town and gravitated towards Bar Rossi, where we unexpectedly felt hungry and ordered a panini to share. 

It turned out to be enormous, perfect for two.  It was also incredibly tasty.

We walked back to our apartment the long way, up a side street and down the main street, stopping at one gift shop when we saw Vespa key rings. Having recently become a proud owner of my own Vespa moped it was a must have accessory.

Back in the apartment we relaxed. I even fell asleep on the sofa for an hour.

When I woke up I set about making an arriabatta sauce, a spicy tomato sauce. It's usually served with a penne pasta. Julie's not the biggest fan of shaped pasta like penne, farfalle, or a fussilli. She prefers a thin linguine or spaghetti pasta.

Anyway, we had it with penne. The sauce turned out to be sensational. Best arribiatta I'd ever tasted. It must have been the quality fresh tomatoes, slowly cooked down that made the difference. The ratio of chilli was also just right.

Just before 9pm we headed out to Bifolco's Cafe Bar Sport on Piazza della Chiesa. Manchester United were playing against Liverpool tonight and we were hoping they would be showing the game.

True to their sports bar billing they were, albeit on a tiny tv up on the wall in the corner of the back room.

There were a few others there. A German couple who supported Liverpool sat nearest the TV. Another couple sat in the corner. They were Gary & Mel from Peel on the Isle of Man. We got chatting. He was an Everton supporter and a keen guitarist.

The game itself was a tedious goaless draw. Jose Mourinho "parked the bus" as they say, a defensive tactic aimed at not losing a game rather than winning it. Jurgen Klop's Liverpool couldn't break down the wall of dark blue shirts. The points were shared.

Despite the bore draw we still we enjoyed the evening. Gary & Mel were good company. We left, inviting each other to visit each other sometime.

After the game finished we thought about sniffing out some night life, returning  to the front hoping to find a buzzing Bar Rossi but all the bars and restaurants were closed.

So it was back to the apartment. It was late and we were moving on to Milan tomorrow. We began to pack our suitcase to make it easier in the morning but gave up halfway and went to bed.