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Bellagio is charming gorgeous and a perfect place to spend the afternoon.  Many many places to eat and rest adjacent to the lake.  From every direction everything looks like a postcard.  Benches all along the bay walk.  We took a train to Como and a public bus up to Bellagio.  I have determined that I truly enjoy the public buses.  Everyone was so kind and gracious.  The Rome2Rio app really was indispensable.  The app notifies you exactly which bus stop to get off at.  Perfect.  Our apartment was way up in the hills with a beautiful view of Bellagio. The village of Bellagio besides numerous restaurants, there are plenty of shops.  We did look for George Clooney but we didn't spot him. Everything is so dramatic with the mountains in the background. But both heading in to Bellagio and leaving Bellagio my favorite part was the public buses.  I loved meeting everyone on the bus.

This is another beautiful spot nestled in river valley below Brione.  We took a public bus from our apartment down the mountain to the village of Lavertezzo.  It was only a 15 min bus ride.  It is truly beautiful.  The river is a fantastic color, although a bit cold. It was one of our favorite spots during our trip.  Still can not believe we were there. Look at the stone work on the bridge.  Wow!! The village of Lavertezzo was also fun to walk through.  There were more tourists at this spot than at Brione. There were several more restaurants to eat at than in Brione.  The photo above was of the church very close to the bus stop.  Loved the public busses.

Hiking from the apt. to the grocery store right on the side of the street was an adorable little area to pray.  I'm not even sure what to call it.  I had never seen one before, but my friend was familiar with them and immediately went in and prayed.  So very special. Even the rock quarry is charming.  And right on the side of the road is a bench.  I do love benches. I think the thing I loved the best about Brione Verzasca was that you did not feel like you were traveling with a lot of tourists.  We really felt as though we experienced truly living in the village.  We felt a part of their community. Thank you Brione!!

I just do not even know where to begin.  I love Brione Verzasca!!!  I hope some day to make it back.  But if that never happens, I am grateful I was able to be there at all.  It was raining a lot when we were there, but it only added to the beauty of the village. Brione Verzasca is up in the mountains, situated along a river.  We arrived with our backpack on the local public bus.  At the bus stop there was a restaurant and a couple of structures, one of which was the apartment we rented through booking.com.  The owner wasn't expecting us as early, he was still straightening up the garden with goats.  At least I think they were goats.  He, with great pride of ownership and craftsmanship, show us to our apt.  It looked brand new.  He had done most of the work on the place.  Impressive. Our apt was on the third floor. Here is a photo of the restaurant we ate all our meals at. The restaurant is the yellow building and the laundry room we had access to was in the red bu

I absolutely loved hearing the herd come down the street.  I was stunned and felt so fortunate to see the goats herded down through the village and off to the pastures. Charming!!! The village of Zermatt is gorgeous.  In every direction there is breathtaking beauty.  It is difficult for me to convey completely how stunning Zermatt is.  I can only imagine what it looks like in winter, blanketed in snow.  Wow! Just walking through the village is a delight.  I loved waking up in the morning and walking in to town to get my morning coffee.  Loved it. There are so many wonderful hikes to go on for all levels of experience. I can hardly wait to go back.

Our view out our chalet's window.  Beautiful!!  We did our booking through booking.com and we were on a serious budget.  Thank goodness we were backpacking.  It took us two hours to find our chalet.  We were using the Rome to Rio app and we were running in to a bit if difficulty.  The app had been spot on fantastic up until now.  As it turned out, we were assuming that there was a road to our chalet.  We were wrong.  It was a very hot day as we were trying to locate our unit.  At last we found it up a ridiculous flight of stairs.  Rome to Rio was having difficulty because there was no road access. Once settled in the beauty of Zermatt over takes you.  It feels like you are in a movie set.  I can hardly wait to go back.  In the summer the hiking is fantastic, the town is exceptionally charming, the people are very gracious, everything was perfect. We went on a little hike that we thought would be about 30 minutes.  Oh my were we wrong!  It was a beautiful 2-3 hour hike.  Th