The Milanese benefit from the geographical good fortune of being positioned a drive away from St Moritz and Courmayeur’s slopes, as well as Cinque Terre for a blast of coastal sunshine, and from the lakes. Lake Como endures as the favourite — and when you consider its sheer, rollercoaster-style topography, its magnetic pull begins to make sense.
There’s energy and drama in its stillness, encased by mountains that gently kiss the clouds then roll down feverishly via forest and trickling streams to meet the lake, continuing some 400 metres below its flat, glassy surface. And it looks good from all angles, at every time of day, perhaps even more so on drizzly mornings when a thick mist clings to the water. It moves through a whole raft of shades in just a few hours, from steely greys to surreal, sparkling blues, and has spiritual currency — perhaps explaining the profusion of popes and cardinals stowing away in the opulent palazzos lining the shore across the centuries.
