Ghosts at the castle!

Wednesday
Today we took the ferry in the opposite direction, to Varenna. We followed the picturesque pathway around the shore, then headed up one of the sloping alleys away from the lake and reached the town's main piazza, dominated by Varenna's principal church, the fourteenth-century Chiesa di San Giorgio, which features some beautiful frescoes. We called in at the tourist office and got directions up to the castle. Castello di Vezio, which stands high above the town, is a walled castle structured by an irregular pentagonal curtain with a fortified square tower with battlements and a drawbridge. As you wander round the castle you come across several “ghosts”. These ghosts are made every spring from gauze covered with a chalk mixture. Then the cloth is draped over cooperative tourists who are prepared to stay very still for up to an hour! The dried casting is then carefully removed and placed somewhere in the castle ruins. The castle is also a birds of prey centre, and affords magnificent views over the lake. Having returned to the main piazza, we were ready for a bite to eat with a drink, then we continued on to visit the Villa Monastero gardens - see collage in extras. The villa was originally an old monastery, that later became a patrician residence. Nowadays, it is an international conference center, and attracts tourists from everywhere because of its beautiful botanical garden stretching along the lake shore.
Being our last evening in Bellagio, before moving on tomorrow, we treated ourselves to another aperitif at the rooftop bar of our sister hotel.