La dolce vita on Lake Como

When you think Lake Como you think big sunglasses, riding in a convertible and hopping on boats with a drink in hand. And you wouldn't be thinking all that far from reality because Lake Como is the stuff dreams are made of: millions of shades of blue, mountains dipping straight into the glistening calm lake, air so clean you can smell a crisp alpine breeze and cute colourful villages where nothing probably ever happens (other than George Clooney dropping by to get his newspaper of course).

Cheating on Milan for a day

View of Varese from the Giardini Estense

Even though Milan is a cosmopolitan and international industry powerhouse in which most dream to fit its hectic half jet-setting half latin rhythm, I find myself daydreaming of the day I'll get to take a train out of the city and into the green countryside. There's a small chance the 9 hours I spend in an office every day contribute to my oxygen depravation but I know myself enough to say that being outdoors is what brings me peace and happiness. Thankfully, my job also entails sometimes spending a day a week at Villa Panza in Varese, a small city I had never heard of and never really intended to visit anyway.