Two of the villas we were able to see while Tina (Derrick's mom) was visiting were the Villa Carlotta and the Villa Balbianella. It was nice to be able to visit these places while another girl was in town, because villas and gardens aren't necessarily a few of Derrick's favorite things.
Both Villa Carlotta and Villa Balbianella are on the west side of the lake, so we drove Derrick to work in the morning so we could take the car for our cruise of the lake. First stop was Villa Carlotta.
Inside the villa they had turned it into a museum with some interesting sculptures on the first floor, and the upper floor had been recreated with period furniture to resemble what the villa looked like in its hayday.
What Villa Carlotta is really known for though, is it extensive and manicured gardens.
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| Tina walking through an arch of oranges. |
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| A forest of bamboo. |
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| Lots and lots of hydrangeas |
After Villa Carlotta we continued our cruise down the coast to Villa Balbianella. This place is always being used for weddings and events, so it has really random hours. We were lucky that we had planned our excursion for a time when they were actually open. Villa Carlotta is actually considered the most visited attraction on Lake Como, but Villa Balbianella has been my favorite.
You'll remember we cruised past Villa Balbianella in Living Life on Lake Como (Part 1), but this time we were able to walk around and take a tour of the buildings. There is a fee to take pictures inside the villa (on top of the fee for the tour), and I did not feel like paying it, so I'm afraid you guys only get pictures from the outside.
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| View from the Lake. It looks like 3 separate buildings, but on the tour we saw that there are secret passages connecting all of the buildings together. |
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| They had these incredible 200 year old vines that looked like snakes wrapped around all the columns. |
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| This is the entrance to the Villa if you come by boat. Not too shabby. |
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| Tina just waiting for her yacht to come pick her up. |
For you movie fans, Villa Balbianella was featured in James Bond Casino Royale and Star Wars Episode 2. Below I've included my pictures of the locations, and then the you tube clips so you can compare.
Locations from Casino Royale
Locations from Star Wars Episode II
As I was doing my you tube research, I discovered that this villa below (which we saw on our lake cruise in Living Life on Lake Como (Part 1)) was actually in Casino Royale as well. Scroll down for your you tube clip =-)
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| Villa Gaeta. |
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