Brunate, Italy
One mile above Lake Como

George Clooney owns a villa on Lake Como. So does Gianni Versace. Madonna and other rockers hang out there. In magazines you can find paparazzi shots of Julia Roberts buying overpriced pants at Como street bazaars.

Personally, I didn't see the great reason for all the hype.

There's no apparent place to find good food -- expensive or cheap. And the city itself is just trying too hard to cater to the fast-paced Milan/Rome/high-profile crowd. It doesn't feature any of its culture or antiquity.

Although I admit I was fascinated on the boat tour, seeing all the palatial Italian villas on the coastline -- each one fit for a royal family. But the people who stepped onto the boat from the shores wore layers of glittering diamonds and that was just on the public transportation! The private yachts must have catered to the Robin Leech lifestyle of the rich and famous.

That was interesting to see, but it's not what I came to Europe for.

We stayed in the small village of Brunate, which was a mile above Como on a clifflike overlook of the lake. That was fun. The switchback / hairpin turns to scale the mountain in our Peugeot on the way up was really fun but made the other passengers sick. And the quick Funiculare to take us back down was exciting too.

But all in all, I'm really happy about spending a week in Italy and not more. A week here is just long enough to still love the scenery and the culture without getting sick of the attitudes and rip-offs and scams. I think it has been my favorite place to visit in the world so far and I would definately come back again for a week.