Good day for a hike: 2500 feet, 23 km and 7.5 hours

A hunk of bread, a wedge of aged sheep's cheese, a couple canteens of water and some fruit. I regret not being able to share a more thorough and detailed trail description but this was more for practice and not for the lofty views. Ever since the movie The Way, we both had to know what one 20 kilometer day (12+ miles) would feel like if we were to embark on, at most, the 40-day 800 kilometer Camino de Santiago in Spain. That's a lot of walking. I think I would get real skinny if I missed a meal.

Lecco's mountains are covered in so many up-and-down trails that all you need do is get to any village above the lake. We started at an altitude of 670 meters and walked up another 762 to the top of Monte Tesoro in Valcava. That's a height difference of 2500 feet, 8 kilometers and 2.5 hours at a steady pace with Maddie and Mr B in tow. From there we made a loop trip back down, stopping often to munch on vittles and to take a look around. Altogether a total of 23 kilometers or 14 miles in 7½ hours, and a lot of interesting sights.

We'll try to get up here again after it snows...the view must be something awesome.

With a panoramic viewpoint like that, I'd say this would be prime property if you had the cash to fix it up.

You'll inevitably stumble across a tiny chapel when hiking in these mountains, and they make perfect places to stop for a rest or some peaceful solitude and spiritual enlightenment? I peeked into this one here to see a statue of the Holy Mother and Child.

In english they're known as barn swallows but in Italy we all know them as rondine (rohn-dee-neh). Apparently someone or some people take very kindly to these birds because an entire courtyard is outfitted with birdhouses on the building walls. The sign reads “Respect the rondine and its nest. The rondine really needs a lot of friends.” I didn't see any signs of the barn swallows but it's a common weather expression to say that if these birds are flying low, that means it's going to rain.

If you looked closely in the top pic, an arrow points to the Smurfs. Well smurf or no smurf and who gives a smurf anyway? This inn seems to be the hangout for the Puffi (pooh-fee) as they are known here.