LONBARDIA

MILAN AND SURROUNDINGS

The Centre of Business and Fashion, Milan is the heartland of the Italian economy.

To the Goths who took it over from the Romans it was “Mailand”, the land of May,

a place of warmth and inspiration. Milan is always one step ahead: a laboratory of artistic experiments and a building site for social behaviour that is continuously changing. City full of contradictions, ancient and modern, trends and counter-trends, fashion and underground, middle class and working class, but always simply “cool”, maybe for this reason, Milan makes itself indispensable, because it is impossible to feel so alive and full of energy when you are away from the city. However this region is also surrounded by lakes at few km from the center. For example, natural landscapes and the particularly warm climate of Lake Como made its shores an excellent place to live for important ancient families. They left as testimony wonderful Villas and Botanical Gardens that are visited by international travellers today. Today this tradition is continued by many famous people such as the Versace family and the actor George Clooney. One of the most famous villas is Villa Carlotta with its rare botanical gardens and the statues of Canova. Others are the panoramic Villa Balbianello where many famous movies have been filmed, Villa d'Este known today for being a luxury property, Villa Melzi, Villa Pliniana, Villa Pisani Dossi and many others. A boat excursion will allow you to visit some of the Villas and to stop in Bellagio, Tremezzo and the Comacina Island