Royal Air Squadron Visit to Lake Como

The weather en-route and for our planned arrival in Italy was very unkind to us. Many had to make alternative travel arrangements including suffering the ignominy of EasyJet! But all participants made it to Milan Bresso Aero Club in time for lunch on Sunday 14 May. We were greeted by Giuseppe Ghisoni the President, and by Stefano Treu and Filippo Colnaghi who had done much of the preparatory work for us. The Aero Club’s hospitality was spectacular – we enjoyed a wonderful meal, wine flowed, speeches were made, and RAS shields and books were presented.

For the Como portion of our trip we stayed at the Sheraton in Cernobbio, close to the lake shore and a short walk from the Como Aero Club and the centre of town. After a welcome drink and briefing from trip manager Chris Harper, members and their guests enjoyed dinner in the Kincho restaurant’s large marquee. Once again, we had delicious food and wine and the opportunity to meet and entertain Enrico Guggiari (President of the Como Aero Club) and Cesare Baj (Vice-President).

The next day treated us to spectacular flying weather. Everyone had at least one trip in one of the Como Club’s fleet of Cessnas, PA-18 amphibian and Cessna Bird Dog seaplanes, and were shown important landmarks including George Clooney’s and Richard Branson’s villas and the beautiful Villa La Gaeta used in the later version of Casino Royale. Whilst waiting for flights most took the opportunity to explore Como, its beautiful churches, little winding streets and abundance of exciting shops! To round off the day the Aero Club team hosted us to a terrific informal dinner and drinks in their hangar.

Tuesday saw us travelling by bus, ferry and seaplane to visit Gerolamo Gavazzi’s (Egidio’s brother) Isola dei Cipressi on Lake Pusiano. This enchanting little island has a beautiful cottage that time has passed by. It was surrounded by exotic birds – peacocks, crested cranes, and golden pheasants – not to mention tortoises and a small number of wallabies. The mix of tall cypress trees and other native species together with peonies and flowers just coming into bloom was utterly magical. We were welcomed by Gerolamo’s wife Bianca and his son Simone, and by Gerolamo’s brothers Paulo and Marco. Our amazing picnic had been set up under the trees and little tables with white cloths were dotted about the island’s lawn. Paulo was telling us the story of the island when he was interrupted by the thunderous roar and a whirl of rotor blades as Richard Hubbard came into land. One peacock who had been showing off his plumage was more than a little miffed and scurried into the bushes – and myriad waitresses rushed to catch the tablecloths. Tranquillity resumed, we toasted Egidio and had yet another wonderful lunch. That evening we dined at the Como Yacht Club where we had as our guests members of the Aero Club – including the indefatigable Cristina (Como Aero Club’s Events Manager) who had played such an indispensable role in the organisation of our trip.

Wednesday gave us one last chance to have fun on the lake and along its shores. Travelling in a large private ferry boat, we made our way to the Museo Barco Larina to see their incredible collection of over 400 historic boats, including rowing boats, gondolas, fishing, hunting and smuggling boats, an amazing collection of Riva speedboats, steamboats, sailing boats and workboats from days of old. From there our vessel took us to Mandello for relaxing lunch at Locanda Alberti and a short walk to see the stunning collection of Moto Guzzi motorcycles at the Motor Guzzi museum. The RAS petrolheads were in their element!

Wednesday evening was free – and pilots had plenty of time to discuss the weather. Sadly, some concluded that they had to head back to the UK in order to miss the storms clouds jeopardising their return home later in the week.

The few who remained on Thursday were given an extraordinarily warm welcome in brilliant sunshine at the Cremona Aero Club. We were hosted by the President, Aurelio La Monica, and many other members of the club. We were also joined by Dr Virginia Villa, the Director of the Stradivarius Foundation’s Museum and members of the local press. Yet another fine airport lunch and then into Cremona. What an absolute gem of a little Italian town. The medieval streets and the huge piazza with its enormous and awe-inspiring cathedral were magnificent and all just a short walk from our hotel. Part of the afternoon was devoted to a tour of the extraordinary Stradivarius Museum to learn about the history of the violin. We were also treated to an exclusive private recital in the spectacular Stradivarius Auditorium by the exceptionally talented Aurelia Macovei. Aurelia had played first violin and been a soloist in numerous concerts round the world and played one of the rarer Stradivarius violins held by the museum for us.

Our final dinner was held in the Osteria La Sosta. We entertained members of the Cremona Aero Club and Virginia Villa from the museum, and had yet another wonderful feast. More speeches and presentations, and the last of our supply of books and plaques were presented. It seemed hard to believe that our trip had all but reached its conclusion.

Friday morning dawned and, with the sun shining at Cremona and over the majority of the route home, the RAS Cremona flying team departed for the UK. All arrived at their destinations safe and sound that evening. A handful of members took a taxi to Milan to have a hilarious lunch with Stefano from the Bresso Aero Club. His hospitality made their return journey to the UK on BA and EasyJet considerably more tolerable.

A presto bella Italia!