Somewhere into the sixties Como was a bustling city as bedeviled by traffic as any North American town of its size. Funny thing is, is that it retained much of its charm and charismatic air.
Way before this it was a mere lump of ice, melting and changing form. The final results attracted an array of famous poets- so inspired by its natural beauty.
Romans relaxed in Como, Dante (Tuscan Poet),Virgil and Catullus, the genius Goethe, Longfellow. Poetry may have elegantly expressed the true beauty of Lake Como, but to only describe its beauty vaguely. Ice gouging Southward millions of years ago, scooped out their valleys. The region blends soaring peaks with lush Mediterranean vegetation.
And how right was William Talbot in 1833 as he reflected upon this glorious splendor- he said; “it was during these thoughts that the idea occurred to me if it were possible to cause these natural images to imprint themselves durably, and remain fixed upon paper!” And a year later he was at work on his idea that today shares the honor of inventing photography along with Frenchman Louis Daguerre.
Invasions of Como were marked on paper throughout history, but nothing compared to the one summer it was invaded by the hippies. Hippies came in, from all over, in turn halting and shattering the village peace with exploding music on transistor radios. The long-hairs hung around monuments looking ever so tousled, and interrupted diners in open-air cafes. Hippies dug there way into Como from Germany, England, France and the United States. They were pests everywhere, but in Como they were a catastrophe.
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