Bellagio Blues

How to fall in love, smuggle gold from Switzerland, work as a bartender at Bellagio Lido bar and survive.
A complete guide to Lake Como summer life.


Here we are again, the four of us. We lie down on our sun beds at Lido of Bellagio, lazily looking at Lake Como, waiting for another summer to begin.

Let me introduce myself. I'm Celso, twenty-five years old, the oldest of us.
Five-nine, long dark hair, blue eyes. Okay, I wear contact lenses, but who cares.
A ski instructor in winter, and a sailing instructor in summer. Nothing in between.


My brother Genesio, half asleep half drunk, is the luckiest of us.
It's the third summer in a row that he works as a bartender at the most glamorous bar in Bellagio, the Lido bar. He is twenty-one years old, tall, taller than me, and his eyes are really blue. Anyway, they are pale blue, and my contact lenses are better.
He studies Astronomy at Milan University during winter, while I ski on the Alps. Since he isn't a nerd, I wonder where his high marks come from. It's hard to admit, but maybe he is brighter than me.


To my left, Camillo is chain-smoking, polluting the stylish air of this posh place.
Twenty-one years old, he is the only one of us with a regular job. He's a cook at the famous Gallo d'Oro restaurant here in Bellagio. Assistant cook, I should say. His mother is the head chef and his father is the owner of the place. Three older sisters, the three of them are working their asses off at the restaurant. With such a family, Camillo has a tidy and sad life ahead.
More so, he is ugly. Small, red wild hair, an angry elf face. Women adore him.


The last one, just out of high school at nineteen years old, is Luigi.
He is our big question mark. Handsome, I have to admit. Golden curly hair, gray-green eyes, an angelical face. Women feel an urge to cuddle him and when they find him in their bed, it's too late. He lost his virginity at thirteen years old.
Known as the wildest brat of Lake Como, he is heavily superstitious. You cannot see now, but he wears a little bag of rue and sage under his t-shirt against the witches.

Wealthy family, I should say. His father is the last professional fisherman of Bellagio and he gains more as a traditional character for the tourists than fishing. A lot more.
Luigi is expected to enroll at the university next fall, but he has better plans. What? No one knows.