Love, Tuesday... Bellagio, Italy

We haven’t done a “Love, Tuesday” in a while so we thought we’d share the story of how we fell in love with Bellagio, and then felt called to come back.

This is the town of Bellagio, Italy. It sits in the middle of Lake Como, about an hour and a half from Milan. It’s called the “Pearl of the Lake” because it’s set in the best position on the lake and it’s one of the most beautiful villages on the lake as well.

We first came to Bellagio in 2009 for our 20th Wedding Anniversary. I blogged a little about this last month when I shared a look back on our Creative Retreats over the years, but I’ll share a little more about that trip here. Here’s us in 2009:

Oh, how I LOVE this photo of us and I just can’t believe it’s already been over 1o YEARS since this photo was taken! That was one of the BEST trips we’ve ever taken together and I treasure it dearly. On this trip, we had decided to splurge on coming here. You see, we had saved our American Express miles for 20 years and we were going to “blow them out” on a big anniversary trip on our 20th anniversary. The only problem with that was the hotel we wanted to stay at didn’t take American Express miles! As I wrote in my last post about Bellagio, I had seen this show on the Travel Channel with Samantha Brown (Passport to Europe) and had been “WOWED” by this town and the hotel she stayed at in this episode. I had saved that in the back of my mind and when we were planning this trip, I asked Lance if we could splurge on one place on our itinerary that wouldn’t take miles.

So we came to Bellagio and stayed at the famous and stunningly beautiful Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni. It was a DREAM. When we arrived at the hotel, the concierge greeted us and they helped us to our room. They opened the door and showed us the room and all the amenities. That was the first inkling that something was different here. What we didn’t know is that because I had told them this was our 20th wedding anniversary, they upgraded us to one of only 2 rooms in the whole hotel that have a huge balcony over looking the lake!! So when they showed us the room, they said “And… if you open this door, you have your very own balcony with a lovely view of the lake to enjoy!” You see we had paid for the smallest, tiniest room in the hotel that we could afford… and they were so kind enough to treat us like royalty. In fact, I think this WAS a room royalty had stayed in. This hotel has had everyone from Sir Winston Churchill, Roosevelt, the Rothschilds, J. F. Kennedy, Mary Pickford, Clark Gable, and Al Pacino to name just a few! Over the years that we’ve been coming to Bellagio we have personally seen George Clooney, Kurt Russell, Sting, Drew Seeley, Channing Tatum and Robert De Niro to drop a few names. (hahaha) So to say this upgraded room was quite the surprise is an understatement… and also part of the reason we were instantly in love with this place from the start!

They took this photo of us on our balcony that very first moment we were shown our room.

Then Lance took this photo of me right when I realized what they had blessed us with:

Yes, ugly tears… but tears of JOY for sure!

I remember after they left Lance was tired so he went inside to take a nap. I on the other hand got out my journal and poured out my thoughts (and more tears) as I journaled right there on the balcony while I listened to the boats going by, the birds chirping, and the church bells ringing. I’ll never forget that moment in time. I cried because I was overwhelmed with goodness, but I also cried because this place had become instantly a piece of my heart and I was already having a hard time thinking I had to leave it in a few days! I’m not trying to get all sappy about it. I don’t do this everywhere I go, and I honestly think that feeling in my heart was coming from God. How would I have known this was a place He would bring me to, to in turn share it with others AND make it about HIM!?! I had NO idea… All I can say is that even though I didn’t know the PURPOSES of God for this place in my life at that exact moment, it was His doing… so that His will would be done. It would just take me a few years to figure that out.

We look like babies here! We spent the next two days exploring Bellagio and falling more in love with this place. It’s funny to me now because I look back on all the photos we took and little did we know the people and the places that we saw then would become “home” to us now. That is one of the biggest blessings on my life… to go 1/2 way around the world and find another place that not only do YOU love, but they love you back. That’s why the day we left, just 3 shorts days later, I cried again. Big ugly tears… because I never thought I’d be back! I really thought it was the first and last time I would see this place that captured my heart on the shores of Lake Como, Italy.

This place has become a second home to us because of the people. Yes it’s one of the most beautiful places in the world. Yes, this is where I feel lead to bring people for our retreats and God is showing us the why and how each time. But it’s more than that. It’s the people who have added so much to our lives. The hotel staff are our friends, we know the owners of the hotel and their children, (yes it is still family run since the 1800’s and they still live inside the hotel) and the people who live in this town are like family. We brought our girls back with us that very next summer in 2010 to see this beautiful place that we had fallen in love with, and they were instantly in love with it too! (Good thing we had some miles left to pay for the airfare) The one thing that surprised us the most at first, after only coming back one time after this anniversary trip was that we were already invited into their homes. Or we met our new friends for lunch or coffee. We were being introduced to friends of friends. We were beginning to say “Ciao” to almost every other shop owner or person walking around the town, because they recognized us. These things don’t happen in busy So. California!

You can read more of the story of our retreats here “Looking Back to Look Forward” where I talk about how the Lord brought us back each time and showed me that is was for His Purposes all along.

We came again in 2011 and every year since that first year in 2009. It wasn’t until 2012 that I started doing our retreats here. It took me a few years to see that this was all part of His plan for my life, and my families life, but I’m glad it took time. God’s timing is ALWAYS perfect. I’ve realized that more and more in my life as I get older. We want to do things, plan things, go here, go there, dream big… and all of that is completely fine! But these verses I shared yesterday on IG keep reminding me that when we give our lives to God, it’s God’s plans that are going to truly succeed in life:

“Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” Proverbs 19:21 

He is going to fulfill His purposes in our lives and when there’s something He wants to do in and through our lives… He’s going to make it happen. He WILL show you. But He’s not going to show you the end from the beginning. He’s not going to show you 10 steps ahead. I know, I wish He would too… that’s why this verse speaks to my wondering heart:

“I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills His purpose for me.” Psalms 57:2

I know I’ve used the word PURPOSE a lot lately… and maybe that’s a word that’s become a “buzz” word in the last few years and you're tired of hearing it. But I want to share what the Lord has shown me over the last year in my own life and I hope that somehow that speaks to you as well. Last February I wrote a blog post all about my “word for the year” which was Purpose in 2019. You can read it here.

But getting back to Bellagio…

The Lord has shown me over the years through these retreats that it’s a willing heart that He wants to use. He doesn’t need you to know everything from the beginning. He doesn’t even need you to have a business plan or a 10 step program all figured out! He’s looking for us to STEP OUT IN FAITH and trust Him. We may not know how things are going to work out, but He does, and He wants us to trust Him with the details. Because He is IN the details my friends! I could write a book (well I am actually…) about all that God has done in this journey He put before me. I’m not sugar coating this… it still is a lot of work, you need to be on your knees in prayer constantly, you do have to “use the brain God gave you” (as I’ve said to my kids many times) and hard stuff IS going to happen. But when you are doing what God has called you to do… it works. Because God shines through it and everyone can see that it’s only by God’s grace and provision that it is possible! It’s not about US, and I know you may be tired of me saying that if you read my blog regularly, but when we get out of the way with our own “agenda” and let God set the plan and bring it together, it just WORKS! Because He is fulfilling His Purpose for YOUR life. (Psalm 57:2)

This photo was me almost 10 years ago. I’ve aged quite a bit… but I look at this photo and think WOW… How did God call this full-time-stay-at-home-momma to Italy to share of His LOVE and Purpose with whoever will listen?! I am truly not able to wrap my head around it, BUT for the Grace of GOD.

And, to think that this beautiful location would have such a big part of this journey is incredible to me!

And did you see that the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni was awarded #1 Hotel Resort in Italy by Travel & Leisure! It was also at the top of the list for Condé Nast Magazine! WOW! Let me tell you a bit about this hotel. I’ll start with this interview with the owner, Gianfranco Bucher from Forbes Magazine:

“The hotel started 1873. During the First World War, it was transformed into a military hospital; at the end of the war, the hotel was not destroyed but was in bad shape. This owner, already 76 years old, decided to sell. My grandfather bought it in 1918 and modernized it. And in 1950, my father took it over. During the Second World War, tourism stopped, so, my grandfather decided to change the hotel into apartments for families, especially of Milan because Milan was heavy bombed. Many rich people, were looking for a place to stay; but there was no furniture or fuel.

Two families from New Zealand stayed in the hotel; they were considered enemies because they were part of the commonwealth. They couldn't leave the hotel because the police were looking for them. We also had a lot of Jewish people from Milan who had escaped the fascists. The funny thing is that because we are a Swiss family, the hotel was considered as part of Switzerland and we had an official paper saying so. The Italian police, the fascist police, the Nazi police were not allowed to enter the building because it was a Swiss enclave. I couldn't understand why the police didn't enter the hotel, throw my family out and take it over. Then I found out that all these people had money in Swiss banks. Switzerland said, ‘if you touch Swiss property outside Switzerland, we will close your accounts and you will lose your money.’ It was really strange what value a small piece of paper from the Swiss government had.”

You can read the rest of the article here.

Now let me share with you my own story about this hotel and it’s impact on our lives:

I remember the first time we came to this hotel. You step out of your car and look out at the lake, on the balcony above their outdoor pool, and you just can’t believe there is a place like this in the world! This place is easy to fall in love with instantly. But it’s more than that. We’ve been to many beautiful places around the world and have enjoyed staying in gorgeous hotels. The difference here is again… the people. On that very first trip we were greeted warmly from the moment we stepped out of the car. They made the extra effort to show you to your room, and of course upgraded us for our anniversary! The employees will actually have conversations with you and want to get to know you. It IS a family run hotel, but not just family by blood. It’s a group of people who have come together, like a family, to make you feel at home and want to give you an experience you will never forget… and hopefully love so much you will come back. And we did.

As Mauro would say… “Why Not!”

We first took our family back the following summer and thought that was the end of it… until we came back the next year, and the next year… and saw the SAME people there. Mauro telling us we would be back again each time, Luciano sharing so much of what he loves about his town and always excited to see our girls, and Roberto always willing to help us with anything we needed, with the biggest smile on his face! From those early moments of coming here until now, we have felt loved on and welcome every single time.

It’s also what the people who come to our retreats leave feeling… like they’ve “met a place” not just visited a place. One of the sweetest gifts I can give those who join us on our retreats is to let them meet the people we’ve become friends with here and get to know this place by its people. So you’ll meet my dear friend Rita and just ADORE her like everyone else does! You’ll learn to cook like an Italian Momma with Elisabetta and Silvana in their childhood home they’ve turned into a cooking school. You’ll eat the most delicious pizza while Caterina tells you all about life in Bellagio. You’ll have the best coffee at Bar Sport where 3 brothers are carrying on their families Caffe for over 100 years now and keep the locals talking for hours on end. You’ll listen to the most beautiful music after dinner by a trio of musicians that play every single night at the hotel and have been doing this for years and years. Every year we can count on seeing the same people, meeting them for coffee, talking to them on their time off or being invited into their homes. We’ve shared life with these people there in Italy, and even in our own corner of the world! ( We can’t wait for our house to be done in Colorado because we know we need to get the guest bedroom ready for all our Bellagio friends to come visit us!)

So this is not just a place to us. It is a second family and we feel blessed beyond measure to have added every single one of them to our lives. This isn’t even half of the people we’ve met and become friends with in Bellagio and across the lake as well… I could go on and on about the friendships we have made. But looking back on the last 10 years since we first came here, it has been an incredible journey to watch the Lord working his will in all of it!

Little stories of getting to talk with Dusia, the wife of Gianfranco, about what I feel called to do at their hotel. Finding out that my cousin produced a TV show with Samantha Brown and he told her how we found out about the hotel through Passport to Europe and what I do there now. (I invited her to join a retreat, so who knows…) Meeting a group of singers and getting to invite a couple of them to California to visit us and see our side of the world. Sharing our testimony of what God is doing through these retreats and how even our children feel called to this part of the world.

It’s all what lead us to come back. It’s what keeps us coming back. And it’s what God designed and prepared BEFOREHAND! I’ll share that verse in Ephesians 2 again:

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10 

We are all CREATED by God. It’s why I love creating! Our CREATOR created us in His image, thus it is in our very nature to be creative as well! It’s how I love to connect the women who come to our retreats back to God, and honestly creating in this beautiful “God” setting is so inspiring it actually makes my job pretty easy! But it also reminds me that what God has called us to do here is His plan, not anything I could have ever dreamed up on my own! So I continue to pray that we walk in that for His purposes alone and that He will be magnified through it all!

“O magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together!” Psalm 34:3

I hope you will join us one day right here to do just that!

Hugs,

Laura McCollough