Diners feast on local seafood along the terrace of the Grand Hotel in Bellagio, the "pearl of the lake." The resort of Bellagio commands one of Italy's most scenic vistas of Lake Como, whose glorious setting has inspired the likes of Verdi, Liszt, and Shelley.

(Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "La Dolce Vita," May/June 1997, National Geographic Traveler magazine.)