Sun 19 Oct- the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni

Sun 19 Oct- after breakfast we packed and moved to the 5-star Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni, just a few meters north of Hotel Metropole.
After checking in, we wandered through the gardens. They are not very impressive or large, but they were pleasant to view, and we got some nice photos and video. We found the Internet connection was not free, but was pretty reasonable - E10 for 99 hours. It would have been a better deal if we were going to be there several days, rather than just overnight. There were no English language newspapers, surprising for a 3-star, unforgivable for a 5-star hotel. There was a very nice plasma TV in the room the got CNN and CNBC, among others, so that somewhat made up for the lack of newspapers.
Then we had lunch at the restaurant, beer (bottled, unfortunately they don't have draft beer available), a large bottle of water, spaghetti with clams and ravioli with meat stuffing and mushroom sauce. The view from the restaurant was a panorama of Lake Como and the far side of the lake, on a beautiful somewhat hazy day, cool 17-18 C, but the restaurant was glassed-in with floor to ceiling windows. The food was excellent, really good home-made pasta and ravioli; the service and settings were impeccable, as expected for a 5-star restaurant; but the price was E62 (almost $100, good for a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but I would not make a habit).
We used the Internet to check transportation and accommodations for Florence and Barcelona, the last stage of our trip before the cruise home. We could go by ferry, a 20-hour trip from Livorno (an hour-and-a-half from Florence), or train (about 24 hours, with a change or two at odd times), or by air (one-and-a-half nonstop via Meridiana).
Luggage is the big issue - we have too much for the allowed air transport, and too much for the train to be convenient. The ferry might be OK, but 20 hours is a long time, and the port is not convenient. We're leaning toward the flight, though we'll have to pay an extra $100 or more in excess baggage charge.
We listened to the live music by a 3-piece band (piano, violin and string bass) in the large sitting room that adjoins the restaurant, enjoying an evening drink and very nice music.