Lago di Como

As I prepared for my mom to come and visit next week I was working with our family friend Betsy to organize their transportation between cities. To make a long story short I purchased tickets I had also asked Betsy to purchase. I had over 200 euro in train tickets that were already purchased. Elena went with me to the train station to ask how I could exchange the tickets. The woman told us we could get a refund to the credit card they were purchased on but it would take two to three months and there would also be a 20% penalty. The other option was to exchange the tickets for other tickets for their full value. I was taking a train the Saturday morning to Lake Como so I would have to decide before then where I wanted to use at least 80 of the 120 euro tickets. I thought about all the places I needed to go and between my trip to Como, my trip to Milano to meet my mom next week, and all of the trips Becky and I would need around Italy coming and going on our trip to Croatia I was able to find almost the exact amount I needed. After work I went to the train station and was able to exchange my tickets for my best guess at my trips for the next two months and I only had to pay seven euro! The man even told me my Italian was good! I was all set and ready to go.

Saturday morning I woke to find great news…my friend Eliana had her baby boy Pietro. I can’t wait to meet il bimbo!

As many of you know I’m a putz. I find unneeded things to do, usually at inopportune times such as washing dishes before catching a train. That being said, Saturday morning, I was going to miss my train out of Porta Nuovo so I decided to catch it at the second stop Port Susa (pretty much equidistant from my house). Right before I left I looked through all my tickets I had just exchanged the night before. Now I have seven destinations, with multiple transfers which I though would be easy to figure out. The problem was not all the tickets had dates on them and I was going to Milan three different times! I grabbed them all and headed out the door. At the train station I punched one ticket from Torino to Milano and hoped for the best…it worked! The train ride to Milano was uneventful but the train ride to Como was anything but. I am sitting between the cars as the train is almost full and the conductor had said something about Como San Giovanni and I wanted to make sure I got off at the right stop without having to jump over people. It is a pretty short train ride (half an hour or so) and about ten minutes in I hear yelling. Now this is more than just Italian “talking”. I can’t see who is yelling but they sure are angry. Shortly I see the issue. It seems a young man has not paid for his ticket so the conductor is not happy and yelling at him and basically telling him he is kicking him out at the next stop. It was a very interesting “conversation”.

I arrive in Como and find my hotel. I should also mention that in my haste I did not think through my packing plan and realize I have no toothpaste, no deodorant, and no chapstick. I did remember a hairbrush though (as a side note it was so hot that my hair was up in a ponytail the entire time so really no need for a hairbrush). Also, I grabbed my zippie on my way out and as I put it on I realized that it was gray as was the skirt I was wearing. I mean I realize that my trendiness has just started to blossom but this was definitely a rookie mistake! The other funny thing is that I bought sun tan lotion before I left and thought it was the spray on invisible kind when in fact I purchased the stuff that looks blue when you spray it. As I was spraying it on I looked like a smurf! I walked around Lake Como and saw the beautiful duomo. Zigzagging between streets I found little cafés and shops to stop in.

Streets of Como

Streets of Como

Duomo

I sat by the lake and enjoyed my book and afterwards I took an aperitif and read some more. Later in the evening I walked back to the hotel to check in on the “exchange”. Cork is spending some time at her third home in Waunakee while my mom comes to Italy. The drop went successfully although my dad is a little worried that due to Renee’s size and Cork’s strength Renee might be dragged everywhere in the next two weeks! After making sure Cork was successfully deposited with yet another family I went out to dinner. Renee sent some pictures and it seems Cork is doing just fine with her new family!

Rachel Cork and Brock

Rachel explaining to Cork that she needs to sit still so Rachel can check her heart

Cork really isn't twice as big as Brock...the camera adds ten pounds (and the treats from my parents add another ten!)

I walked by a little place on my way between the city center and my hotel that looked good so I headed back. I am very happy I did. One of the many reasons I love this country is the sense of family. The restaurant, Le Catene, was run by a grandfather and a mother along with occasional help from the grandson, granddaughter and the family boxer. There were five tables outside on a patio and the grandfather took his time speaking with everyone (although yours truly wasn’t able to converse as much as I would have liked). The food was amazing…I had bruschette and pasta. During the meal the neighbor boys decided to launch lemons at the restaurant which hit the tin roof over the patio. It was funny to watch the little girl try to figure out who it was and even funnier to hear the mother let the rascals’ mother know what they were doing! After dinner as I went in to pay I saw many pictures and trophies of the little girl figure skating. I love how all the patrons can see how proud the family is of their little girl. The grandson took great pride in helping his grandfather and mother serve food, clean up, and even run my credit card.

Sunday I woke up a little later than expected so had to skip breakfast at the hotel. I feel bad doing this as I feel I am insulting the owners. After my putziness on Saturday I wanted to make sure I purchased my ferry ticket to Beligio. I walked up to find a long line and many people waiting to purchase tickets. The woman in front of my asked one of the employees if you could purchase tickets on the boat, yes the woman said for one euro more. Sold, no lines no waiting…I followed her up to the boat only to find out it wasn’t the boat we both expected. This was in fact a good thing as I was able to meet Lynne and Wayne from Calgary. Lynne and Wayne had just spent the last six days cycling around the Cinque Terre region with Trek and decided to spend the day in Como before heading back home. We got in line to purchase our tickets and then went across the street to have a coffee as we waited for our boat. We took the “fast boat” to Bellagio (about 45 minutes) and enjoyed a beautiful but fast views of the lake. My favorite was when we went through the narrows and saw the semi-snow capped mountains in the distance. Absolutely beautiful!

Through the narrows (on the return trip)

Streets of Bellagio

Lynne and I in Bellagio

Wayne and I in Bellagio

As our trains were around 18:15 back to Milan (although we were leaving from different stations in Como) we decided to buy our return trip tickets as soon as we got off the boat. We decided to take the “slow boat” back to Como so we could sit outside and enjoy the beauty of the lake. We sat on the lake shore and had a great lunch with an even better view (complete with a pigeon dropping something off on Wayne’s glass). Oh and of course we were treated to a parade going by (I still haven’t figured out how every town in every country I am in has a parade the day I am there).

Parade in Bellagio

We walked around Bellagio and did a little shopping at one of the silk stores Lake Como is famous for (they produce 80% of Europe’s silk in the Como area). We got back on the boat for our two and a half hour ride back to Como.

Our boat back to Como

Inisde the boat (can you imagine all the gates that would be around this in the US)

No words really do justice to the beauty of the lake but I will let some of the pictures I took try!

The woman on the left was the one who helped dock the boat!

Approaching Como

We arrived back in Como and had a bit of time before our trains so we had drinks in the piazza in front of the duomo. It is always fun to meet new people and to hear about their experiences. I was very happy to have the company of Lynne and Wayne for the day on Lake Como. Thank you both so much for allowing me to spend the day with you!