What's the difference between a food stand and a market?

I woke this morning at 6.30 for a run, but the weather was so beautiful that I knew we'd be going out on our hike. I didn't want to wear myself out before the hike, so instead of running, I headed to the main piazza in Civenna to record the church bell sounding 7:00. Civenna is a tiny town, and he piazza is little more than a 30'x30' bricked-over square right next to the bus stop. There's a church on one side, a newsstand on one side, a parking lot/bus stop on one side, and mainstream on the other side (with the local cafe right across the street). It's lovely, but it isn't big, and if you had thoughts of a huge Piazza Navonna-style space, you'd be wrong.

Then, back to the villa for a little bit of work. Between the busy spring and the past few weeks of traveling, I've gotten behind on a number of projects, and I've got a lot on my plate next week.  I'm trying to get a jump start on it now by getting some emails sent out, organizing my to-do list, etc. I'm not looking forward to jumping back into work, but as Dad likes to say, 'there's a time to play, and a time to pay.'

Today was earmarked for a hiking day, but owing to a couple of out-of-commissions, we decided to forgo the hike. D, B, & I went into Bellagio and then to Tremezzo in search of a market. Unfortunately, the market in Tremezzo was even more anticlimactic than the market in Varenna - there were TWO trucks, one produce and one cheese. Neither useful for us. So, back to Bellagio for lunch (an awesome prix fixe fish meal!) and then back to Civenna.

After the storms, the skies were clear.

Tremezzo has more beautiful alleys. Lame.

Back in Civenna, people were in different states of slack. S was still in bed, C was swimming, and A was reading. We joined in and made an afternoon of sloth. Also, we went to the market for ingredients for tonight's dinner: roast pork, cannellini with prosciutto, salad, and cheeses. Yum! For dessert, some gelato… and some wine!

Tomorrow's our last day in Civenna, and it's been earmarked as a couple's day.  S & I have yet to make plans… thoughts?

All things Como

Finally got a nice long run in today - about 6.75 miles through the hills of Civenna.  It was terrific to get out and pump up those hills after a few days of not running much.  When I got back to the house, C & I shared a pot of coffee on the terrace and watched the sun burn the fog off of the lake.

Showering in the villa is a complex matter.  There are four full bathrooms in the house, but the way the plumbing is set up, if more than one shower is going at a time, only one shower gets adequate hot water. B & A are using the bathroom at the bottom of the totem pole, so if anyone else is using hot water, B & A get an icy shower. Getting the six of us clean in a timely manner requires a lot of water-flow juggling. As soon as one person is done showering, they announce it to the house so the next person can jump in. When everyone is on board with it, it works well and efficiently, but if anyone isn't paying attention and jumps in out of order, cold showers result.

Anyway, we got out of the house in time to get down to town to meet Laura, who was our tour guide for the day. She led us on a tour of Lake Como, stopping at Villa del Balbianello, a beautiful site that was used in in Star Wars Episode II.  Many people owned the Villa, including a gay explorer who lied about reaching the peak of Everest (long story) and a cardinal who was afraid of kidnapping enough to build secret escape stairs.

After the villa, we grabbed a drink (beer, tea, campari/soda, coffee drinks) and hopped back onto the boat for more fun whooshing on down to Como, at the southern end of the left fork of Lake Como. Along the way, we passed George Clooney's house (Hi George!) and saw some stunning villas & gardens. 

B & A on a boat!

When we got to Como, we took a quick ride up the funicular to a town that looks out over Como. The views were beautiful, but it was a hazy. Laura told us that on a clear day, you can see Milano, Torino, and Switzerland. Como is actually only 4km from Switzerland by car, so we could add another country to our trip, if we wanted. And if we had car.

Then, back down the funicular and on to lunch at a lovely trattoria called Trattoria del Gallo (The Rooster Cafe). B had black rice and chicken, A & C had trout, D had ferro, and S & I had spinach/ricotta ravioli. We shared prosciutto & melon. After lunch, Laura took us to the main cathedral in Como:

Yet another awesome church.

… before taking her leave from us. Thanks Laura for a great tour!

We hopped a hydrofoil back to Bellagio, bought some food for dinner, and then took the bus up to Civenna. Once back at our villa, S, C, B, & I jumped in the pool to cool down before supper. Dinner was another potpourri of awesomeness: two brie cheeses, two mild local cheeses, a chevre, a stinky cheese, mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, coppa, prosciutto, tuna-stuffed red peppers, marinated artichokes, white anchovies, bread, olive oil, vinegar, salad, honey, gelato, and some chocolates. Also, red wine, white wine, coffee, water… Yum!

Tomorrow, C has picked out a town with a market on Wednesdays. S and I are going to make breakfast and then we're all going to hit the market! I have no idea what kind of market it is... food? silk? toys? black market jeans? Who knows?

Bellagio

Last night it was damn hot, so we slept with the windows wide open. This morning, the light streaming in, the bells pealing in the distance, and the birds chirping manically outside our rooms woke some of us up early. I thought about taking a run, but instead I treated myself to a lazy morning. A, B, and I went up the road to buy some food for breakfast, and we took our time getting out of the house. 

When we finally departed, the weather had been off-and-on rainy, so we weren't sure what kind of weather we'd be in for. We took a bus down to Bellagio to grab lunch and wander the town.  Lunch was a bit disappointing - we had a number of recommendations, but because we had such a late start to the day, the restaurants we wanted to eat at were all closed for the afternoon by the time we got there. We ended up having a very serviceable meal at a local wine bar, but it wasn't the spectacular meal we were hoping for.

After lunch, we wandered town, shopping for stuff and exploring the streets. Bellagio is postcard-perfect, but it's almost TOO perfect - like the city sold its soul to American tourists. American English was by far the most common language I heard today, and the streets were filled with high-end clothing shops (silk, mostly). C & I both commented on how we were glad to be staying in Civenna, a town that has not sold out to rich America (fully aware of the irony of us having the conversation).

We also found the gourmet shop run by Nico, our chef from last night's dinner. We bought some cheese and meat from him for our light supper. He and his wife were working the counter, and we had a good visit with them.

After our afternoon in Bellagio, we came back to the villa to relax and prepare dinner. Dinner was an assortment of meats and cheeses, along with some honey, bread, vinegar, tomatoes, basil, etc. It was terrifically tasty - a nice snack at the end of a relaxing day.

As the full moon rose over the lake, we were thankful that the air had cooled down, the spirits were mellower, and that we all had a good day. After the intense drama of yesterday, we were glad for a mellow day. Tomorrow is another one, one to spend on the water and in Como!

Some other notes about today:

• We're still not sure where we stand with the rental car company. C isn't sure he wants a car out here after seeing the roads.
• After four trips to Italy, I'm finally getting comfortable with tourism Italian. I can order food, decipher text, buy bus tickets, ask directions. Hooray for me! I can even ask for the bathroom (hint: it's NOT the 'back-ous-a')
• I found an amazing blazer for $450 today. I want it.

well, we asked for an adventure...

When C & I got up for our run at 8am, it was already in the mid-80s outside in Milano - yech. It never got any cooler all day long..

We had breakfast as a group, checked out of the hotel, and headed over to the La Scala museum. We only had a few minutes to spend in there, but we did get to go inside the concert hall, which was a treat - so much great music was performed inside - the room reverberated with musical genius.

Shortly after noon, we picked up the rental car, loaded it up, and packed ourselves off to Civenna, our resort town on Lake Como. The drive should have taken about 90 minutes, but 60 minutes into the trip, as soon as we got off of level roads and into the hills, the car started smoking and we lost every gear except first. We pulled over to the side of the road and turned the car off to let it cool down. We weren't sure what happened - we knew it could be anything from a blown transmission to overheating. Once we got going again, it took us less than a mile to hit the exact same problem, but worse. C pulled the van over to the side of the road by a lake. By this point, the clutch pedal was stuck to the floorboard of the car. C called the rental car company and the woman who was supposed to meet us at the villa. The rental car company sent a tow truck for the car, and the woman who was supposed to meet us organized a shuttle service. Along the day, a few things of ours got left in the van as it got towed off. Including my iPad. Crap.

Waiting for the broken car...

The house here is lovely. A great living space, a pool, a marvelous view of the lake. It's beautiful, but we're going to have to strategize how to deal with the heat. Highs in the mid-80s, no a/c, and the air is super-still right now. The house, for all of its all-inclusive-ness, is missing a lot of things that one might expect. Like extra toilet paper. Or fans. Or condiments in the kitchen.

Dinner tonight was lovely. C & D hired a chef to come in and cook for us. We had a saffron risotto, veal scaloppini with truffles, fried summer veggies, wine, and sorbet with limoncello.  Excellent!  Then, we watched dusk hit the lake.

And now, we're watching Italy get its butt kicked in the European Football Final.  Spain is trouncing Italia. It ain't even funny.

The internet is super-slow here, so I'll be limited in how many photos I post...