A week in the far east

One thing I'm learning about my blogging habits is that I don't blog much when I'm at home. Traveling is when I write. Maybe because I end up with more time to reflect when I travel. Or maybe because I want to create a record of what I do when traveling. Anyhow.

Last week, I took off for a weeklong trip to the east coast. First stop was New York, where I spent a few days meeting for a couple of projects, seeing friends, and seeing a few shows. I saw Sleep No More and Peter and the Starcatcher, both of which were terrific. On Sunday, I saw a bunch of old college friends at the wedding of Ben and Phoebe. They had a terrific wedding in Brooklyn, and we had a great time celebrating with them!

On Monday, I flew down to Virginia Beach for a few days. I was m birthday, and I was glad I got to have dinner with my parents, grandmother, Aunt Laura and Uncle Tom, and awesome Aunt Shirley. Then, a few relaxing days in VB. I spent some time hanging out with my parents, meeting one of my oldest friends for a drink, and watching the Olympics.

Today, after a morning run, we met Mom-Mom and Aunt Laura for lunch and then zipped over to the airport to get me on my way. The flights were a mess. First, the flight out of Norfolk was a little overweight and overfueled, so we sat on the tarmac for ten minutes and burned a couple hundred pounds of fuel The plane to Detroit didn't have fans that worked, so I sat in a pool of sweat the whole flight. Once we got to Detroit, we were late getting off the plane and entered an airport full of running people. I have never seen so many people running through the airport - it was chaos. Boarding the plane, the gate agent decided to start checking our carryon bags, so I had to check my bag, despite the fact that there was plenty of space in the overhead bins Once we were on the panel and, with the doors shut and the safety moving run, the captain decided to reopen the doors to let more passengers in.

So, now we're high in the sky, I'm watching Olympics and looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight.

So Long, Italia!

Woke up today to say farewell to Italia. We checked out of the villa in Civenna and hopped a shuttle into Milano. Once we got into Milano, we discovered that the auto shop that has our old rental van (and hence the missing things - including my ipad) was not in Milano as previously thought, but was actually back closer to where we had been staying. As it turns out, the shuttle almost drove right past the location. So, we visited the concierge desk at the hotel. The concierge told us that there was no train to the town where my stuff was, but that if we went up to a town close to there, the shop would send a driver with our stuff. So, C & I hopped a subway to the train station, a commuter train to Inverigo, where we met the driver, got the GPS power supply and my ipad back (but no GPS windshield mount), tipped him handsomely, and then hopped back the return train to Milano (total time in Inverigo was approximately 10 minutes), then back on the subway, and then to a bar for some campari & sodas. I'm glad to have the ipad back, even if it turned into a huge hassle.

Once back at the hotel, I got a few minutes to myself before it was time to gather for dinner. Time enough to load up the ipad with movies & tv shows for the flight, check/sort/filter email, make a to-do list for work for the flight, and catch my breath before dinner

Dinner was amazing - a terrific end to this trip. We went to a restaurant called Alba D'Oro and feasted on an exceptional selection of Tuscan foods: salumi, lardo, cheese, ravioli, tomato & bread soup (note for later: 1.5k tomato, 200g bread sans crust, garlic, salt, pepper, squeeze, no seeds, process), risotto with octopus, rabbit, steak, swordfish, breads… yum! I ordered the wine, and C loved it - turns out it was a 15E bottle of house red! We all ate supremely well, and the chef invited B & I into the kitchen for a look and a talk. Awesome.

And so ends our European trip. Tomorrow we catch a 7am shuttle to the airport, then to Frankfort, and then to LAX. S and I had a blast on this trip - thanks to our friends and family who traveled with us, including Eli, C & E, and A, B, C, & D. Thanks to all of the new friends we made, particularly in Romania! Thanks to the people who recommended things we did and the people who will patronize the places we recommend. Thanks for UCI & National Theatre of Romania for getting me to Yurp early, and to S's family for keeping us in Yurp late. S & I are looking forward to going home and sleeping in our bed, but we'll bring great memories with us.

Couples Day

Friday was earmarked as a couples day, so B & A did their thing (a quick shopping trip to Lenno), C & D did their thing (a walk in Menaggio), and S & I went back to Como. We got into town at about noon from the high-speed ferry and wandered town a bit. We had a small agenda: find three shops (Olivetum for foodstuffs, Cioccolaria for chocolate yumminess, and Tesitura for discount silk products), get lunch, and hit the Volta Temple.

First, lunch! We wandered town looking for a good place to eat (criteria: no english menu, reasonable prices, preferable outdoor seating), but got caught in a summer squall that stranded us in a shop that offered lunch. We ended up eating a meal that was unmemorable. If we hadn't gotten caught in the squall, we would have kept walking, but sometimes the universe forces a decision. S had lame gnocchi, and I had an uneventful salad with tuna and corn.

Second, shopping. It was moderately successful.  We bought a few vinegars (honey, orange) at Olivetum. Cioccolaria was less chocolate emporium and more coffeeshop, so we kept moving. Tesitura was shut down and gutted, so that was a bust.

Third, Volta Temple. Como is the hometown of Alessandro Volta, the scientist who made remarkable discoveries about electricity. The city is very proud of this, and along the waterfront, they've built a lovely memorial/museum to him and his work. We went inside and got to see some of his original custom-built equipment (some of the pieces were recreations of pieces that were lost in an 1899 fire). There were gas measurement devices, electricity measurement devices, dead frogs, batteries, medals, metals, plaques, and at least five portraits of Volta demonstrating an experiment for Napoleon. 

After the Volta Temple, we discovered a WWII memorial in the same park. The memorial was divided into three sections, which I think must represent the three prime countries of the Axis powers. Inscribed in many languages throughout the memorial were portions of letters written by civilian victims. Each European country was represented in the quotations, from Holland to Bulgaria, and one specific quotation to represent the jews in the holocaust. It was very moving.

Five hours after arriving in Como, we had to hop our highspeed boat back to Bellagio, where we met up with the others and had dinner at a local restaurant. C & I drank all the wine, and then we returned to the villa to pack up.

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?

Varenna, Bellagio, and a swim

S & I cooked breakfast this morning - scrambled eggs with garden rosemary and local cheese - yum!  A prepped a fruit salad, and C got some pastries from the local shop. We ate and scooted out the door in order to make it down to Bellagio in time to catch our ferry across to Varenna, another freaking beautiful town with gardens and walks. 

On the ferry to Varenno.

Oh, how cute! A small harbor!

More pretty gardens. Le sigh.

C had read that there was an awesome market in Varenna on Wednesdays, but when we got there, the 'market' was two food trucks and four clothing trucks. Hardly a market made. Still, Varenna was beautiful - we wandered through town, checking out one of the formal gardens on the edge of the community. Then, back on the boat to Bellagio!

Our first stop in Bellagio was lunch. Since we're car-free here in Italia, the last bus to Civenna is at 6.35pm, and there's no reliable restaurant open in Civenna, we've taken to using lunch as our big meal, and snacking in the evening. On Monday, we tried to go to a restaurant in Bellagio called Bilacus (which came highly recommended), but it (and most restaurants) shut their doors in mid-afternoon, which is when we were trying to eat. So, today, we planned better and got to Bilacus during the lunch period. It was awesome. We started with prosciutto and melon, then we split a few pastas: a parmesan risotto and a panzarotti, which is like a crepe with ricotta and jam, rolled, coated in red sauce and then topped with mozzarella. The main courses were a little more confusing. C had sea bass, D had salmon, S & A ordered scallops, and B & I ordered perch (locally caught in Lake Como).  Except that for S & A, their dishes weren't scallops. They were 'escallops,' which apparently means scallops of veal. So, when the food arrived, there was a lot of shuffling and reshuffling to be done. Still, it was all very tasty.

After lunch, we walked to the northernmost tip of Bellagio, which is right at the tip of the triangle that separates the two lower branches of Lake Como. Then, the ladies went off to tour Villa Melzi (and its awesome gardens), while the guys went for a drink. Then, a quick trip to Nico's food shop, the gelateria, and then a bus home.

When we got off the bus in Civenna, we walked about ten steps before C realized he left his phone on the bus. He and I went to the ticket counter to try to intercept the driver at the next stop, but no one spoke English (and my 'tourist Italian' didn't cut it). So, C called our local contact for her help. Currently, he's still phone-free. The latest in technologic failures this trip.

After a relaxing sojourn by the pool, we cleaned up and started dinner - another potpourri of different foods - some meat, some veg, some starch (including a polenta dish). Wine, coffee, gelato (passion fruit, chocolate, hazelnut, pistachio, lemon).  As we ate, we watched the clouds roll in, and by the time we were done with dinner, the lake was invisible below - we were in the midst of a storm. As dinner wrapped up, I pocketed my flashlight (in case we had a power outage), we looked for playing cards (no luck), and settled in for some nighttime stormwatching. B & I were hoping to take some lighting photos, but the clouds were too thick. So, there we were, stuck on a mountaintop villa in a summer storm. Awesome!

It didn't take long for the front to pass, and the ridge line of the mountains again came into view as the clouds moved south.  And so, as the storm abates and America is just getting its Independence Day celebrations under way, we're looking forward to a good night's sleep here in Civenna. Happy Fourth to you all! And if you get a chance to re-read the Declaration of Independence, please do so. I'm about to re-read it myself now.