Ciao from Como! We still don’t know what country we are going to next, but we are meeting with the family the Katie lived with on Saturday so we headed towards northern Italy! The picture above is the view from our hotel, which we found on AirBnb I guess because they do not have a reception desk. They send you a code and you have 3 minutes from using the code outside to run upstairs and use the same code on your room door. In the room there is a key card and you have to insert the card into a slot by the door in order to turn on the lights. So when you leave and take your key, the lights go out! This is the third place we have had with that clever energy-saving system.
You can’t really see in the foggy picture but there’s a mountain in the background with a cable car or funicanlare that goes to the top. As an added bonus there are church bells that chime regularly and a dog park right across the street with all the dogs in sweaters greeting their friends <3 And another huge bonus, this bathroom has a large countertop. I guess we take them for granted, but my “counter” in nearly every place is a towel in the sink with my stuff sitting on it. And….breakfast is included which this morning was a cappuccino and chocolate croissant in the darling restaurant right downstairs. I think I could live here. Our big screen tv swivels from the couch 180 degrees to the king size bed. And seriously, there is a happy whistle echoing from the man running the gelateria across the street. Currently he is roasting chestnuts on a barrel 🙂
So yesterday we first took a train from Bologna to Milan, then from Milan to Como. It was a little expensive, like 105 euros each, but it only took an hour and 10 minutes–the cheaper trains stop often and take like 4 hours. There was a strong police presence, with 3 of them walking down the train aisle. Milan had 22 train platforms with trains coming and going constantly and we had a few minutes of confusion trying to figure out where to go, but soon we were on platform 17 and off we went to Como!
We are excited to have a couple days in a smaller area with not so much to do. I woke up so exhausted the day after our trek up the hill to Madonna di San Luca! We decided to have a relaxing short day at the Archeological Museum, which turned out to be incredible!
First, they had an exhibit from Pompeii, which at 10 extra euros each I was thinking was kinda silly because we had been there. I was so wrong.
Among the many many other things in the exhibit was this tripod, in perfect condition, found in the ruins. What really blew us away is they would have a map of Pompeii and then show an entire room with the artwork from the exact walls just as they were discovered. It really made it all come alive even more, thinking about the people who lived there, like here on the bottom left, a half loaf of carbonized bread…
And the museum explained that depending on the type and color of paint used, they can determine how wealthy someone was. For example, certain red paints were very difficult and expensive to make requiring rare minerals, so you can infer the person invested a lot in artwork. We were so lucky to catch this exhibit; it’s only there another couple weeks.
If we thought we had been seeing old things and Ancient Roman ruins, well, this stuff was even older. I will need to get a full history lesson from my sister to provide better information, but the Etruscans lived in ancient Italy even before all that we had already seen, starting in 900 BC. The museum had an incredible exhibit with thousands of pots, arrowheads, artwork, statues and metal tools. There was more stuff than one could even process.
Even though it was only a couple hours, I was so tired after the Etruscans……..but wait, there was more! There was also an Egyptian exhibit in the basement whattttttt? Turns out even the Etruscan stuff wasn’t that old because this little boat was made in like 2,000 BC……
In the Etruscan area they had full skeletons, including the rings on their fingers or pottery they were buried with. In Egypt, they had little cat mummies, with x-rays next to them showing the little kitty bones within.
Good thing we had a delicious pasta lunch with nice glass of wine to help us recuperate from our “easy museum” morning. We shared Tagliatelle Ragu, which we learned is a traditional pasta in Bologna with a meat sauce, and spaghetti with cream, cheese, eggs, and bacon. The egg yolks give it the bright yellow color.
We rested a long time after and researched our next home. Neither of us wanted to go back out really, but as it was our last night in Bologna we figured we must visit a brewery we found nearby. It was so cool and since beer is much less common here it was fun to try the different options. Doppio Malto had a great vibe and football on of course. Even though it was fairly busy, it was not loud because of the beautiful way they had done the ceiling with pallets and silk plants!
So now we are in Como and I have the perfect excuse to still be in my pj’s because Mike the Laundry Guy is washing both pairs of jeans!
P.S. Thanks everyone for staying in touch, it really helps keep me grounded. And well wishes to anyone up north who doesn’t have electricity from the ice storm yikes! <3
Here is your daily Random Beautiful Church photo. This unassuming church smushed between buildings in Bologna on the way to the train station surprised me when I opened the door.
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