Visit

Nothing like meeting friends and doing something social to help you feel grounded! On Saturday, the parents of the family who Katie lived with in Italy in 2015 picked us up in front of our hotel and we spent the whole day together! Todd and I had met them when we came to Europe to pick up Katie and take her to France then the UK. Mike felt like he knew them but this was his first time actually meeting them.

Roberta and Achilles live in a nearby town of Carugo and visit Como where we are staying often. Mike and I were open to whatever they suggested and soon we were on the road stopping to see the amazing northern cities on Lake Como. They pointed out George Clooney’s house among the beautiful villas across the lake. We stopped in Torno and finally got to see the lake and mountains with the sun out and fog gone!

Next we went to Bellagio, an amazing seaside area with beautiful Italian resorts, restaurants, and shops.

Then we stopped at a chapel dedicated to bicyclists of Italy, with the bikes, photos, equipment and even the yellow jersey won by a Tour-de-France winner!

Our next stop was Lecco, a city on the edge of the water down along the lake. When there was no parking, no problem–we parked a mile away and walked. People just walk more in Europe–they never gave it a thought except to ask if it was ok with us. We said sure, we’d been training for this!

We stopped for coffee and light snack and walked around the city. There was some a festival called Carnevale with music and people everywhere in costumes. And lots of confetti!

As the sun got lower in the sky, the glow on the mountains and light on the city was simply stunning, as you can see from the picture at the top. Achilles pointed out how many church steeples were visible and as the church bells chimed, he asked if bells chime in America. We had a wonderful day together and muddled through English and Italian, which they got such a good start on with Katie!

We drove back to their house and got to meet their now grown children. Thomas is graduating high school this year and his English is good. High school students in Italy go to school 5 hours a day, Monday – Saturday every week. Once Thomas passes his exams he will go to university in nearby Milan.

Their daughter Jessica went to college in England and now works in Switzerland for an international company. The people she works with speak all languages so when the work together, they speak English! We had pizza from Pink Panther Pizza, yum! Thomas ordered the “American” pizza, which included French Fries as a topping…

We ended the evening with a sip of Braulio, an Italian after-dinner drink that tasted like nothing I’d ever tried, made exclusively in the northern Italian region. When they brought us home at 9 p.m. we agreed to keep in touch! They love to travel also and have been to countries all over the world. All 4 of them declared their favorite trip was to Cuba!

On Friday, Mike and I planned an entire day of walking around Como and figuring out what’s next. After a month, it was time to leave Italy. We were this close to heading to Zurich Switzerland, thinking maybe Germany after that. It is easy to get there from here and we found a place to stay and train tickets and just as we were about to click “purchase” I checked the weather. Highs of 36 degrees……….hmmmmmmmm

We have spent hours trying to figure out where to go. We are feeling ready to go to a new country, but we were having no luck. Flights–too expensive since it was so soon. Trains–couldn’t find a train to somewhere warm on a Sunday. Rental car–too expensive and taking it to another country seemed very tricky. So, we found a bus to Nice, France! Katie’s friend from France gave us a bunch of towns to see here, so we are pretty excited! The weather might be rainy, but in the 50’s.

I noticed last night, however, there is an overnight wind warning, then rain, maybe even snow. I was feeling considerable trepidation–we have to leave early and and catch various buses, so here’s hoping we end up in France on Sunday!

Here’s your random church photo, a small beautiful church in Bellagio: