Five weeks and counting.....

It has been a week of very warm weather in the 90s. Not hot compared to Phoenix but with more humidity. We seem to have overcome the "le zanzare" problem. No new bites to report. Last Tuesday Gene and I went to Olgiasca about 12K north of Bellano where we visited the Abbazia di Piona. It is an abbey on a headland perched over the lake. There is a church which dates to the 12th century. It is a very tranquil place, quiet and serene. The monks sell an herb liqueur which we did not buy but the setting was worth the trip.

On Wednesday Joe, Francesca and Monica arrived in the early evening. I made lasagne(using the measuring cups and spoons that Tiarra brought) and we had a pleasant meal and caught up on their European travels. (See www.brownersabroad.blogspot.com for more info.) On Thursday we walked down to Bellano to show them the market. We took them on a walk we recently discovered that goes down via steps to the road below. Very picturesque. We walked back the normal way. We toured the market, bought lunch stuff, had a coffee and walked up the hill towards LA WALLY. (We found out that Villa Wally is named after our landlord's Tizziana's mother whose name was Wally. The villa was built in the 1920s and restored by our landlords. They added a floor on the top which is their apartment.) We went to Gene's favorite pizza restaurant for dinner but his friend wasn't there so no limoncellos. On Friday, Joe and Francesca rented a motor boat in Dongo so we drove there, about 25k, and picked up the boat. It had a 40hp engine so was not too fast. We headed to Bellagio but on the way encountered a sailboat who flagged us down. Two Italian boys about 18 were stranded with no wind and had to catch a train. Could we give them a tow into Bellano? We said sure and turned around and towed them into Bellano. Their names were Marco and Luca. They spoke English very well and had a lot of questions about us. We then decided to change our destination to Varenna instead of Bellagio because the boat was so slow. We arrived in Varenna, had lunch and a gelato and returned to Dongo and turned in the boat. We returned to LA WALLY had a swim and had dinner in the garden. Francesca fixed bruschette and I fixed a pasta dish. Molte bene.

Sven and Graziella Becker and their two children, 7 year old Nicolas and 1 1/2 year old Charlotte arrived Saturday afternoon after driving down from Tubingen, Germany. Sven was an exchange student who lived with us in 1984-85 and attended Brophy with Peter. We have kept in touch over the years and were delighted to see him and his family. Sven is now a physician specializing in gynecological oncology. They did a lot of swimming and also took in a lot of the area. Graziella fixed dinner for everyone on Saturday and again we had a great dinner in the garden. Joe, Francesca and Monica had gone to Bellagio and Varenna that day but returned to swim and have dinner with everyone. On Sunday the Browners left for Venice and Sven and his family went sightseeing so Gene and I went to the grocery store and Gene had his nap. On Monday the Beckers left to return to Germany after a great visit.

Our next visitors are Pat and Leanne. They arrive tomorrow and will be here for a day or two before leaving for more adventure in Italy. Linda arrives on Thursday for a few days and then our 7 weeks are done. We have truly loved our stay so far and don't want it to end.
Ciao, from Joan