Buongiorno, buonasera

Good morning, good afternoon or good evening wherever you are in the world from Gene and Joan on Lake Como and specifically in the small town of Mezzegra, Italy. We are again lucky enough to be able to spend eight weeks in one of the most beautiful places in the world. We are at the same rental home as we had last year. All brochures say we are renting a villa but in the states it would be called a home. I think they bump the rental fee up a bit by calling it a “villa”. Anyway, we are here and ready to indulge ourselves in good food, good weather and occasionally good friends. Joan has given a few of the details in the first 2009 blog entry. Please search it out and read.
It just amazed me what a good job Delta Airlines did in getting us here. From the moment it was wheels up in Phoenix, an hour layover in Atlanta for a plane change and the wheels down in Milano it was exactly 14 hours! Very smooth flights and no issues. Kind of made up for some previous nightmarish trips of the past. Our leased car was somewhat waiting for us (about a quarter of a mile from where they said they would be) The car had about two teaspoons of diesel in it and a few fumes , enough to get to the nearest gas station and we had the privilege of filling up at about $6.50 a gallon down from $9.50 last year. My trusty Iphone calculator allows me to do the conversion from liters to gallons and from Euros to dollars. The car is smaller this year but still four doors and I think we can count on better than 40MPG!!
Our turn off from the Autostrade is the last turn off before you hit the border going into Switzerland. I guess the Swiss were working over the Italians pretty good at the border stop so we had to endure a lengthy backup trying to get to our exit. No big deal as the scenery was beautiful and we were able to discuss the grocery list. I didn’t really want to leave the car in the parking lot as we were shopping and risk having our stuff being stolen (five suitcases) but all worked out as we hurried through the shopping. Italian food is always worth risking your entire wardrobe and various other junk you bring.
A few days have now passed and we are settling into our routine here. We were fortunate to have Gene and Sue Crabb stop by for a few days during their sojourn through Italy and their cruise on the Adriatic Sea. They rented a catamaran with six other people for a scenic tour of the Croatia coast. This was a walk in the park for Gene as he is a former submarine commander for the US Navy, among other assignments in his career. Good friends and great company.
So now Joan and I will be by ourselves for the next three weeks until Denis Ducey and one of his sons, Nathan, show up for about 10 days. Denis has been able to make it over here the last two years. Denis and I have been friends for almost 50 years so it’s always fun having him here. Nate will be a first timer.
Oops. Almost time for another meal so I better go. More to follow.