The same but not the same

Beer at Grotto Bundi


Walking to Lenno


Construction next door


Brunch at the Menaggio and Cadenabbia Country Club


View from the balcony

We arrived at Villa degli Angeli on Saturday, May 30 about 2pm. All flights were on time. The only holdup was traffic. It seems that Tuesday, June 2 was a national holiday and most Italians took to the road for the long weekend. The villa had been sold over the winter and the new owner made some changes. Some were good, some were bad. No wireless internet presently(that is supposed to change later in the month when the owner arrives from Germany to set it up), some new furniture and lounge chairs for outside, some cabinets and closets locked up so we can't use them. All of the cranes which blocked our view last year are no longer there. Construction is finishing up next door and will be done in a few days.
On Sunday we drove to Menaggio to have brunch with our friends Dennis and Anna and also some Americans, Jim and Anna. Jim attended the same boarding school(seminary) as Dennis and Gene. We had brunch at the country club(where last year we saw George Clooney) before succumbing to jet lag and returning home to retire very early. Monday morning we went to Como to the big Bennet supermercato to get everything we forgot to get Saturday on the way from the airport. Sue and Gene Crabb arrived in time for lunch that day. They came from Switzerland and have been traveling for about 6 weeks. They sailed in Croatia, visited Sicily and the east coast of Italy and will after they leave us continue to Florence and Rome before departing back to the States. Gene Crabb is called "submarine Gene" and Gene Cervelli is called "ice cream Gene", nicknames they acquired on the maiden voyage of John and Gayle's boat, the SIREN'S CALL last December. Monday night we went to Menaggio for pizza and gelato. We could not believe the amount of people about and the traffic, the most we have seen in 3 years of coming here. On Tuesday night we braved the traffic to drive to Mendrisio, Switzerland for dinner at the restaurant of the cousin of friends of Gene and Sue. Grotto Bundi was the name and they specialized in polenta and traditional dishes. We had rabbit, quail, beef and mortadella(sausage) with beans. Also we had what the restauranteur called lard, something like a very thin bacon from the neck of the pig. Very tasty if you didn't think about the name. Sue and Gene left this morning and we have spent the day doing laundry and planting some basil and tomatoes. I think the next renters will be the ones enjoying the tomatoes. The weather has been beautiful the last couple of days in the low 80s. Its clouding up today and rain is expected this weekend. Gene and I plan to walk down to Lenno tomorrow, take the ferry to Como and back and then walk home from there. The walk down is really easy but the walk up is not fun.
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