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Sunday, July 18, 2010
Monte Bre
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Saturday, July 10, 2010
Cortina d'Ampezzo and the Dolomites
Bergamo
The Dolomites
Today is July 9th and we are now about three weeks into our ten week stay here at Lake Como. Yesterday was sort of a do nothing day after we got back from our two day excursion to the beautiful Dolomite mountains in northeastern Italy. We had our choice of two routes to get there. We decided to take one way there and the second way back. The shorter of the two is the long way and the longer way is the short way!! The shorter way in miles is all non- Autostrade with a drive of about 350K, averaging less than thirty miles an hour. Again for those who may be following on a map we took all the back roads, almost on a straight line, from Mezzegra to Cortina-d'Ampezzo. Cortina is smack dab right in the middle of the Dolomites and just spectacular scenery wise. The drive the entire way was one scenic view after another. I wished I had a camera mounted on the front of the car where I could take photo after photo with a touch of a button. A twisting and turning road the entire way going through small town after small town, each with their own unique beauty and style and personality. The engineering feats to build these roads are truly unbelievable. Of course these were probably only foot and horse paths hundreds of years ago but with the invention of the automobile they needed to be widened. What a job. Many places it was best for our well being not to look down into the bottomless canyons and just keep our eyes on the incredibly narrow road surface. The fun began when a big truck came the other way and you needed to decide who was going to back up to find a "wide' spot for the vehicles to pass each other. I have always enjoyed checking out the rivers and streams associated with these canyons(massive run off from the snows in the high elevations)and Joan needed to remind me more than few times that it wouldn't be good to end up in one of these rivers 500 feet down the side of some precipitous canyon. Good advice for sure. Since I'm writing this of course nobody died!! As we got closer to Cortina we discovered that this area grows apples in an amazing abundance. For at least 50K we passed orchard after orchard of apples. We knew this was big business for the northern Italians when we saw at least ten huge packing sheds for the apples. The Italians must be providing apples for the whole of Europe from this region. Quite a phenomenon!!
The entire drive took more than eight hours but it was well worth it. The town of Cortina is very beautiful tourist town known for its mountain beauty and skiing opportunities. Please look up "Dolomites" in Google for a description way better than any thing I could possible describe. Just like St. Moritz the summer presents hundreds of miles of hiking trails for the hardy. Some easy trails and some impossibly difficult with huge altitude changes. We just did a two mile stroll through town and did a little window shopping. Again upscale shops with the opportunity to purchase stuff you didn't need. We pretty much kept our wallets in our pockets! We stayed in a quaint hotel but nothing fancy. Since we already were paying for a place in Mezzegra the double "rent" hurts a bit. After a leisurely breakfast we headed out for the ride back. This time, of course, we took the long way back which is the quick way. Other than about 60k of a scenic drive leaving the Dolomites we soon hit the Autostrade for a 420K ride back. The Autostrade is not free! You get a ticket when you start and pay when you leave. Our trip back cost about $30 U.S. but worth every cent for the fun of driving as fast as you wanted without worrying about a ticket.. Yes, there are speed limits but no one pays attention to them and we never saw a cop the entire way. The trick is to stay in the left hand lane and keep one eye in front of you and one eye towards the rear. There is no road rage over here. If someone comes up fast behind you just simply pull over a lane and let them fly by. No big deal. Even though we were moving along fast there was still plenty to see. Lots of industrial buildings but still many small towns with the obligatory ancient church in each. If you check out your map you'll see that we went south practically to Venice and then headed left (west) straight towards Milan and then north back to the Lake Como area. A stop at the supermercato for some stuff and then finally home. Photos coming soon.
The entire drive took more than eight hours but it was well worth it. The town of Cortina is very beautiful tourist town known for its mountain beauty and skiing opportunities. Please look up "Dolomites" in Google for a description way better than any thing I could possible describe. Just like St. Moritz the summer presents hundreds of miles of hiking trails for the hardy. Some easy trails and some impossibly difficult with huge altitude changes. We just did a two mile stroll through town and did a little window shopping. Again upscale shops with the opportunity to purchase stuff you didn't need. We pretty much kept our wallets in our pockets! We stayed in a quaint hotel but nothing fancy. Since we already were paying for a place in Mezzegra the double "rent" hurts a bit. After a leisurely breakfast we headed out for the ride back. This time, of course, we took the long way back which is the quick way. Other than about 60k of a scenic drive leaving the Dolomites we soon hit the Autostrade for a 420K ride back. The Autostrade is not free! You get a ticket when you start and pay when you leave. Our trip back cost about $30 U.S. but worth every cent for the fun of driving as fast as you wanted without worrying about a ticket.. Yes, there are speed limits but no one pays attention to them and we never saw a cop the entire way. The trick is to stay in the left hand lane and keep one eye in front of you and one eye towards the rear. There is no road rage over here. If someone comes up fast behind you just simply pull over a lane and let them fly by. No big deal. Even though we were moving along fast there was still plenty to see. Lots of industrial buildings but still many small towns with the obligatory ancient church in each. If you check out your map you'll see that we went south practically to Venice and then headed left (west) straight towards Milan and then north back to the Lake Como area. A stop at the supermercato for some stuff and then finally home. Photos coming soon.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Heading east
Today is July 6th and it is another beautiful day in Mezzegra. I got up a little early today because we are leaving around 9 am to head east to the Dolomites. This is a spectacular range of mountains around 80 miles due North of Venice. We plan on overnighting in Corina D'Ampezzo for those following on a map. A complete wrap up of this excursion will follow in a few days.
Since our last entry we have made a few day trips. Last week we set out for Bergamo to check out the "Citta Alta" which is the old town sitting high on a hill over looking the rest of Bergamo. It is situated within 16th century walls. We thought we might have a problem parking but quickly found a decent spot, 3 Euro for two hours. The architecture was stunning as usual but what was fairly odd was how they built structures so close to the two main churches on the hill. I'm sure they were splendid many years ago standing apart from each other but now they are totally surrounded by newer structures to the point where you almost don't see them. Anyway all quite remarkable. At least there was a Piazza where we were able to have lunch and check out the tourists as they strolled by.
A word about the drive to Bergamo. When we put Bergamo into MapQuest it told us the quickest way was by Autostrade and it was about 77K. If you look at a map you will see that the shortest way is via ferry to Varenna and then 37K to Bergamo. We decided to make a round trip out of it and took the Autostrade one way and the back roads to Varenna to return. By far the quickest way was the Autostrade!! Although half the actual distance back it was torture going the short way. If it were a scenic road OK but it was basically one town after another. Sort of like going from San Francisco to San Jose on the El Camino Real. We won't be making that ride any time soon!!
A few days later we took the incredibly scenic drive to St. Moritz Switzerland. This is a day trip through some beautiful mountains, a great twisting and turning road, passing through some picturesque towns. A really delightful drive. St. Moritz is a very upscale ski town during the winter and a remarkable sports town during the summer. The activities include golf, sailing, paragliding, wind surfing and hiking. Ever where you look someone was heading out to recreate. All the retail shopping include the most famous brands in the world, including Gucci, Chanel, Rolex, Armani, Versace, etc. We did no shopping!! We had a decent lunch at an outrageous price. At least the weather was beautiful and the scenery spectacular.
Back with more when we return in a couple of days!!
Since our last entry we have made a few day trips. Last week we set out for Bergamo to check out the "Citta Alta" which is the old town sitting high on a hill over looking the rest of Bergamo. It is situated within 16th century walls. We thought we might have a problem parking but quickly found a decent spot, 3 Euro for two hours. The architecture was stunning as usual but what was fairly odd was how they built structures so close to the two main churches on the hill. I'm sure they were splendid many years ago standing apart from each other but now they are totally surrounded by newer structures to the point where you almost don't see them. Anyway all quite remarkable. At least there was a Piazza where we were able to have lunch and check out the tourists as they strolled by.
A word about the drive to Bergamo. When we put Bergamo into MapQuest it told us the quickest way was by Autostrade and it was about 77K. If you look at a map you will see that the shortest way is via ferry to Varenna and then 37K to Bergamo. We decided to make a round trip out of it and took the Autostrade one way and the back roads to Varenna to return. By far the quickest way was the Autostrade!! Although half the actual distance back it was torture going the short way. If it were a scenic road OK but it was basically one town after another. Sort of like going from San Francisco to San Jose on the El Camino Real. We won't be making that ride any time soon!!
A few days later we took the incredibly scenic drive to St. Moritz Switzerland. This is a day trip through some beautiful mountains, a great twisting and turning road, passing through some picturesque towns. A really delightful drive. St. Moritz is a very upscale ski town during the winter and a remarkable sports town during the summer. The activities include golf, sailing, paragliding, wind surfing and hiking. Ever where you look someone was heading out to recreate. All the retail shopping include the most famous brands in the world, including Gucci, Chanel, Rolex, Armani, Versace, etc. We did no shopping!! We had a decent lunch at an outrageous price. At least the weather was beautiful and the scenery spectacular.
Back with more when we return in a couple of days!!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
On the road again
Good morning from beautiful Lake Como. It is around 8 am here on Saturday morning, June 26th. The bad news is that a week has already gone by for us but the good news is that we still have nine weeks to go! Since we have settled in the weather has turned very nice with the highs in the low 80's and pretty much sunshine all day long. Yesterday Joan and I made a ride over to a small Italian town called Porlezza. Porlezza is on the way to Lugano, Switzerland through a natural cut in the mountains. Going north from Tremezzo and Mezzegra you come to Menaggio and then take an abrupt left up and over the cut. After a little shopping there we headed back to Menaggio in search of some tomato (pomodoro) plants, parsley(prezzemolo) and rosemary(rosemarino). We like to grow our own and we still have plenty of time to get a good crop. (See pictures) It was fun planting them and they really make the terrace quite nice. We'll update the pictures as the summer goes by.
On Thursday my good friend, Dennis Bava asked me to go with him to Lugano. As some of you know he is fighting a serious illness with a growth in one of his lungs. He's currently waiting for Chemo to do it's thing and shrink the tumor so that he can have safe and successful surgery. We took the same very scenic road Joan and I took yesterday, a ride of about 20 miles. One travels through small town after small town so the speeds are very slow but it gives you the opportunity to do a great deal of sightseeing. Even though I have made this ride numerous times you see something different each trip. Once you cross the boarder you have a fabulous view of Lake Lugano and the city itself. Lugano, of course, has a very strong Italian influence so you have to remind yourself that you're even in Switzerland. However the Euro does not apply to the Swiss as they remained on the "franc" currency. By the way here is a test!! What is the plural of "Euro"? The answer.... Euro!! No "s" at the end. Now you just learned something!! Anyway Dennis and I had a very pleasant day walking around the very touristy downtown doing some banking business and then headed up to Franklin College where he and his wife, Anna, do some teaching. What a beautiful campus!! The landscaping was impeccable and very, very colorful. Not a blade of grass out of place. We spent some time in the library and I had the opportunity to look up my friend Dan Maloney and his son Drew. They are both in the Alumni book from probably too many years ago. Both good guys from Scottsdale. Nice to make the connection.
We look forward to watching the World Cup tonight with the USA playing Ghana. Comes on around 8:30pm here. More in a few days.
On Thursday my good friend, Dennis Bava asked me to go with him to Lugano. As some of you know he is fighting a serious illness with a growth in one of his lungs. He's currently waiting for Chemo to do it's thing and shrink the tumor so that he can have safe and successful surgery. We took the same very scenic road Joan and I took yesterday, a ride of about 20 miles. One travels through small town after small town so the speeds are very slow but it gives you the opportunity to do a great deal of sightseeing. Even though I have made this ride numerous times you see something different each trip. Once you cross the boarder you have a fabulous view of Lake Lugano and the city itself. Lugano, of course, has a very strong Italian influence so you have to remind yourself that you're even in Switzerland. However the Euro does not apply to the Swiss as they remained on the "franc" currency. By the way here is a test!! What is the plural of "Euro"? The answer.... Euro!! No "s" at the end. Now you just learned something!! Anyway Dennis and I had a very pleasant day walking around the very touristy downtown doing some banking business and then headed up to Franklin College where he and his wife, Anna, do some teaching. What a beautiful campus!! The landscaping was impeccable and very, very colorful. Not a blade of grass out of place. We spent some time in the library and I had the opportunity to look up my friend Dan Maloney and his son Drew. They are both in the Alumni book from probably too many years ago. Both good guys from Scottsdale. Nice to make the connection.
We look forward to watching the World Cup tonight with the USA playing Ghana. Comes on around 8:30pm here. More in a few days.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Focaccia is ready!
Back to the basics
It's Thursday morning and I think I am finally over my jet lag. This was the worst I have ever experienced, probably because of all the stress before we left. Gene has gone to Lugano with Dennis Bava, our friend who has an apartment in Menaggio. They are going to get new tires for Dennis's car and visit some banks. I stayed home and continued the adventure of making focaccia. The adventure began with the search for yeast. I bought ammoniaca, agente lievitante, which turned out to be baking powder. Then we bought lievito per dolci which is baking soda and finally we bought lievito di birra which turned out to be yeast. I assembled the dough, kneaded for 10 minutes and it is now rising for an hour. I will post a photo of the finished product even if it doesn't turn out the way it is supposed to. We had listened to Frances Mayes book "Everyday in Tuscany" on our last car trip to the Bay Area. Included was a CD of recipes she made in Italy. This is my first attempt at a very easy recipe. We'll see if I do any more. I am determined do more cooking this year even if it contributes to more weight gain. Tomorrow we will head to the consorzio in Menaggio to purchase some tomato and basil plants and get our garden started.
We had dinner with Dennis and Anna at Pizzeria Lugano the other night. They had just arrived in Menaggio and will be here a few days before returning to Milano. They will be back and forth all summer. It was great to see them. Dennis is recently diagnosed with cancer and is proceeding with the necessary treatments, so he is not feeling too great.
It is wonderful to be back at Villa degli Angeli. The owners, Helmut and Gundel Heppner, stayed at our home in Phoenix this winter, and made us very welcome here on our return. They provided us with an Italian cell phone for which we buy minutes. This is very helpful as we then don't have to use our American cell phones at .99 per minute and people here can call us without incurring an expensive charge. There is a new flat screen TV (not large enough for Gene of course). We have been watching some of the World Cup games with the sound turned off as the commentary is in German.
Time to check my focaccia. Stay tuned for the results.
Joan
We had dinner with Dennis and Anna at Pizzeria Lugano the other night. They had just arrived in Menaggio and will be here a few days before returning to Milano. They will be back and forth all summer. It was great to see them. Dennis is recently diagnosed with cancer and is proceeding with the necessary treatments, so he is not feeling too great.
It is wonderful to be back at Villa degli Angeli. The owners, Helmut and Gundel Heppner, stayed at our home in Phoenix this winter, and made us very welcome here on our return. They provided us with an Italian cell phone for which we buy minutes. This is very helpful as we then don't have to use our American cell phones at .99 per minute and people here can call us without incurring an expensive charge. There is a new flat screen TV (not large enough for Gene of course). We have been watching some of the World Cup games with the sound turned off as the commentary is in German.
Time to check my focaccia. Stay tuned for the results.
Joan
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
The sun is shining
Good morning from Mezzegra, Italy! It is Tuesday June 22, 2010 and the sun is shining brightly on Lake Como and the beautiful surrounding majestic mountains. it is around 6:25 am here in Italy , nine hours ahead of the of the West coast of the US. Joan and I arrived last Friday morning one day ahead of our scheduled 10 week stay here at Villa and took a hotel room in Como. After getting checked in we had a nice outside cafe lunch, took a walk and then headed for bed. As usual the first night sleep was fitful and pretty much restless. Breakfast started at 7 am at the hotel and we were the first to sit down. Oh, did I say we went to bed around two the previous afternoon? All those hours didn't seem to make much difference. After breakfast we headed out for a walk through the walled city of Como. Very quiet but as usual very beautiful, except for the graffiti on half the buildings! Como is situated at the end of the lake and there is no outlet for the water. If you look at a map the lake is shaped like an inverted "Y". At the opposite end of the lake is the city of Lecco which does have an outlet which eventually flows to the Adda river which eventually flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The lake has a constant source of water from the Swiss and Italian snow melt
After our walk we packed up and headed for the Villa with a stop at the supermarket for some essentials. Please remember what the Italians call a villa we would call a very comfortable three bedroom three bathroom home. Situated on the mountainside we have a beautiful view of the lake with lots of lush greenery. Please see posted pictures! Mario Prestinari, the caretaker, greeted us and had everything ready for our stay. The property owners are from Germany and live in the Munich area. We had the opportunity to meet them last year and had a delightful dinner with them and Mario and his wife, Geraldine. This last winter Gundel and Helmut stayed at our house in Arizona for two weeks in February so we "traded" for two of our ten weeks here. Very, very nice people. In fact, knowing I enjoy good German beer,They left a case of their country's finest for me to enjoy!! Very much looking forward to consuming it!! But now with the brilliant sun, no clouds and weather in the 70's, today we should be ready to really enjoy our stay. We had 2 days of rain so it is great to see the sun. It's Tuesday and we will be going down to the open market in Lenno about a half hour walk or a two mile drive. I think today we drive. I wouldn't want to tire myself out!!!
Gene
After our walk we packed up and headed for the Villa with a stop at the supermarket for some essentials. Please remember what the Italians call a villa we would call a very comfortable three bedroom three bathroom home. Situated on the mountainside we have a beautiful view of the lake with lots of lush greenery. Please see posted pictures! Mario Prestinari, the caretaker, greeted us and had everything ready for our stay. The property owners are from Germany and live in the Munich area. We had the opportunity to meet them last year and had a delightful dinner with them and Mario and his wife, Geraldine. This last winter Gundel and Helmut stayed at our house in Arizona for two weeks in February so we "traded" for two of our ten weeks here. Very, very nice people. In fact, knowing I enjoy good German beer,They left a case of their country's finest for me to enjoy!! Very much looking forward to consuming it!! But now with the brilliant sun, no clouds and weather in the 70's, today we should be ready to really enjoy our stay. We had 2 days of rain so it is great to see the sun. It's Tuesday and we will be going down to the open market in Lenno about a half hour walk or a two mile drive. I think today we drive. I wouldn't want to tire myself out!!!
Gene
Monday, June 21, 2010
We're back!
Gene and I are back at Villa degli Angeli. This is our 4th year at Lake Como and our 3rd year in Mezzegra at this villa. We arrived yesterday and will be here until August 28. Once we are over our jet lag we will begin to post our adventures. Hopefully there will be some new ones. We love to have comments so.... Back soon.
Joan
Joan
Friday, July 3, 2009
Golfing in Italy!
Yesterday I got to play my first round of golf ever in Europe. Denis Ducey, his son Nathan and I met Dennis Bava at his home and drove over to the Menaggio and Cadenabbia Golf Club, the second oldest golf club in Italy, for the beginning of a delightful and as usual frustrating round of golf. Dennis is currently suffering from a painful bout of arthrothus so was unable to play but his local knowledge of the course, his banter and playful criticism only added to our experience. For those who might be following along on a map the course is just slightly north of Menaggio away from the lake off the road to Lugano. Switzerland. There is a natural cut through the mountain range allowing this curvy and picturesque passage. The small town of Croce is the actual home of the club. The whole facility is just breathtaking, from the club house to all eighteen holes of golf. A two word description of the course: Tight and Hilly. We didn't hesitate to take golf carts although there were some hearty folks who walked. We teed off around 9:30 am in warm sultry weather and finished around 1:30 pm in hot humid conditions. However, there wasn't a cloud in the sky throughout the day and that made the viewing of each hole that much more beautiful. I felt that I should have been taking pictures every 100 feet as the scenery just got better and better. Look for the pictures elsewhere on the blog. The quality of play was certainly lacking but each of us hit a few good shots. The highlight of the day was Denis hitting a ball on a very uphill par three that had the pin covered the entire way. The green was blind but we all thought his shot had to be close. Upon arrival at the green Denis found his ball nestled within two feet of the hole. We all held our breath as he calmly knocked in the short downhiller for a two!! A great shout went up from the four of us! That was fun. Nathan hit some booming drives and I hit a few that found the green in regulation. The course record was certainly safe throughout the day but we did need to apologize to the head groundskeeper for a few rather large divots taken from his pristine Italian soil. Afterwards we retired to the clubhouse for (another) outstanding lunch. Thank you Dennis for arranging for a great day.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Menaggio and Cadenabbia Golf Club
Garden for the club restaurant
Fairway
Fairway
The golfers, Denis, Nathan and Gene
Dennis Bava at the pin
Friday, June 26, 2009
Funicular Como to Brunate
Yesterday, Thursday Gene and I drove to Como to take the funicular from the lake up to Brunate. It wasn't a very clear day but we had been wanting to do this for the last three years and we were going to do it no matter what. It was extraordinarily steep and after the spectacular view of the last weeks the views were OK. We had lunch at the top and then proceeded to Bennet to do grocery shopping. Denis arrrives today and we are having Dennis and Anna and two of Anna's friends for dinner tomorrow night. Last Tuesday night the owners of the villa took us out to dinner in Lenno along with the caretaker, Mario and his British wife Geraldine. We had a lovely evening and we sat and talked for over 3 hours. Our hosts are German, Mario is Italian, Geraldine British and Gene and I American. Quite the United Nations.
Cooling off in the lake
View from the top
On the way up
Disembarking at the top
Looking down on the way up
Cooling off in the lake
View from the top
On the way up
Disembarking at the top
Looking down on the way up
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Monte Bisbino
The GPS view of the twisty road to the top(the upper white line)
Local traffic
Lake Como
The Alps in the background
Monte Generoso
Looking down at the road and the lake
Lake Como
We drove to the top of Monte Bisbino this morning via Cernobbio. It was 40KM, one way, from the house with at least 15KM of single lane, tortuous switchbacks. The day was clear and the views were incredible.
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