Tag Archives: Alba

Agriturismo, Bellagio, Cooking, Family Stories, Food and Drink, Humor, Landscape, Piedmont, Sipping Espresso, Travel - Italy

Our Second Love – A Bunch of Old Grapes

Jennifer, Julia and I had a wonderful time when my Uncle S and Aunt Deborah came to visit us this past March.  That’s why we were thrilled when they mentioned that they would like to come back to Italy again this fall.  They wanted to do a bit of traveling and invited us to join them on their adventures, using our condo in Como as a “home base”.  They had sketched a rough itinerary and just wanted a little help filling in the blanks – assistance I was happy to give.  They knew that they wanted to spend some time with us here in Como, some time in Piemonte and Emilia-Romagna (two regions adjacent to our region of Lombardia) as well as a quick jaunt down to the historically significant city of Pompeii and another to Venezia.

S and Deborah standing near the divide of Lake Como

Jen and I share the responsibility of planning our trips – researching restaurants, activities and hotels.  But they’re usually in three or four day stints and one location at a time.  This time, I had to navigate through a two week itinerary, complete with activities, restaurants, hotel stays and all at new locations each day.  Putting the puzzle pieces of their trip together was a challenge not for the faint of heart.  Jen and I dug in, and by the time S and Deb landed in Milan, we had an itinerary that we were both proud of.  I think all of us agreed that it came together quite nicely.  Of course, the key ingredient was the company, mixed with a little food and wine! Continue reading Our Second Love – A Bunch of Old Grapes →

Bellagio, Como, Family Stories, Food and Drink, Happy Hour, Humor, Photography, Piedmont, Restaurants, Sipping Espresso, Travel - Italy, Wine

Tornado Touches Down in Italy

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On May 4, 2013 a tornado touched down in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy.  A path of chaos was carved throughout the area best known for a city that inspired a processed meat in the US nowhere near an authentic representation of it’s namesake – Bologna.

One day prior, a different type of tornado touched down in the Lombardia region just north of Emilia-Romagna.  Our friends, Nathan and Danielle landed in Milan and a whirlwind of food, fun, wine was about to begin – our own path of chaos would be carved throughout northern Italy.

Our very good friends, Nathan and Danielle

I picked them up at the airport while Jen stayed home to prepare a proper welcome – an Italian pranzo (lunch) done right.  We greeted them with an aperitivo (an alcoholic beverage used to stimulate the appetite) and then began stuffing them with salami, prosciutto, lardo (cured meat – basically just pork fat thinly sliced), cheese and olives.  Then it was on to the pasta course, with a simple red sauce before our secondo, veal Milanese.  Next of course were the salads and then dessert – fresh fruit and pastries we bought that morning.  Plenty of wine flowed throughout the meal and we finished with grappa.  The only problem… our large lunch had an effect opposite of our intention to keep them awake and perky in order to stave off jet-lag.  They were both crying out for a nap, but we were merciless with our plans.  We whisked them to downtown Como, where we walked off lunch and eventually made our way to a bar for happy hour outdoors under the sun. Continue reading Tornado Touches Down in Italy →