I have a love-hate relationship with running. I love the feeling of finishing a five or six mile run. I hate the agony I get in my calves the next day. I love pushing myself to run a distance further than I’ve ever run before. I hate pushing myself through that first mile after foolishly taking four months off during the winter. Currently, I’m learning to find a proper balance in my on-again off-again relationship with running. Since living abroad, I’ve discovered a renewed commitment to running. I am lucky enough to have some of the most amazing routes in my own backyard – a benefit that definitely keeps me on the trail a little longer.
“Please, come join me along my run”
Julia loves to join me on an occasional run
We have been really lucky with some wonderful weather this fall. Just this morning, I went for a jog in shorts and a lightweight jacket. I understand it’s a lot colder at home, so I would like to invite you to “come for a run with me”. I have several routes that I take on a regular basis depending on how long, how far, or how much of a vertical climb I want. Or sometimes, I’ll just go out and try to find something new.
Running along the trail
“I want to go for a run with you guys!”
“Here I go!”
One of my favorite routes (and probably the one that I take most consistently) is a 5K loop (3.1 miles) around the neighborhood. I have taken many of the friends and family that have visited with me on this very same run. And now you can join me! I’ll map the distances, using mapmyrun so that you know how far we’ve gone.
Let’s get started…
WE TURN RIGHT OUT OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD, HEADED DOWN STRADA PROVINCIALE – WATCH OUT FOR CARS DURING RUSH HOUR
.15 miles
SOON WE’LL COME UPON A BEAUTIFUL COLLECTION OF ITALIAN CYPRUS TREES
.27 miles
SUBSEQUENT TO THE TREES WE’LL SEE THIS FIELD, WHICH MEANS YOU WON’T HAVE A PLEASANT AROMA FOR THE NEXT 1/10 OF A MILE
.29 miles
WE PASS A LAVATOIO (WASH BASIN) THAT IS AT LEAST 120 YEARS OLD – THIS WAS ONCE USED TO CLEAN THE CLOTHES OF THE PEOPLE NEARBY
.33 miles
AT THE TOP OF THE HILL WE COME SMACK INTO THE DANGER ZONE! THE DOUBLE ROTONDA(ROUNDABOUT) – BE CAREFUL HERE!
.47 miles
THIS IS ONE OF MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE PARTS OF THE RUN, WHERE THE VIEW SPANS FOREVER AND AN ANCIENT VILLA REACHES FOR THE CLOUDS
.75 miles
WE START A MILD DESCENT
.84 miles
QUICK! LOOK LEFT – THERE IS A BRIEF OPENING WITH A STUNNING VIEW
.87 miles
.87 miles
.87 miles
KEEP ON MOVING, BUT BE SURE TO HUG THE FENCE LINE TO YOUR RIGHT. CARS ARE LIABLE TO FLY BY
.90 miles
.91 miles
GET READY TO ROUND THE BEND – WATCH OUT FOR CARS AND BICYCLES
.93 miles
.99 miles
CONGRATULATIONS – WE JUST FINISHED OUR FIRST MILE! PEEK TO YOUR LEFT FOR A UNIQUE VIEW OF THE VILLA
1.02 miles
DON’T FORGET TO LOOK LEFT INTO THIS OPEN FIELD AND BEYOND TO THE MOUNTAINS…
1.13 miles
1.15 miles
1.15 miles
NEXT, LOOK AHEAD AS THE VILLA MATERIALIZES IN FRONT OF YOU
1.15 miles
1.16 miles
I OFTEN WONDER HOW MANY THOUSANDS OF TRAINS THIS LITTLE HOUSE HAS SEEN PASS BY
1.18 miles
CROSSING OVER THE RAILROAD TRACKS – BE CAREFUL
1.19 miles
YOU’RE JUST AS LIKELY TO PASS A TRACTOR AS YOU WOULD BE TO PASS A CAR
1.25 miles
1.27 miles
1.27 miles
I LOVE THIS GROUP OF UNIQUE TREES ON THE PROPERTY
1.27 miles
NEXT, WE WILL START OUR ASCENT UP AN ANCIENT ROAD
1.32 miles
1.41 miles
A GLANCE BACK OVER OUR SHOULDER LETS US KNOW WHERE WE’VE RUN
1.44 miles
1.44 miles
1.44 miles
HERE, WE CAN CHECK OUT THE LOCAL EVENTS FOR OUR COMMUNITY
1.47 miles
LOOK TO YOUR LEFT TO SEE ONE OF THE MANY CHURCHES IN THE AREA
1.48 miles
WE HAVE AN IMPORTANT DECISION TO MAKE HERE… I DON’T SUPPOSE MY LEGS WILL CARRY US THE 40 KM (24 MILES) TO MILANO, SO WE’D BETTER GO LEFT
1.58 miles
THE ROAD CROSSING IS A LITTLE DICEY HERE – LOTS OF BLIND SPOTS. I ALWAYS HUSSLE PAST THE CRYPT TO OUR RIGHT
1.61 miles
1.65 miles
HERE, WE PASS A BAR THAT IS “ALWAYS” OPEN
1.65 miles
THE BAR – FEEL FREE TO STOP FOR AN ESPRESSO IF YOU FORGOT TO HAVE YOURS BEFORE OUR RUN
1.65 miles
WE WILL NEXT PASS A SECTION OF TOWN THAT EXPERIENCED IT’S HEYDAY 50 YEARS AGO… 100 YEARS AGO… 200 YEARS AGO?!
1.75 miles
1.77 miles
1.78 miles
BE CAREFUL – THE ROAD IS VERY NARROW – TOO TIGHT FOR TWO CARS TO PASS AT ONCE. IT’S NOT UNCOMMON TO GET PINNED AGAINST THE RIGHT WALL
1.79 miles
LOOK TO YOUR RIGHT – QUITE A VIEW OF THE VALLEY. TO OUR PREVIOUS GUESTS… DO YOU RECOGNIZE THE BENNET (OUR GROCERY STORE)?
1.83 miles
WE HAVE TO MAKE A SHARP LEFT OFF THE MAIN ROAD AS WE APPROACH ANOTHER FAVORITE STRETCH OF THE RUN
1.90 miles
1.92 miles
THIS TWO LANE ROAD BECOMES EXTREMELY NARROW – I PREFERRED WHEN IT USED TO BE MUCH MORE RUGGED. THEY RECENTLY PAVED IT… WELL HALF OF IT
2.05 miles
2.08 miles
2.11 miles
2.11 miles
2.11 miles
CONTINUE ALONG THIS REMOTE ROAD
2.19 miles
WE PASS A CORNFIELD ON OUR RIGHT – THIS WAS JUST HARVESTED THREE DAYS AGO – I THINK THEY USE IT AS CATTLE FEED
2.25 miles
WE APPROACH AN INTERESTING PART OF THE RUN… ANOTHER SECTION OF HOUSING WHOSE HISTORY ENDED LONG AGO. I OFTEN WONDER WHEN A NEW STORY WILL BE WRITTEN FOR THESE ANCIENT PROPERTIES
2.38 miles
2.40 miles
2.41 miles
WE PASS THROUGH OUR FINAL STRETCH OF OLD, VACANT PROPERTIES
2.47 miles
NOW WE WILL TURN ON TO VIA KENNEDY, WHICH ALWAYS CRACKS ME UP
2.53 miles
NOW THAT WE’RE BACK IN TOWN, IF YOU GLANCE OVER YOUR RIGHT SHOULDER, YOU WILL SEE OUR FAVORITE FRUIT STAND – YOU CAN SEE THAT ZUCCHE (SQUASH AND PUMPKINS) ARE THE SEASONAL VEGETABLE
2.70 miles
OK – DIG DEEP. WE’VE GOT AN UPHILL CLIMB, BUT WE’RE IN THE FINAL STRETCH. WE’RE GOING TO RUN RIGHT THROUGH THE CENTER OF TOWN
2.83 miles
LOOKING LEFT, YOU’LL SEE MY FAVORITE STREET IN OUR TOWN OF ALZATE BRIANZA
2.89 miles
THIS IS IT… NEARLY HOME. A SLIGHT DOWNHILL DESCENT HELPS US – TIME TO PICK UP THE PACE… MY BROTHER-IN-LAW CALLED THIS MY FINAL “KICK”
2.91 miles
WE’VE ARRIVED AT THE ROTONDA BY OUR HOME – FULL SPRINT NOW WITH WHATEVER IS LEFT IN THE TANK
3.03 miles
TURN RIGHT DOWN OUR STREET…
3.05 miles
WE DID IT!! WE’VE ARRIVED HOME JUST IN TIME FOR LUNCH. PASTA IT IS – HEY WE EARNED IT!
3.10 miles – nicely done
IF YOU’D LIKE TO REWARD YOURSELF WITH A NICE DRINK LATER IN THE EVENING, HEAD BACK INTO TOWN TO THE AB CAFE
The best “happy hour” in town
Don’t forget, gang – there’s always time to stop and smell the roses
I hope you enjoyed coming with me on my run today! I certainly appreciated the company!
For quite some time, Jen and I have wanted to open our home to our readers. We have had the extreme pleasure of hosting some of our family and friends – but there are still a good number of you that have not seen our home in person. For that reason, we have wanted to open our doors for quite some time.
Our soggiorno (living room)
You’ve heard me say it many times (if you’re a reader of the blog) – but I feel it’s of the utmost importance that I say it again. When I say, “open our doors“ – what I really mean to say is, “open Dominic and Diane’s (Jen’s parents)doors.” They have graciously allowed us to live in their pied-à-terre for the past year. Without them, this trip could not have been possible.
Dominic realized his lifelong dream of owning property in Italy (his mother-country) in 2010 when he and Diane purchased their condo in Lake Como. They had been looking on-again off-again for a place of their own for years. The search ranged from Tuscany to Piemonte before they got a call one day from Dominic’s brother, Franco. A condo directly below his had become available and he wanted to know if they were interested in seeing the place. They boarded a plane and came back to us a few weeks later with pictures of the place and renderings of what Diane wanted it to look like.
Diane had an architect draw the possible floor plan within the existing condo
Diane is a wonderful designer and a visionary. She fully renovated the condo – opening rooms, installing a brand new kitchen (with modern conveniences seldom seen in Italian homes) and did it all while carefully maintaining the original beauty of the place (the marble floors are still intact). She even thought of unique touches like US plugs in each of the bedrooms. How she was able to get it all done while living alone in Italy for two months (without a car) is still beyond my greatest comprehension. However, the end result is nothing short of magnificent and certainly has been a wonderful home to us this past year.
Lake Como is in the Lombardia region, situated in northern Italy. Lago di Como is a magical place with incredible views of water and mountains at every turn. Since I’ve written many posts and shared many pictures about the various towns along the lake; Como, Menaggio, Tremezzio, Lecco, Brunate – just to name a few, I won’t post too many pictures of the area. I’d just like to feature a couple new photos of downtown Como, to showcase some of the local flavor.
Downtown Como shot from the side of the lake
The Duomo is the prominent focal point in downtown Como
The Duomo from Piazza della Duomo
The central arch of the Duomo
The Duomo and piazza at night
The chiesa (church) in Piazza San Fedele
Without further adieu, our home…
View from our front balcony (off the guest room)
Come and walk through our foyer – original marble on the floor
Family Room
Family room and dining table
Family room from the opposite wall
The dining table sits just off the open kitchen – a unique design in an Italian home
Diane had the curved wall on the left custom designed
The dining room and kitchen
Cucina (kitchen) with a larger oven than many homes
Kitchen from the other entrance
View from the balcony off the kitchen
The balcony off the family room – we’ve enjoyed many light dinners outside
Next, we have the bedrooms. While the condo always had three bedrooms, there was only one bath. Diane worked with the architect to create a second full bath for guests, while still showcasing a fabulous master bath. They were able to do it all without taking away any space from the bedrooms.
The sunny and spacious owner’s suite
A quilt hand-knitted by Jen’s nonna adorns the four-post bed
Owners bath – complete with bidet
Hallway separates the bedrooms from the rest of the condo
The second bedroom fits in between the other rooms
“Jessica’s room” has become our guest room – thanks for the loan, Jess!
“Our” former bedroom is now Julia’s bedroom and playroom
The bed is as comfortable as it looks
Another quilt from Jen’s nonna
This balcony is shared by the second and third bedroom
View from the balcony off the bedrooms
I hope you’ve enjoyed our brief tour through the place we’ve been lucky enough to call home this past year. If you had fun peeking in on our daily life – you may want to check out a scenic post that features great photos of our town and an older post we wrote shortly upon moving here about our kitchen.
And for those of you that haven’t yet come to see us… I’ll use a phrase popularized by Tom Bodett of Motel 6 – “we’ll leave the light on for you”. Or perhaps more appropriately… “we’ll have the salami ready for you!”
I’ve always been amazed by my father’s dad, even though I have very few memories spending time with him. My “Poppy” was a career photographer for National Geographic. He was born before the turn of the century (February 24, 1898… have you ever known anyone from the 1800’s?!) in a rural town in Delaware that even today only boasts a few hundred residents. He raised his family in Washington DC and got to travel the world for his work (long before traveling the world was something you actually did). These are all things that I find particularly fascinating and I have discovered we even have a few parallels in our lives. Except, he was a rather short man and I’m basically what you call basketball height (5’9″ is about the tallest you’ll see on the court, right?).
A scene along Lago di Maggiore
Of all those attributes, his long-standing career with National Geographic is probably the most interesting to me (and one I’m happy to brag about). On a whim one day (several years ago), my sister-in-law, Jessica googled his name and was surprised at the results. Over 400 of his images appeared on websites like art.com and others (I’m still researching how I can lay claim to the royalties… lawyers feel free to message me). Jessica conspired with Jen and they surprised me with an huge print of one of his 1950’s Washington DC images (I was living downtown at the time). Since Jen’s parents, Dominic and Diane had just purchased their condo in the Lake Como, Jessica and Diane also purchased one of his more famous 1950’s lake images in order to surprise me twice, as well as Jen. When the gifts were presented, my dad, beaming with pride ran out of the room for a moment and came back with the two original copies of National Geographic magazines that contained those exact images. I kept one magazine with my image at my home in Washington DC, and we took the other magazine to Dominic and Diane’s condo in Italy to be with the print that now hangs above our bed.
My grandfather’s photo that appeared in the August 1950 issue of National Geographic
I promise, there’s a reason I’m giving such a long account of my personal family history and it all ties back to my wonderful wife. Not only was she thoughtful enough to present me with this great present a few years ago, but she also had a fantastic idea for a day-trip when my parents came to visit, which they did recently.
Julia was all smiles when her “Pop-Pop” and Grandma got off the plane. My folks had been with us to Lake Como before, but this was the first time in warm weather. They were excited to see everything with new eyes, all over again.
“Benvenuto, Pop-pop and Grandma”
Julia shows them around Italy
We had a long, but flexible plan laid out. We went to a small nearby lake, Lago di Montorfano and had a picnic.
Julia splashes in Lago di Montorfono right by our house
Then she needed a little gelato to cool down
We went for a drive along Lake Como and visited one of our favorite towns, Menaggio.
Stefani and Sonny are all smiles in Menaggio
Julia wanted to tell Pop-Pop a secret
I think she told him to smile
Julia can’t hog all the kisses from Pop-pop and Grandma
She wanted to touch the water but would get startled at each little wave crash
We also took a day trip to Monza – a town famous for the Formula 1 races that are held in the streets each September.
In front of the chiesa (church)
Julia insisted on “petting” the lion
And of course, we visited downtown Como. On the day we were in Como, there was Fiat 500 rally in Piazza Cavour. Recently, I was telling some American friends about this gathering of miniature vehicles and describing the car as the “Fiat Cinquecento”. They were looking at me like they had no idea what I was talking about and I was getting more and more frustrated – “Come on… I know that you know what I’m talking about. They’ve been in the States for a long time now. The little car. The Cinquecento!” Finally, I realized that I had been saying “five hundred” in Italian and so it wasn’t making any sense to him!
Classic old Fiat 500’s
This guy had his 500 equipped right – barrels of wine attached to the roof!
Hey, even security needs a little vino!
Of all the day trips though, Jennifer had planned something that eclipsed them all. She had decided that we would find the exact spot where my grandfather captured his lake image and recreate the exact same photo. I thought this was a marvelous idea, but equated it to finding a needle in the haystack. I think my dad thought it was the best idea he had ever heard and didn’t doubt for a moment that we would find the location. Since we had the original magazine, we read the account of the photo described by my grandfather. He captioned the photo, Summer Villas in Tiny Ronco Flank the Shores of Europe’s Deepest Lake, Maggiore, Shared by Switzerland and Italy. So it turned out that the image was actually taken on the Swiss side of a lake that crosses the border of both Italy and Switzerland. We knew the lake – Maggiore and we knew the town – Ronco. Some quick time spent on google confirmed that Ronco was a small village and so I became confident that we could cover the shoreline by foot and car fairly easily.
Some sailboats in Ronco
On a clear day, we packed up the car and set out toward the northwest corner of Lake Maggiore. The journey would take about two hours crossing some beautiful countryside. When we arrived in Ronco, I cruised the shoreline for a while looking for anything that resembled the photo. Nothing stood out. That’s OK… no reason to panic. It was time for lunch anyways, so we stopped to reward ourselves with a wonderful lunch overlooking the beautiful lake.
“Cin-cin, Dad!”
A happy couple eating lunch that overlooks the lake
Julia makes a silly face while eating her pasta (and she also made a big mess)
After a leisurely lunch it was time to go back to work. Since we had covered the south side of the village and the car was already parked, I made the decision to go north by foot. We walked for a bit. Then we walked further. Finally, I spotted it. But it wasn’t right. So we pushed on. Everyone’s pace slowed. But I remained confident it was just around the bend. It was not. Eventually, the sidewalk ended and I was pretty sure we had left Ronco twenty minutes prior. Sadly, we turned back to the car, but not before stopping at a bar to talk to the locals. I asked the proprietor if he was familiar with the location of my image (I had printed a copy to take with me). With barely a glance, he said “sì, sì. Conosco quel posto. Questo è Ascona” (yes, yes I know that place. That is Ascona). Wait, what? Ascona – the town about 10 kilometers up the road? He couldn’t be right, could he?
Julia marches through Ascona on the hunt for Poppy’s spot
We piled back in the car and drove to Ascona, just a few minutes up the road. Immediately after we parked, we saw it – the exact spot where my grandfather snapped his photo over sixty years prior! I learned something about my Poppy that day. Even though he was an exceptional photographer, his attention to detail may not have been the best. We imagined him, hunched over his photography equipment and notepad, enjoying a leisurely lunch and wonderful vino. I pictured him scribbling a few notes about the Lake and then asking a waiter the name of the town, not bothering to care (or realize) that he was lunching in Ronco, a town close – but yet so far from Ascona.
This was the area of the shot – the houses were different colors, but they were all still there
We were thrilled to have found it, Poppy’s published error notwithstanding. We were also amazed at the beauty of Ascona, a charming town with roughly 5,500 inhabitants. We walked along the water’s bank, our eyes always gazing upward toward the mountains and homes that appeared in Poppy’s image. I was particularly pleased, but not altogether surprised to see that all the same homes were still intact (although a few additional homes and condo’s had sprung up over the years). My father and I plotted and planned and finally agreed on the frame of the image. I must have taken over 100 images before we were done. Really getting into the spirit, I made my mom and dad pose with me like the dockworkers did so many years ago. We walked further down the shore and then realized we had picked the wrong spot. I suppose my grandpa isn’t the only one entitled to a mistake.
I’m trying to line up the image
My father and I review my work to check for accuracy
I posed us all as the dockworkers and tourists in the photo
Three generations pose where the prior generation had been over sixty years prior
Julia was all hugs
After we discovered we had been shooting in the wrong spot, we re-set and shot again. This time, we were confident that we captured the exact same image. There was even a boat on the ramp, like in the original photo.
Re-framing the shot
We both agreed on the new spot
Posing as dock works again
The final product – this was the shot I chose to resemble the original
And the original again so you can compare how we did
We spent a little time walking around the town and then headed back to the car, pleased with a job well done.
Julia insisted on getting her feet wet
Playing with daddy
Campanile (bell tower) of Ascona
Restaurants line the pedestrian street along the lake
An old Castello (castle) turned into a modern day Inn
Flags of various European countries lay still on a windless day
An old church on the hillside
Boats in the harbor
I couldn’t believe that I stood within feet (perhaps even the exact same spot) that my grandfather did sixty three years prior. My grandfather passed away nearly thirty years ago – when I was five years old. I felt more connected to him at that very moment that I ever had before. I know it was a special day for me and I’m sure it was even more special for my own dad. I will always be grateful to my wife for suggesting that we embark on this journey together.
Channeling my inner Poppy in order to take good pictures
