Tag Archives: Como

Bellagio, Castles, Como, Family Stories, Food and Drink, Friends, Happy Hour, Humor, Photography, Restaurants, Sipping Espresso, Travel - Europe, Travel - Italy

The Perfect Recipe – Great Friends, Food & Tons of Fun

Sometimes living abroad is hard.  Like when you miss a good friend’s wedding in upstate New York – an event that turned out to be the social gathering of the year (according to Facebook pictures and word of mouth). Thankfully Dave and Jill completely understood when we declined to come.  Or when one of your best friends tells you that he’s planning on “popping the question” via email, because there’s really no easier way.  Those are the types of conversations that should be reserved for a late night in a neighborhood bar, complete with lots of back pats and free rounds for the groom-to-be.  Thankfully, Josh was great about keeping me in the loop, sending us pictures of his wonderful proposal to Abby in Charlestown earlier this year (and even calling us via FaceTime shortly afterward).  So, yeah – living abroad can be hard when you miss these special moments in your friends and families lives.  However… when we’re able to host our friends and family here, we are always grateful for the experience abroad.

Abby, Josh, Jill, Dave, Jen and Julia

For that reason, we were absolutely thrilled when we heard that Josh and Abby were going to come visit us.  We coordinated the timing of their trip so that they would be visiting during a beautiful time of year and the start of Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany.  As soon as they booked their airfare, I reserved our train tickets to Munich, which I’ll write about in the upcoming post. Continue reading The Perfect Recipe – Great Friends, Food & Tons of Fun →

Beaches, Castles, Como, Food and Drink, Friends, History, Sipping Espresso, Travel - Italy, Veneto

Two Greeks in Italy

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I don’t know anyone in their thirties that really goes around saying, “I’m Greek” because he or she was in a fraternity or sorority – but it was certainly fun to be a part of Greek Life during college.  Jennifer and I were both “Greeks” while we attended Virginia Tech together and we each established lifelong friendships that have opened world’s of opportunities.

Lauren and Jen in front of Lake Garda

One of Jen’s sorority sisters, Lauren recently came to visit – and they instantly fell into their old college routine.  We welcomed Lauren at the train station; she was arriving from Switzerland having visited another friend living abroad.  We went to downtown Como and had a nice dinner, before enjoying a few drinks in the piazza while a live band entertained us. Continue reading Two Greeks in Italy →

Como, Family Stories, History, Landscape, Sipping Espresso

Villa Carlotta’s Beautiful Gardens

There is a wonderful town along Lake Como, called Tremezzo.  Most people have heard of Bellagio, which sits on the exact shore opposite Tremezzo, but the lesser known town is a true gem with far fewer tourists crowding the streets.  Tremezzo is home to a couple of our favorite restaurants and gelaterie (ice cream parlors).  It is also home to Villa Carlotta, a 17th century treasure that has been beautifully restored and maintained.

Villa Carlotta

Jen and I have been wanting to visit Villa Carlotta since we moved to Como.  The beauty of the villa and the gardens are well known in this area and attract thousands of visitors each year.  We had planned on going in March when my aunt and uncle were visiting, but the villa is not open to the public until the 15th (just a few short days after they departed).  Since the gardens are the main attraction, the preservation society wants to ensure all the flowers are in full bloom.  Jen and I decided that since my mom is a big fan of gardens, we would visit while they were here (read about the first part of their trip HERE). Continue reading Villa Carlotta’s Beautiful Gardens →

Como, Family Stories, History, Humor, Photography, Restaurants, Sipping Espresso, Switzerland, Travel - Europe, Wine

Recreating a Photo 63 Years Later

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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

Continue reading Recreating a Photo 63 Years Later →

Como, Family Stories, Food and Drink, Landscape, Recipes, Sipping Espresso, Travel - Italy

Keeping It In The Family

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I don’t know who was more excited… Jen to see her parents or Jen’s parents to see their granddaughter.  It was close, but judging by the suitcase of presents exclusively for Julia, I would give the edge to Jen’s mom, Diane.  Of course, this suitcase (along with the 42 other suitcases Jen’s mom, dad and sister brought) got lost somewhere over the Atlantic and didn’t arrive for another two days (the airline had to hire a Mack truck to deliver everything in one trip).

Julia playing with Nonna on Day One
As you’ve no doubt surmised from above, Jen’s family came to visit recently.  They wanted to see the country they love, their second home that has been overtaken by three squatters, their kids and their granddaughter (not necessarily in that order).  And we were thrilled to see all of them.  Since the timing was right with their work schedules and nursing school (Jen’s sister, Jessica had just graduated), they were able to stay a full month.  We had plenty of down time relaxing and plenty of time on the go-go-go.  Since so much happened during this month, the story of their visit will most definitely be broken into a few posts.
“I LOVE the view up here!” 
Julia chilling with Jess by Lake Como

Continue reading Keeping It In The Family →

Family Stories, Food, Humor, Landscape, Photography, Restaurants, Sipping Espresso, Travel - Italy

A Culinary Odyssey of Epic Proportions!

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No, we didn’t oversell it in the title.  This meal was

LEGEN…wait for it…DARY!

Like Odysseus who fought heroically in the Trojan war and embarked on a long journey rife with cyclops, lotus-eaters, sea monsters and hostile giants; we too fought our own heroic battle of hunger and embarked on a journey rife with wrong turns, communication challenges, unpaved roads and hostile baby cries.  In the end however, it worked out better for us than Odysseus.
We decided to visit the neighboring town of  Lecco and grab a bite to eat.  When I quickly opened my browser and selected a restaurant from Trip Advisor based solely on someones comment “good food, family friendly” – we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.  We plotted our course in the GPS and set out to eat at Osteria Belvedere Montalbano, a thirty minute-minute drive.

Lecco – a lake town on the east “leg” of Lake Como
A panoramic of the lake that I stitched together – the view on our way to the restaurant

Thirty-five minutes later, we pulled up.  To a house.  This couldn’t be right.  We tried again.  Twenty minutes later we ended up in the woods.  Hmmm???  Twenty five minutes later we pulled up again.  To another house.  How many Via (Street) Montalbano’s could there be?!  Jen dug a little deeper and translated a few google posts.  She discovered that the restaurant is in fact, in the woods.  So we were right when we were in the woods???  We tried that route again and hit a dirt path that looked to be traveled only by horses.  As frustrated as you are reading this, you can imagine our displeasure.  We’d had enough… time to throw in the towel. Continue reading A Culinary Odyssey of Epic Proportions! →

Como, Food, Food and Drink, Happy Hour, Humor, Wine

Happy Hour – Although This One Was Unhappy!

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What a wonderful tradition happy hour is!  A time when friends can gather and join in a few post-work drinks and perhaps a little nibble to eat.  We’ve always known happy hour to be a 5:00pm – 7:00pm (ish) time to partake in a few cocktails at a discounted price.

Caffè Mazzini – Our favorite Happy Hour in Como

We were pleased to find that the tradition of “happy hour” also exists in Italy and it’s even called the same thing (just imagine saying it with a funny little accent… drop the sound the “h” makes).  However, it’s a bit different here.

Instead of discounted drinks and food, you usually pay the same price for the drinks (which always tends to be low anyways… between $4 – $6) but get a big bonus.  ALL YOU CAN EAT heavy hors d’oeuvres – Italian style!!!  Imagine a bar full of pasta, pizza and other wonderful treats.  If you’re not to embarrassed to fill a plate – you can easily have enough for dinner. Continue reading Happy Hour – Although This One Was Unhappy! →

Como, Family Stories, Humor, Markets, Shopping

Saturday Market in Como

Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday there is a market on the north side of Como.  It exists just outside the old fort wall that surrounds the original city.  There is a collection of over a hundred vendors, most which arrive in their vans and vend from open doors.

Vans – vending on the other side

We strolled through and decided there was nothing we needed before moving on to a late afternoon snack (more on that in a subsequent post).  Below you’ll see a collection of the random items you can purchase if you so choose. Continue reading Saturday Market in Como →