Tag Archives: Lecco

Two Greeks in Italy

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

A Culinary Odyssey of Epic Proportions!

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!