Menaggio, Italy - 1 June 2005
A cool morning after a very warm week. A welcome change. In the past week, temperatures were in the 90s (30+ C) with high humidity. Some days the visibility was so low we could not see the opposite side of the lake, or at times, even the boats going across. They looked like ghostly apparitions moving in a fog.
Yesterday morning Nira and Dani left at the crack of dawn to return to Israel, and we woke up to glorious, Crystal clear day. We canceled some planned activities to take advantage of the weather and headed to see a place which offers an incredible view of the lakes the Alps and the entire valley in a clear day.
We reached Monte Genoroso via a little red train, running on a cog railway, which started at Capolago on the Swiss side. The steep route of 40 minutes took us almost to the top of the mountain, and the rest, about 20 minutes on foot to the top. The top of the mountain is at the border between Italy and swizerland, and both flags were waving on the poles adding to the beautiful scene. The view was absolutely breath taking. We could see 4 of the lakes, numerous little towns with their tile roofs and churches, Green valleys, Huge mountains with steep cliffs and to the north the snowy peaks of the tallest Alp mountains. We could see the Jungfrau very clearly, and shrouded a bit in the clouds, we could see the Mattehorn. We took lots of pictures, but the results were disappointing. No photo could adequately capture the expanse distance and grandeur that lay before us.
Some other highlights of the past week :
A boat ride to the Isola Comacina, a tiny charming and peaceful island in the middle of Lake Como. Hard to believe there were so many wars fought over it among the old city-states. There are ruins on it of 7-8 ancient churches, and you could walk across it in about half-hour.
On our trip to Lago Iseo we got lost a bit, and ended up in a local restaurant in a town named Gussago, where we set in a big yard, under a large shady tree with tables covered with red and white table clothes and no tourist within ear shot..
The gentleman sitting next to us heard what we were about to order and urged us to order instead the specialty pasta of the house, which he named but we didn’t recognize. He was positive we would love it, and even ordered for us a pitcher of red wine, on him, to make the experience perfect. We were served Ravioli with cheese, with a wonderful butter sauce, which melted in your mouth.Yummy!! .. It was indeed wonderful .. Augmented by the atmosphere of the place and the shady tree, and the music of Italian conversations around us, and the sips of red wine. (We couldn’t indulge in drinking it all as we were driving on ..)
It seems that our Eastern Europe Itinerary is getting firmed up. Today we will be returning our Trusty Opel Astra car, which served us well for the last month. Driving in the narrow roads has become a bit less frightening. We feel very comfortable here in Mennagio, and feel like we have gotten to know the town well. It will be really sad to leave here. This last month at Lake Como has now become our favorite vacation of all times topping even Venice and our Rhodes and Santorini vacation in Greece of almost 30 years ago, which has been our reference vacation ever since.
Nira and Dani loved it as well. We are looking forward to meeting our hosts in Mennagio on the day we leave here.
Yesterday morning Nira and Dani left at the crack of dawn to return to Israel, and we woke up to glorious, Crystal clear day. We canceled some planned activities to take advantage of the weather and headed to see a place which offers an incredible view of the lakes the Alps and the entire valley in a clear day.
We reached Monte Genoroso via a little red train, running on a cog railway, which started at Capolago on the Swiss side. The steep route of 40 minutes took us almost to the top of the mountain, and the rest, about 20 minutes on foot to the top. The top of the mountain is at the border between Italy and swizerland, and both flags were waving on the poles adding to the beautiful scene. The view was absolutely breath taking. We could see 4 of the lakes, numerous little towns with their tile roofs and churches, Green valleys, Huge mountains with steep cliffs and to the north the snowy peaks of the tallest Alp mountains. We could see the Jungfrau very clearly, and shrouded a bit in the clouds, we could see the Mattehorn. We took lots of pictures, but the results were disappointing. No photo could adequately capture the expanse distance and grandeur that lay before us.
Some other highlights of the past week :
A boat ride to the Isola Comacina, a tiny charming and peaceful island in the middle of Lake Como. Hard to believe there were so many wars fought over it among the old city-states. There are ruins on it of 7-8 ancient churches, and you could walk across it in about half-hour.
On our trip to Lago Iseo we got lost a bit, and ended up in a local restaurant in a town named Gussago, where we set in a big yard, under a large shady tree with tables covered with red and white table clothes and no tourist within ear shot..
The gentleman sitting next to us heard what we were about to order and urged us to order instead the specialty pasta of the house, which he named but we didn’t recognize. He was positive we would love it, and even ordered for us a pitcher of red wine, on him, to make the experience perfect. We were served Ravioli with cheese, with a wonderful butter sauce, which melted in your mouth.Yummy!! .. It was indeed wonderful .. Augmented by the atmosphere of the place and the shady tree, and the music of Italian conversations around us, and the sips of red wine. (We couldn’t indulge in drinking it all as we were driving on ..)
It seems that our Eastern Europe Itinerary is getting firmed up. Today we will be returning our Trusty Opel Astra car, which served us well for the last month. Driving in the narrow roads has become a bit less frightening. We feel very comfortable here in Mennagio, and feel like we have gotten to know the town well. It will be really sad to leave here. This last month at Lake Como has now become our favorite vacation of all times topping even Venice and our Rhodes and Santorini vacation in Greece of almost 30 years ago, which has been our reference vacation ever since.
Nira and Dani loved it as well. We are looking forward to meeting our hosts in Mennagio on the day we leave here.
posted by Dahlia and Lance Riley @ 3:08 AM
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