Nash and Adrea flew into Milan at 9 on Thursday morning.  We drove down to meet them at the airport and whisk them up to our lakeside and mountain view apartment.  The first stop though, would be the town of Como at the south end of the lake to slowly introduce them to the wonders of northern Italy.  We visited a small market fruit stand next to the cathedral before venturing inside.  Nash then declared it was ‘espresso time’ which caused us to have to walk all of 100 yards to the opposite side of the piazza in front of the Duomo and grab a table.  After the caffiene buzz kicked in and some bruschetta intake we were delightfully energized and moved on to the neighboring streets and shops.   The city delivered with visual treats for us.  We managed to find a little food shop we had gone to a few days earlier to pick up some ravioli.  A stop at a bakery for fresh bread.  Then a stop at a gelato shop for what else.  The theme for the visit had been set by this time.  Food.

Laura, Andy, and Nash took the rapido boat from the dock in Como. They made it up the lake to Argegno before I could get to the apartment, drop off the luggage and drive back down to town to pick them up.  We got settled in and eventually went out to dinner.  More food!

Our major planned activity for Friday was lunch, sandwiched in between two outings so that we could justify the caloric intake.  We drove up the valley above Argegno beyond the town of San Fedele to the area we had hiked a couple of weeks earlier.  This was just a very brief introduction to the top of the hills around the lake and the ladies wanted to see some horses and cows.  We were treated to early yellow leaves on the birch trees and our first sighting of some deer along the roadside.  Lunch was at a lake side restaurant and after 3 courses of food and 2 bottles of wine we waddled out of the restaurant and headed to the funivia to ride up to the little town of Pigra.  It was deserted of people as we strolled through the narrow streets.  Even after an hour long walk we decided that dinner was not going to happen after the huge lunch.  We sat on the balcony with a fire in the fireplace and watched the lights twinkling along the shore before turning in for the night.

Como Duomo interior.

We could hear this man from about half a block away.   Not sure what this instrument is.

We have successfully finished the first gastronomic delight and are ready for bed! Especially Nash and Andy. What troopers.

Sunrise of the first full day. At least one of us was up to document it.

We traveled up the valley away from the lake to show off the alpine hiking area and check out the “manger”.

Except for the manured floor it was pretty cozy for a cow!

We “raced” down the mountain and took in a 2 and a half hour lunch just because we could. Then it was off to the funivia at the edge of Argegno to ride the cable car back up the mountain to the little village of Pigra. Andy called it the neutron bomb town. All the buildings intact but absolutely nobody was around.

The master at work.

“il modello” The model. Sitting at somebody’s courtyard table. The begining of numerous tresspasing events! What a radical after some wine.

It is fall!

Don’t worry I turned it off when I was done with the photo.

The faded paints throughout the village reflected the feeling of the place. Quiet and subdued.

This has been a couple of different establishments over the years.

I was REALLY impressed to think that this little town at the end of a road had its own Opera house.  Then Laura Google translated “Operaia”.  Means “working”.   The saying is now Company Working and it is a card playing club for the locals.  The Italian version of poker??

I stayed up to catch the moon rise over the lake. A beautiful ending to a fantastic first day with our dear friends.