This post should precede the “On to Sicily” entry.

Today is Monday, and we’ve just spent 3 ½ days meandering across Italy, on our way to the next part of our adventure: Sicily. We have yet to sort out our Internet connection here; that will require a trip into Palermo for some kind of Italian Hotspot, but before we forget too much of our drive, we thought we’d best blog in a Word document today, and post tomorrow, or whenever!

Last week, we made the decision to leave Argegno a couple of days early. The forecast was for rain through the weekend and we were both feeling eager to explore new territory. Rather than taking a straight shot to Sicily, we wanted to poke through Tuscany, Umbria, and also the eastern part of Italy along the Adriatic coastline. The purpose was see more of Italy, and to scout towns and apartments for our November-December weeks. The first leg of the trip zigged us west, through Genova and Pisa. We’d heard that Pisa was not that appealing, but somehow that leaning tower beckoned us…it may have been the first (or only) thing they taught in grade school about Italy and the intrigue stuck. OK, so now we know it’s true, Pisa kind of sucks, but the tower itself really is cool, actually very pretty. The place was teeming with tourist groups of every nationality, a great number of them busy posing for dorky pictures, arms up to the side, pretending to hold up the tower. We maintained our dignity, and did not do that.

We drove on to Castellina in Chianti for the night, arriving after dark, and were fortunate to find a lovely hotel in the hill town’s old center, Palazzo xxxxxxx. Things were pretty quiet, but there was a lively restaurant on the piazza, and we had a really, really good meal with some really, really good Chianti. Both cuisine and wine appear to improve as one heads south in Italy!

On Friday, we drove on deeper into Tuscany to check out a few more apartments. The weather continued to be stubbornly rainy, often pouring, so this was not exactly a scenic situation, but we had a mission and persevered. Happily, as we pulled into Montepulciano the skies suddenly cleared, and we were treated to an hour or so of pleasant wandering. This town is quite promising as a future base, with a stunning setting, and a nice mix of shops and restaurants. We ate lunch in a small, family run restaurant, which happened to have an apartment upstairs. The owners were so nice, and by the end of the meal, Michael was almost ready to sign a lease and apply for a job in the kitchen, next to Mama. But we really want to see all our options so we made no commitments. Our next stop was a much smaller Tuscan hill town called Sarteano. This town was a bit further off the tourist track and was very beautiful and really seemed untouched by modern influence. There was a piazza with a couple of cafés and a few shops but overall it was very quiet. I’ll have to be feeling very brave about my Italian to give this place a go.

Italy is out there some where.

I really don’t need to identify this do I?

First person to think of this? Yeah right.

The covered passage way in Castellino in Chianti.

Rainy morning in Castellino

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The well in Montepulciano

When we get done in southern Italy we are going to stay at the apartment with this view.

One can never have too much rosemary.

Three wheeling Italian style.

The archaic street of Sarteano.

Love the sign.

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Needs painting again.

Nightfall in Assisi.

Sorry for the delay in getting new posts on the blog.  The challenges of establishing internet connectivity has been a bit difficult to say the least.

Off the ferry and onto the island of Sicily.  I had been told and had read of the horrors of driving through Messina once you arrived here.  Huh???  It was a piece of cake.  No crowds.  No traffic.  No problems.  We entered the autostrad which parallels the northern coast of Sicily and in just under 2 hours arrived in the small town of Cefalu.  This is to be our home for the next couple weeks thanks to the wonderful generosity of our friend Jerry in Houston.  Thanks!  The wonderful caretaker, Anna, introduced us to the house, the function of the shuttered windows and doors, and how to work the heaters.  Quick, empty the car and find a bottle of wine to open so we can watch the sunset over the Mediterranean from the patio in the front yard.

The large part of the adventure of this trip, since we are not “hoteling” it, is getting to know each new location or town.   Each one presents new challenges with how to get up to speed with the necessities of everyday life.  Where is the grocery store?  How do I get there?  Where do I park the car??  After the stint in the north on the shore of Lake Como the change to Cefalu has left a great part of ‘tourist Italy’ behind.  This is some of the experience we are looking for.  What is really like to live in Italy?  Each day presents a new hurdle and the enjoyment/frustration of trying to solve it.

Cefalu is divided into two distinctly different portions; the older historic town and the more modern part of town.  The overriding control on everyday life is the auto and what to do with it when you get into town.  You have to understand that this town was not built for automobile ownership.  The old part of town predates cars by 500 years at least.  Now that many people own cars there is little that was built to accommodate parking them.  As a result, the resident population and everybody who comes into town must park somewhere along the narrow streets.  First job upon entering town is finding a parking spot and then walking to where you want to go.

Here are some tastes of our resident town, the historic fortress just outside of town and a visit to a neighboring town of Castelbuono higher up in the beautiful scenic land further inland.

The night scene in the historic portion of Cefalu.

A nice quiet little piazza

This was happy hour munchies. We will be passing on dinner as a result.

We have never seen this tree before and have no idea what species it is. Sure has pretty flowers though. Also comes in white and yellow.

Fresh fish available on the street corner. Now that is handy!

The late afternoon and early evening relaxation in town.

Apparently my youngest daughter, Alessandra Grace, has been here before me.

Views of the Mediterranean from atop the fortress rock.

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Goats instead of lawn mowers.

Looking down onto town from the fortress.

Has his scarf and hat. So fashionable.

Wash day in old town.

Is it just me or is the pink watch band too much??

The Cefalu cathedral interior.

The side altar.

Bartering for eggplant at the street market.

Markets are very popular businesses.

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Different town. Same afternoon scene.

We found some extremely old olive groves on the drive back to the house.

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Some of the geology scenery just south of our town.

You can see the walls and the fortress on the right side and Cefalu down below to the left.

This is the second installment in the series.  There are so many subjects as you wander through the cities or sit at a cafe with a glass of wine.  Many of the owners will stop and try to get there dogs to sit better or to “pose” as they give commands to their pet.  The variation among all of the dogs, their faces, and attitudes will make this a long, ongoing project.

These guys are also in the first installment. On one of our return visits to Como we came across them sitting outside a store waiting for their master to return. Any pooch, or pooches, this well behaved deserve a second time.

Am I looking depressed?

I am only half listening which is why only one ear is up.

Spuds lives!! In Torino.

I am begining to see a pattern here.

That is MISTER dog to you! Now get it right!

This killer followed the one above down the street by about 15 seconds. I just laughed when I saw her coming.

Sorry. Late. Can’t stop.

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What? I AM posing.

There is always a show off!

Dang it! Anybody seen my other leg??

Such a poser.

Forget the guy behind me. Take my picture instead.

Maybe some day the rest of my face will grow.

The long and short of it.

Oh please. Do we have to do the dang “little purse on my collar” thing again? I really don’t think it’s cute. At all!

Howdy Tex! I didn’t know they made kerchiefs that small.

Taking the dog out for a carry. It is like a walk, but their feet stay so much cleaner.

Basically thinking, “I am going to pee where I damn well please.” He did. Right on the base of a column.

When you are this cute they wouldn’t dare put a leash on you.

Thanks for looking and enjoying all of my friends. Woof!

We got up early on Monday since we had to drive Nash and Andy into the train station in Milan and were not certain of the morning traffic going in.   We got there easily an hour ahead of their departure time so it was a stress free start to the day.  After hugs and well wishes we took a bit of time in Milan to visit a large triumphal arch which we had seen while driving in and out of the city  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porta_Sempione  We walked along some wide streets and took a few photos before eventually heading back to the north and Lake Como.  It was well into the afternoon by the time we got home and decided to stay in, cook dinner, and just chill for the rest of the day.

Tuesday.  Back at it and traveling before our time at the lake runs out.  The Lenno morning market was in full swing by the time we arrived at 9 and had our coffee and brioche at our favorite little spot.  We needed to buy a few things.  Especially after I boiled the coffee pot dry, then picked it up with a hot pad that melted and stuck to the pot.  Nice move!  The markets are fantastic places to observe and listen to the locals going about their day to day life.  There were lots of photo subjects all around as I wandered.

Once our chores were completed we decided to head back north along the shoreline and then to the west into a high valley to the upper end of Lake Lugano just a few miles west of Lake Como.  The drive into the mountains felt like a national park road back home.  It was typical twisting and narrow through the woods with lots of scenery and a few picturesque, small waterfalls.  The towns were not very charming but as you can see the one local church we did find open in Carlazzo, which you drove through in less than 5 minutes, was quite oppulent.

Laura has been working hard planning the trip between here and Sicily. The weather is sounding rainy at the lake for the next couple days so we are probably going to hit the road in the morning and start the journey.  There are a few accomodations we want to look at to see if they are possible places for us to spend some time after we leave southern Italy.

The Sempione Arch.

These colored elastic bands are found on lady’s bicycles to keep their hems from getting caught in the spokes.  Funny that I have never seen them in Houston!?

Commuter bicycle with trolley car backdrop.

Parking Milan style. Perpendiclar to the curb. In the crosswalk. On the sidewalk. Not a problem!

Tuesday morning.  On to the market in Lenno and then the mountains.

Market mums.

Cyclamen blooms.

Pick a color any color.

Cheese rounds that smell so good.

A little shoreline scenery on the edge of the market in Lenno.

“I want 20 slices of that one!”  Or both??

The nectarines were going fast. It is interesting how the fruit and vegetable stands work. The proprietor stands in the back until you decide what you want to buy. You then tell them and they get a bag, walk around in front, bag up your order, then weigh it and total the amount. Even if what you wanted was right in front of you. You DO NOT touch anything until you have bought it. There is no squeezin’ the Charmin over here.

I loved watching these two ladies. They talked and talked and talked. All the time they held each other’s hand.

The taxi van pulled up and the driver hurried around to the door and put down this little step stool so the older folks could have any easier time entering.

The church in Carlazzo.

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Amazing scenery into the valley that holds Lake Lugano.

I wished I had some serious hiking boots and some clothing that could have gotten dirty. The steep and narrow little valley with this stream would have been nice to explore a bit more.

Sunday started as a day of rest for all of us.  We actually did not get out of the apartment until after 10:00 in the morning.  We caught the ferry in the town just to the north of us.  They have better brioche up there so we did indeed have a good reason to alter the starting location for the day.  There also was a small market in the town piazza and along the lake front that allowed a bit of people watching and photo ops before we had to catch the boat.

Andrea has always been an avid gardner in Houston and our visits to each other’s houses there often times start with “garden tours”.  So what better way to spend the day than touring a REAL garden?  Just on the southern end of the town of Varenna is the Villa Monastero and the wonderful lake shore garden which Laura and I had checked out a week or so earlier.  (See the “Across the Lake to Varenna” post).

Any full fledged Italian garden tour must commence with lunch and wine so we did the dirty deed of three pizzas and an entire bottle plus of wine so that we were in the proper state of touring before reaching the flowers.  It worked perfectly.  Both Andy and Nash were thoroughly impressed by the beauty and serenity of the place.  We strolled along the narrow walks and Nash never quit finding things to photograph.  I truly believe he has succumbed to the Italian bug.  The day lasted a bit longer than we had envisioned since we were referencing the ferry schedule which lapsed on the 30th of September and the boat we thought we were going to take back across the lake ran an hour later.  Damn!  We have to sit, have a beer, and kill time.  Nothing like a bit of good luck to make a perfect day even better.

Got to try the goat cheese.

And of course a loaf of raisin bread must come along.

Fresh salami? Heck yeah!!

I love the little sales ladies at the market. They could sell me anything.

His buddy had the fishing rods. He got to haul the oars and the anchor.

All Bakers on board.

Would you buy a shirt from this guy?  Or anything for that matter?

Kind of a funky color….. but still pretty cool looking. Has the “vintage thing” going pretty well.

Lunch destination. We actually sat on the piazza side through the door in the background.

Yes, lunch is starting out very well.

I have decided that the t-shirt logo is an eye test chart. As long as I can read all the letters I can have another glass!!

Maybe wearing the shoes like mom said would have been a good idea.

Back street beauty.

Why do I think they are trying to figure out how to do this back home?

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How you decorate your Villa. Never enough gold.

Not sure what the hole is for?

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Sit down. Tilt your head. Shoulders back. Look at the camera. Ah! The tables are turned!!

Yeah it is a pretty nice place to kill an afternoon.

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A terra cotta pot full of dandelions would look good in this setting!

Back street beauty #2.

A very nice old Fiat.

Arrivederci Varrena!

Last port of call.

“I am tired too but what a great day!”

On Saturday, we continued our “Best of Lake Como” tour with Andy and Nash. The weather angels continued to bless us with sunshine and mild temperatures, and we spent the morning walking along some of the prettier parts of the Green Way trail. We then assembled the requisite picnic fare (wine, cheese, bread, honey, pesto, prosciutto, fruit…you get the idea) and spent another great afternoon cruising the shoreline of the lake in our own little rental boat. Back home for a nap, and then off again to the little town of Sala Comacino for a magical lakeside dinner.

Off for another morning hike and then to the boat for a cruise of the lake.

No hiding Andy. Everbody gets their picture taken!

Need more deapth of field in this shot. Sorry.

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Courtyard grapes. Very handy.

Checking the water to make certain the day is nice enough.

Seriously Andy. Is it too early to start talking about dinner????

Nash really started to get his shutter finger limbered up.

Look. Up in the Sky! Its the baby’s stuffed animals.

Transfering into the rental boat we cruised the shoreline to get the water’s edge view of many of the towns.

Can you take us to the yacht?

Late afternoon sun on the stucco walls.

This looked like fun.

Darn it! Another place fully booked!

Major case of boat envy. 🙁

Almost home.

Safe and sound on dry ground and looking forward to dinner.

The restaurant was in a small piazza right on the water and the best dish was a lemon ravioli.

Have a seat. Your table is almost ready.

Can I take it for a spin?? Pleeeease????

And who better to share it all with?

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.

There are lots of bicycles here in Italy.  There are lots of people riding their bicycles here in Italy.  Here in Argegno on the shore of Lake Como you primarily see the road racing types on the edge of the road, squeezed in with the cars, buses, trucks, and motorcycles.  But when you go into the larger cities like Milano, Turino, or Como the two wheel landscape changes and gives way to more simple bikes used primarily for transportaion in and around the city.  All these riders, who are sharing the streets with throngs of foot travelers, have a need to let each other know where they are.  Thus the bicycle bell.  Most bikes have them.  At times the streets chime with their soft ringing as the riders weave along and head toward their destination.

This photo theme got going and has grown as we moved from city to city.  I thought I better get it started and sharre with you all before I ended up with hundreds of images.  Get you bell thumb ready and cruise the pics.

The first one. Little did I know how out of hand this would get.

This is the simplest design and very common.

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Some vintage style.

Traveling with a saint always helps in traffic.

Modern boredom in blue.

Not if they sold more than one of them!

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I guess size counts even in bike bells?

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This one has been on the streets a long time!

The red version.

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Royal Bells

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Riding topless.

A fairly common form.

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Buggy.

The Comet version with rust.

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That is obvious.

The only brass bell so far.

Flower Power!

Maybe more like “ring the bell or die”!

Finally the last one.

Wed. October 3

We had some apartment cleaning to do in the morning in preparation for a visit by our dear friends Andrea and Nash.  With that completed, we decided to run up the shoreline and take a little taxi boat over to Isola Comocina.  This charming little island is only a few hundred yards from shore, and except for a couple of houses and restaurant, is the setting for ruins dating back to the Roman times with later churches built atop those.  We had the place to ourselves again (hooray, it appears that tourist season is finally winding down!) and walked along the shoreline and up the hill to see what we could find.  Laura took the camera from my hands to document that I was actually on this trip by taking a few photos of me!

Full moon over Lake Como on the previous night.

Yep. There he is. See Laura was not traveling alone.

Big bad wildlife!

There is a 17th century church built atop these medieval and Roman era ruins.

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No this was not our taxi boat. Ours had a motor.

Float plane tours are available on Lake Como, although we weren’t tempted. This guy buzzed by while we were waiting for the return boat.

At this point the bench is staying right where it is.

The owner needs a better plan than just the tarp. This would be gross to deal with.

The outcrop in the distance almost looks like clouds.  Looking eastward toward Isola Comocina.

Monday, October 1^st was a much anticipated day for us here: this was the day we were to return to Milan to attend a performance of La Boheme, at the renown theater La Scala. Even better, a group of Houston travelers including our dear friends Jim and Patricia Allen were also to be in Milan and we were looking forward to meeting them there.

The thought of attending an opera performance came to us nearly a year ago, when we realized that our time in northern Italy would coincide with the La Scala season. When we learned that La Boheme (Laura’s favorite opera) was scheduled,  we were ecstatic! Individual tickets would not go on sale until months later, in July, and we marked the calendar and scheduled iPhone reminders to make sure we remembered to order them. What we didn’t think about was that July27 came 7 hours earlier in Milan than it did in Michigan, and by the time Laura logged on to purchase the tickets, there were only about 30 seats left! We snagged the two best available, and crossed our fingers that they would be decent seats. We had another near disaster waiting for the tickets to arrive in Houston (the fine print of the purchase order stated that tickets would be mailed no less than 3 weeks prior to performance, but we planned to leave Houston 5 weeks prior…those tickets arrived in the mail the Saturday before Labor Day, the last possible delivery day before our Tuesday departure!

Our “night at the opera” was picture perfect. The evening was mild and we met the Allen party for a wonderful pre-performance dinner, al fresco. La Scala was gorgeous on every level and it was truly profound to experience Puccini in a venue so rich with operatic history. Oh, and our seats ended up being great! In the morning, we met the Allen’s for hugs and coffee and a bit of people watching in the Piazza del Duomo.

You just can not use that title and not include a shot of Groucho!!

My own resident soprano looking damn chic. Love her.

The Teatro La Scala from our seats. Even I had goose bumps. Pretty darn cool place to be.

Let the music begin.

Opening act of La Boheme…Mimi and Rudolfo are about to sing what Laura believes is the most beautiful love song ever written.

Every opera needs a horse on stage!  Look closely, this scene is staged with a second story. Wow!

Delivery Italian style.

Where is the espresso?? And brioche??

Piazza del Duomo scenery.

Little kids + pigeons! They are made for each other.

This lady had a sidewalk stand sewing names or sayings onto aprons and  bibs.

There is a story in the wheel and I don’t think it ended well.

Tre migliori amici (three best friends). One barber. Apparently.