European Vacation: Lake Como, Italy

I had never been to Italy before this trip, but had always wanted to visit. I'd avoided it previously on purpose: I used to travel with groups of friends on the lowest possible budget. That meant hostels all the way, thirty- bucks-a-night style, and nothing too fancy as far as food went. I sensed that Italy demanded a little more from visitors' participation than simply gulping down a falafel for lunch. It also appeared from afar like a romantic destination, and going there with a rowdy group would be like trying to party with friends at a honeymoon resort.

So I'm really glad I waited to go with that special someone who was willing to co-rack up the extra debt necessary for us to eat our faces off in Italy.

I was slightly excited about our train ride from Berlin to Milan, because it was an overnight journey, and for part of it we'd share a little room with "couchettes" to sleep on, which conjured images of black-and-white-movie-style olden-tyme train travel. But I knew that the reality would be much more unpleasant and permeated by body odors, so I was also dreading this leg of the journey.

The first part of the trip was in a regular passenger train, and we found our seats in a glassed-in room with four other passengers, two rows of three facing each other. We could smell our room before entering it. I attempted to eat what had passed for a sandwich in Berlin-- a "buttered" hard roll in which the butter was really a spread, containing a pallid piece of lettuce, one slice of pepper, and two slicees of cheese --but at least it had cost like ten dollars!-- in the least obtrusive and crumby manner possible while assessing our situation. The man nearest the door looked like some literary figure...Christopher Hitchens? He looked like an old perv, had a front butt, and was certainly hiding something rectangular under his shirt, but apparently wasn't the source of the worst B.O. When the guy by the window got off at the first stop, he left an eye-curdling stench hanging in his wake for a good bad five minutes. I had to hand it to him, though, the stench was almost a tangible object. The young lady in our room was quite ripe as well. Powerless to do anything else, I scribbled in my notebook, "Why not address this problem once you catch a whiff of yourself? I did!"

We transferred in Frankfurt, but our night train was delayed, so it was time to hang out on the platform, which was colder than it had gotten during Louisiana's "winter." Plus we were both officially sick now, coughing and sneezing. But we finally boarded our night train and found our room-- the couchettes were bunks stacked three high without a whole lot of space between them, but the fiance and I at least had the bottom two. The only occupants so far were an amiable British hooligan-type guy who was missing several teeth up front, and an uptight blond Austrian or Swiss guy who couldn't figure out how to get up to his bunk. When the f tried to help him, he was all, "I know. I take ziss train every week." The icy undercurrent was, "Do not think you know more than me, foolish American." So then why didn't he know how to get the ladder out to get up to his bunk? The f did have to pull out the ladder for him after all, and the guy's douchey attitude never improved. Two others joined us during the night as I slept with an arm flung over my face to prevent disfigurement in the event that the hooligan's bunk above me collapsed, and I dreamed that I was driving.

So, not quite like the old movies. (It never is.)

At about 7:45 am when we got to Milan, the pigeons in the piazza in front of the train station weren't up yet. Hours later, they still weren't really moving about actively. I don't think I've ever seen so many pigeons, all jaggedy feathers, standing and sleeping in groups. It was our introduction to the relaxed pace of southern Europe. In Italy, I finally started to relax, even though we were going way farther into debt with each passing day of the trip.

Our plan was to just stay in Milan long enough to get tickets to Como, in the lakes region about an hour north. While waiting for our train we had a few hours to sightsee, hop on the Internet and try to get a hotel for Como. First we visited the Duomo, a silent, cavernous, awe-inspiring cathedral. It was a powerful place, making a heathen like me want to go to church (on Christmas, at a non-judgey church) and even that cheeky fiance of mine was reverent in there.

Finding Internets took ages, and it was chilly and sprinkling rain on and off, we were both grouchy and annoyed that we hadn't gotten into the right travel pattern yet of planning just far enough ahead that we wouldn't get stuck paying too much for lodging but could still be spontaneous. (From here on, though, we got it right.) This stop is now important to me in retrospect because even though my hour of paid internet was rapidly running out, I quickly wrote back to a troubled and desperate friend. I signed off the email with "I love you and keep strong." That was my last communication to her (though not her last to me), because she died shortly after. That situation is something I've barely begun to wrap my head around, but this is just an aside to say make sure everyone you care about knows it. At least the last thing I said to her wasn't something stupid. Well there was the usual stupid stuff in there, but it's a very (very, very) small comfort to know that other part was in there too.

And then, we had our first Italian food. Even though it was just pizza at a no-name place near the train station, it was heavenly. I had quattro formaggio, and unlike when you get "four cheese" whatever in the U.S., with this I could actually taste each cheese, including a blue one--amazing.

The train station waiting for our Como train was barely-contained chaos, for example, here is a departures board where the time appeared to be simultaneously 13:00 and 13:09.

On the train to Como, there were either twenty or two hundred chattering, singing Italian teenagers in our car (it doesn't matter how many; the sound din remains the same) but we made to beautiful and scenic Como:

HOME OF GEORGE CLOONEY!

Also home of Lake Como.

The alpine town was dominated by surrounding mountains, and a temporary ceiling of low-hanging clouds.

As soon as we arrived we were wishing for two things: better weather and more money. Como is a tourist town for folks more financially established than us (myself only just having graduated from hostels thanks to the better part of a decade of NYC living). Nonetheless we found our two-star hotel quite close to the action. Our hotel clerk, who we named Angela amongst ourselves, tagged an "-a" onto the end of every word. I'd always assumed that Mario Brothers accent was an exaggeration, but that was how Angela (and others) really spoke-a the English-a.

That night we ventured out in the rain for our first multi-course Italian meal, and our minds were blown wide open. Risotto with little pools of butter paired with the most delicate lake perch from that lake we could see right out the window, wine, other dishes, etc. By the end we were grinning like fools. So this is eating. What must Italian people think when they visit places where good food is not the norm, i.e., almost everywhere else? We had the perch with risotto dish two more times in about three days there.

The next day the weather had not improved much: not raining, but still chilly and gray. We took a scenic ferry trip (though not scenic enough, as we did not spy Cloon) across the lake to the lovely town of Bellagio, which perfectly embodied its name.

However, not everyone appreciated the quaint hilly walkways like the one above. As we went down one such hill, an Amercan kid and his mom rounded a corner coming up. The boy was about 12, huffing and puffing dramatically, overweight, and for some unknown reason he sported a Chelsea girl haircut. "Can we [huff puff] please [huff puff] just [hp] go [hp] back to the hotel [huff huff puff puff]?!" Of course the f and I had a big snort and eye roll etc. about that, as we rounded the corner to find the kid's chubby younger brother and dad, who totally caught our reactions. Oh well, that's what he gets for having such a wimpy kid.

Back to the pretty stuff. Even the mossy-licheny- (help me out here, Karin) type plants were prettier at Bellagio than any I'd seen before.

Even the puddles were pretty.

*Sigh!* Prosecco time by the lake. Before we left, the sun finally began to peek out. We also got to check out the New Wave scene of Bellagio.

That night, the Euro 08 football game was France vs (guess who?) Italy. We watched it with some sharp-dressed locals at a bar. Guess who won? Italy! Cars drove around the lake, honking in celebration, with revelers hanging out their windows and sunroofs. Unlike the time I went to the LSU game and caused them to lose, here in Europe we were apparently good luck charms.

Of course the day we were leaving brought sun and clear blue skies. We couldn't bear to leave without seeing the place in the sunshine, so we took the funicular train up to the top of the mountain.

From up there, we could see all the way to Switzerland. The ride back down took the "fun" out of funicular when approximately 377 young schoolchildren (or 37.7, it didn't matter) packed into the cars. Wow, thanks, chaperones!

The several-minute ride down was an exercise in endurance. I don't think I'd ever been in an enclosed space so densely packed with so many little chattering voices. It was like a mini Babel.

We didn't have any late nights out since we were both still sick. Due to a general lack of English on TV (which is great! I don't want to be able to just roll in anywhere in the world and speak English) MTV was the most watchable channel in Italy (except for that one later on in Italy that showed Charlie's Angels in Italian). I'm not as fond of the original programming on MTV Italia, which is oddly similar to what I remember of Cher's variety show from the 1970s--?!, but more enjoyed the general programming from MTV Europe. Here we got an idea of Europe's video hits of the summer. Number one, Madonna & JT's Four Minutes. Runner up, Estelle & Kanye's American Boy. But my personal favorite video, from Sebastien Tellier, invokes the genius wunderkind days of Beck, before Scientology crushed his spirit and lovable a-hole inclinations.

I'm now obsessed with this song and video. My affection for Sebastien only grew after seeing him arrive at a television performance in a golf cart, in this video (don't miss the glorious 360-degree pan at the end). If I had kids, I would tell them that Sebastien Tellier was Jesus.

OK. I am seriously going to go make-a the pizza pie now.

Comments

[Leslie @ the oko box]

Interesting- I have always wanted to go to Italy - now I want to go even more. Looking at your pics though it looks like a mix of my two favorite places in the USA - New Orleans and Asheville! Oh if only they could merge into one European minded city.

[Lioux]

When I was in Italy, I met the pope.

My mom has a picture on her refrigerator and everything to prove it.

[cokane]

Leslie, you should go! We want to go back. But bring money.

OMG Lioux! Was it Pope Classic or New Pope!? I hope the former, the latter is all ghoulish-looking.

[cokane]

Leslie, you should go! We want to go back. But bring money.

OMG Lioux! Was it Pope Classic or New Pope!? I hope the former, the latter is all ghoulish-looking.

[therese]

ooh, prosecco by the lake...

[Sarah]

1. I'm glad you got the chance to go to such a lovely part of Italy as a grownup with money. I mean debt.

2. If Timbaland is out of time, and he only has four minutes, why the hell does he keep repeating himself?

[Angel]

I really enjoyed reading this post and nice photos. Some very interesting points to think about. It would be great, if you're interested, to share this at http://www.iloho.com. It's an online tool for travelers where you can post the best travel news and articles on the web and then vote for your favorites.

[Aldo Caronia]

Thank you! It was a nice 15 minutes dreaming about Italy.
I go there at least 5 times per year (lucky me) and I'm always fascinated by how tourists see Italy during their vacations.
I was ther this past June and the weather was orrible as well, but we had fun during the "notte bianca" (white night). This is a feast where the whole city stays up from around 6pm to the following morning with music, food, shows, fireworks, ect...very fun. The notte bianca are now popular all over Italy and every city has one...check that out when you plan your next vacation to Italy!

[suntawrites]

I am so glad you got to e-mail your friend from there. My sympathy to you, F, and her family.

Colleen, people smell in Europe, I have noticed. They either do not wear protection - or the kind they do doesn't have a smell to cover the sweat... or something. It really can be awful in a crowded train or bus - and you poor thing with the 30000 something children. Annoying!

Pizza on the mainland/centerland would not have cheese on it, just sauce and bread - if you ask for cheese they'll sprinkle grated - but wouldn't expect cheese unless you were in a touristy area like Roma or something. So you got a really good one out there - traditional with an americana twist!
Oh, and always order local wine, it is way cheap and way delicious!
Ciao! ;)

[Randy]

Wow. Since when did Sebastian Tellier because a huge popstar? I remember the days when his music appeared on esoteric, pretentious, chin-stroking electronic music compilations like Mille Plateux's Clicks & Cuts.
Regardless, good for him. I like seeing talented and creative people making money doing what they love.

[kartek]

I don't know too much about lichen and mosses, but it does look like a lichen...more crunchy and brittle looking then soft, smushy, and dewy like moss. That's real scientific there!

[Alienwhere]

It is a shame that Beck isn't as fun and silly anymore. I saw him at Radio City in 2000 for the Midnight Vultures tour, and he was out of control. It was probably the best show I've ever seen. Now, I still like him, but things are well, you know... different. Remember Odelay? It was retarded (meaning awesome, of course)! I used to laugh just looking at him.

So yeah, that video was pretty cool.

[Jeff]

Did you take those first two pictures? I think they are the exact locations used in one of the Star Wars movies.

[jason]

oh my god, too beautiful for words!
So jealous!