When I was 19, I went to Italy with my mom and Granny Pat. At the time, my wine experience was limited to Boone's Farm and an occasional chug from of a box of Franzia. After travelling with my mom and Grandma, it became clear that I inherited their love of travel & Italian red wine. Cindy and I had always hoped to go back to Italy so we planned a trip to Lake Como.
We drove our car on an exciting journey from Stuttgart. I navigated as Cindy steered us around the snow capped mountains of the Swiss alps by way of giant blue-green lakes and long tunnels which eventually led to the windy roads of the Italian hillside. Cindy, a professional DC driver, handled the hairpin turns like a pro as the Italian scooters weaved around us.
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| Almost half of the drive was overlooking lakes like this |
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| The scenic drive was breathtakingly beautiful |
We arrived at Hotel Darsena and the staff greeted us enthusiastically.
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| Red building is La Darsena- our lakefront hotel in Tremezzo- perfect location |
We walked a few blocks to the impressive Villa Carlotta gardens. The air smelled of sweet jasmine mixed with fresh mountain air.
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| Diverse variety of plant species |
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| Cactus (or cacti?) garden |
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| View of lake from the gardens |
After the garden walk, we sipped Compari cocktails at a lakeside pool bar with a tremendous view and relaxing ambiance.
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| View from the bar |
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| Hooray we made it back to Italy!!! |
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| Sick euro speedos optimize even tans |
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| Italian rowing? |
Our hotel restaurant seated us at a private table on the lakefront deck.
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| Our view at dinner- we became regulars at this table for breakfast each morning |
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| Rainbow in the distance at dinner |
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| Cindy was in awe of the majestic sky at sunset |
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| Surprisingly few boats out |
The next day we enjoyed a delicious breakfast and then hiked the Como Greenway Path to the local villages.
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The hike provided a different perspective of the lake from high above the rooftops
We discovered a beautiful cemetery with massive gravestones. |
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| Some graves even had pictures of the deceased with regal Italian names (Lorenzo, Fabio, Luigi, Giacomo, Gaston... |
We noticed at least 3 Gelateria cafes in every town. While Gelato is available all over the USA and Germany, it still tastes best in Italy (creamier perhaps).
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| Alcohol + Ice Cream = Digestive Combination (hard to believe for those lactose intolerant) |
| A local wine bar, according to Trip Advisor reviews, was a "must see" while in Tremezzo. It was so wonderful that we ended up staying for wine & dinner! |
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| Our hotel in Tremezzo is directly across the lake |
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| View from Villa Mezzi |
Many years ago, Villa Mezzi and Villa Carlotti competed to have the best garden.
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| Lilly pads are rad |
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| Small fishing village near Bellagio |
From the gardens, we hiked up to Silvio, a local seafood cafe. Silvio is frequented by locals because the chef is also the fisherman so everything is caught fresh daily.
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| View from lunch |
We shared the "fish special" appetizer and it was truly special indeed!
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| Fish pate, fish crumbles, fish marinated in vinegar, fish with parsley, eggplant... |
After lunch, we discovered LIDO beach club (free access) with music, cocktails, and water sports.
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I would love to come back and spend a day here
Our last night in Tremezzo was bittersweet as we enjoyed one more phenomenal meal. |
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| La Darensa (aka succulent fish sampler) |
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| Best risotto ever (asparagus and goat cheese) |
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| Sun-kissed Cindy contemplates life and visions of Ira as she basks in the romantic reflection of sunset on the lake. |
We drove back to Stuttgart the next morning to spend time with Scott
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| Cindy and her favorite son in law at our neighborhood beer garden |
Cindy felt it was necessary to try a traditional Bavarian meal of wursts (sausages), potato salad, sauerkraut, and Paulaner hefeweissen.
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| In my opinion, this looks rather unappealing after our gourmet Italian trip |
I bought us 2 tickets to see the Stuttgart Ballet featuring 3 world famous choreographers. One might think, "Megan, you don't seem like the ballet type" or "you must be out of your mind." Indeed, this was a bucket list item for Cindy and if I had to judge excursions, going to a 3.5 hour ballet ranks slightly below ice fishing in Antarctica.
We got dressed for the Opera House and I embraced this unusual cultural experience.
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Me on right: appearing thrilled to go to the ballet :)
The Opera House was a regal venue on a beautiful warm night. |
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| Cindy "dreams do come true!" |
We had optimal seats only 5 rows back from the stage.
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| Happy to have a view of my tuba playing brotherhood in the pit |
I enjoyed watching the ballerinas immensely (a sentence I may never utter again). I could clearly see their plastic cheerful grins as they twisted and convulsed their bodies into wildly uncomfortable excruciating positions. It's amazing how they managed to twist and bend and jump and stretch their limbs. Fortunately, I had seen the movie Black Swan so I had some prior ballet knowledge. Years of Barre Evolution fitness classes also taught me how challenging these moves can be for any athlete. The male ballerinas, with their toned and defined abdominal and gluteal muscles, were a true spectacle as they pranced and skipped all over the stage in the most graceful form any musclemen can prance. The athleticism and synchronized skills of all the ballerinas was truly impressive. In fact, I would even recommend the ballet to others (not including Ira or Skip).
It was wonderful having my mom back to visit us and share some new exciting experiences together! I just wish my grandma was able to join us
LOVE the pictures!!! I must get to Lake Como as soon as I have restocked PTO from my last European adventure. Your blog posts are wonderful- love living vicariously through you!
ReplyDeleteI love this post! Your photos are gorgeous.
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