The Amalfi Coast
We left Kigali, Rwanda on Saturday, Sep 14th on QatarAir headed for Doha and then a plane change onto Milan where we landed shortly after 6:30AM on Sunday, Sep 15th.
In two previous posts, Germany and Jungfrau, I mentioned our potential challenges with overstaying our welcome in the Schengen Area – 26 countries in Euro-land who have agreed to open borders, but require those outside the region to obtain visas for longer stays. A visa is required if you will be spending 90 days in the Schengen Area within any 180-day window. At the time of our arrival in Milan, when we present ourselves to Italian passport control (Italy is a Schengen Area country), we will have overstayed our welcome having spent 106 days within the Schengen Area within the past 180 days. Our penalty for this violation could include a stamp in our passport disallowing future visits to the Schengen Area for two years and/or a fine. Fortunately, we sailed through undetected and unscathed.
From Milan, we catch a flight south to Naples, pick up a rental car and then drive further south to the Amalfi Coast where, later that day, we will meet up with my son, Jason, his wife, Lauren, and their two children, Desi (2) and Rue (6 mths). Our ride takes us past Mount Vesuvius (impressive), Pompeii (a victim of Vesuvius) and over the Lattari Mountains which form the famous Amalfi Coast – mountains that come right down to the Mediterranean Sea, dotted with villages comprised of pastel colored houses clinging to the cliff edges. It is a harrowing and beautiful ride.
Liz and I park and then find our AirBnB which is one of those houses in the village of Atrani, 139 steps up through winding and narrow passageways. After several trips, all of our luggage, except the two large duffel bags, has also made it up those numerous stairs and I am ready to collapse. After 27 hours comprised of three flights, a challenging car ride, and hauling our luggage up 139 stairs, both of us are beat.
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| The view of Atrani from the patio of our AirBnB |
Jason, Lauren and family will be arriving later in the afternoon and I have offered to drive the 1½ hours back to the Naples Airport to pick them up. They have spent the past week in Sicily without the benefit of their luggage as the airline had lost their bags on their flight from Portugal. Fortunately, their needs were few as they spent most the time on the beach, but what a massive inconvenience.
Liz and I enjoy a late lunch in the small, central square or Atrani and, shortly after, I get back in the car, drive back to Naples, pick up their family, who were reconnected with their bags at the airport in Sicily, and make the return trip to Atrani. Jason and I haul their bags up the 139-steps, and then we all collapse on the patio of our AirBnB which has an outstanding view of the town below with its small beach and the vast Mediterranean stretching far off into the horizon.
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| Jason with Rue and Lauren with Desi |
For the next week, Atrani, with its population of 855, will be our home. It is a cute village with a couple of churches including church bells that go off every 15 minutes without exception. The streets are primarily pedestrian-only with the exception of locals and delivery vehicles of which there are relatively few. If you follow the main street back along the river you quickly pass from the touristy center to the residential sector and then, just as quickly, you begin to ascend into the mountains and the population dwindles.
Surrounding the town square are a few restaurants and shops, but Atrani is not the main attraction of the Amalfi Coast, as that privilege is reserved for its larger neighbors including the nearby town of Amailfi (15 min walk), Positano (9 miles west) and Ravello (4 miles inland and strategically situated higher up in the mountains).
The beach at Atrani is small and crescent-shaped with chaise lounges and umbrellas available for a small fee. Most days we spend either the morning or afternoon at the beach enjoying the abundant sunshine and warm waters of the Mediterranean while Desi plays in the sand and Rue sits smiling.
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| The beach at Atrani with its chaise lunges and umbrellas |
During the other part of the day we go exploring and there is plenty to do. The town of Amalfi is easily accessible via a long tunnel through the mountain ridge that separates Amalfi from Atrani. With a population of over 5,000 and its reputation as a vacation destination, Amalfi has a lot to offer. In the main town square, Piazza Duomo, sits the beautiful Saint Andrew’s Cathedral dating back to the 11th century. In 1206, relics of Saint Andrew, an apostle of Jesus, were brought to this cathedral from Constantinople due to the sacking of that city during the 4th crusades.
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| St. Andrews Cathedral in Amalfi |
Surrounding the main square are restaurants, shops and markets which then spread out in every direction as you follow the cobble-street roads that connect one square to the next. It is an adorable town to which we made almost daily visits.
To really appreciate this incredible coast, one has to get out on the water which we did twice. On the first occasion, we took the ferry from Amalfi to Positano which offered spectacular views of the nearly nine miles of coastline and the three smaller towns in between. The Lattari Mountains include several valleys carved out by rivers that make their way through these rugged mountains to the sea. At each entry point to the sea, there is a town where the size of the town is defined by the size of the river, none of which are particularly big.
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| Amalfi |
One of the largest is Positano with a population of 4,000, a figure that is easily eclipsed by the number of tourists that visit this popular destination. The view from the water presents a delightful landscape of pastel-colored houses crowding the sides of the valley with the Church of Santa Maria Assunta dominating its center. As you disembark the ferry, you are swept up in the bustle of Positano’s many restaurants and shops bordering the waterfront and then you are drawn into the several side streets, lined with shops, that lead you up the valley. Before long, you have walked quite a distance and find yourself high up in the hills overlooking the town below and the sea beyond. It is quite beautiful. We enjoyed a lovely lunch at a restaurant perched along the cliffs soaking in the exquisite views on all sides.
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| Positano |
After lunch, we walked back down into the center of town, enjoy one of many gelatos that we had during our time on Italy, re-board the ferry and make our way back to Amalfi.
That same evening, we enjoy a dinner prepared by Daniela and her son, Roberto. Daniela, who is also the housecleaner and would later in the week babysit Desi and Rue while the four of us adults enjoyed a dinner out, prepared a magnificent meal for us that we eat while watching the sun set and the moon rise from our balcony. Roberto, who appears to be late 20’s, early 30’s, speaks excellent English and provides a valuable translation service between his mother and our group, in addition to assisting his mom in all aspects of the evening dinner. Further, it was Roberto who was able to secure a boat charter for us that we would take three days later to go visit the island of Capri which sits due south of Naples and due west of Amalfi, approximately equidistant.
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| The sunrises on Atrani |
Our boat comfortably sits the four adults, two children and our captain, Evan, who appears to be about Roberto’s age, if not younger. The boat ride to Capri takes a couple of hours and we experience a fair amount of bumpiness due to waves caused by wind. By the time we arrive at the island, we are all a bit beat up and delighted to be getting off the boat where we walk the harbor and enjoy lunch. From there, we re-board the boat and circumnavigate about half of the island including visits to the coral, white and green grottos (caves). The most famous of Capri’s grottos is the blue grotto and it was closed the day of our visit. Evan stops the boat a couple of times which provides opportunities for swimming and briefly exploring the caves and shoreline. Capri is a beautiful island and a must see if you are visiting the Amalfi Coast.
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| Capri |
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| Capri |
On our final day, we travel up into the mountains to Ravello for dinner. Ravello is a spectacular place with outstanding views in every direction. The Cathedral of Ravello dominates the main square and from here you can walk in almost any direction and enjoy the winding streets, shops, restaurants and the views. Founded in the 5th century there is a rich sense of history as you walk these streets and admire its architecture. As it turns out, ceramics are a big thing on the Amalfi Coast and Ravello has some of the finest ceramics stores you will find anywhere. Liz and I walk into several of them and can't leave without purchasing a few gorgeous pieces that we have them ship back to our home. We enjoy a wonderful dinner and then head back to Atrani, but each of us wishes we could have spent more time here. Ravello is a special place. If we ever return to the Amalfi Coast, it will be because we want to spend more time at Ravello.
Oh, and another reason to come back – lemon spritzers. Amalfi is home to limoncello, a liqueur made from lemons grown here. The lemon trees can be seen everywhere on the mountainsides surrounding Amalfi and the liqueur is sold everywhere too. While limoncello is a bit much when taken straight, when it is mixed with prosecco and carbonated water, it is called a lemon spritzer and these are fabulous. But be careful, while intensely sweet and delicious, these drinks pack a wallop.
The next morning, Liz and I will be leaving the Amalfi Coast and heading north to Tuscany. We have enjoyed an excellent week here. It is a beautiful place and unique in its geography – a mountain town with an oceanfront.
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| Mount Vesuvius |
But before I conclude this section of our trip through Italy, I have to comment on our time with Jason, Lauran, Desi and Rue. Jason had organized this week of our trip. With Rue being born in March, they had planned to spend a month of his paternity leave split between Portugal and Italy which included this week on the Amalfi Coast. For Liz and I, after 20-weeks on the road and, most recently, after a busy two-weeks in Africa and a long trip back to Europe, spending a relatively laid-back, easy-going week with Jason and Lauren was exactly what we needed. And Desi and Rue could not have been any better. Last time we saw Rue she was only six-weeks old. Now at six-months, she was so full of life and happiness. They are fun, happy children almost all day, every day. We had a very special time with them and are extremely grateful to have them in our lives.
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| Rue |
September 22-October 4, 2019
Tuscany: Castellina in Chianti
We leave Atrani on the Amalfi Coast around 8AM and begin the six-hour trip heading north and west up the boot of Italy traveling, roughly, from the ankle to just below the knee. It is a lovely trip through mountains, farmlands, olive orchards, until you eventually arrive in the vineyards of Tuscany.
Our AirBnB is the Brancaia Holiday House and, oh, what a place. Back in 1981, a Swiss couple visited Castellina in Chianti, strategically situated in the beautiful wine country about equal distance between the cities of Florence and Siena. They immediately fell in love with the area and purchased the abandoned Brancaia estate consisting of several buildings and 60 acres of vineyards. Over the next several years, they carefully restored the buildings and farmhouse ala the movie Under the Tuscan Sun. In addition, they purchased a nearby winery and added yet more vineyards bringing the total acreage to 200. Their daughter, Barbara, is now the winemaker and vineyard manager for the entire operation and the Brancaia family of wines have become some of the most well-known and highly awarded wines in the area.
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| The Brancaia Holiday House |
The Holiday House is a 10-minute drive from the small village of Castellina in Chianti where the final kilometer is a dirt road leading through a gate and then to the estate which is comprised of three separate apartments, multiple outdoor patios, fruit trees, and a lovely pool – all surrounded by vineyards. It is a breathtaking place and we will be spending two weeks here – the longest we will spend in any one place during our entire trip.
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| The grapes are reday to be picked |
And our arrival just happens to coincide with the harvest of the vineyard (picking the grapes) which begins the day after our arrival and continues throughout the first week of our stay. A perfectly romantic experience.
And while we are here in Tuscany, we will have a few visitors. First, there is Liz’s college roommate, Stasia, who happens to be in Europe on a business trip, arrives at our place tomorrow and will spend two nights with us. And then we will be joined by Liz’s brother, Dick, and his wife, Jane, who will overlap Stasia’s visit for a day and then spend the next week with us. What a lovely place to share with friends and family.
On the first day, we drove into the village of Castellina in Chianti, a small town of 2,800 that runs along the mountain ridge. Like most of the towns in Tuscany, it traces its roots back to the Middle Ages. All of these towns are situated on the mountain tops between Florence and Siena who, for several centuries, were constantly at war with each other. Today, these towns and the surrounding hillsides produce the world-famous Chianti made from Sangiovese grapes. And just as Champagne is to sparkling wine, only wines grown in the area of Chianti can be called Chianti while all others must simply be referred to as Sangiovese.
The town is very cute with pedestrian-only streets, boutique shops and restaurants and a Catholic church perched at the center of the town square.
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| The church in Castellina in Chianti |
Stasia took the train from Florence to Poggibonsi where we pick her and drive her back to Brancaia in the pouring rain. That evening, we drive to a nearby estate that has been converted into a hotel with a restaurant and a small number of suites for guests. The restaurant is called Restorante Travola de Guido and the food is outstanding.
The next day we visit the nearby town of San Gimignano, population 8,000, a medieval town dating back to the 11th century. Many of the towers and large portions of the walls that once protected this city from invaders, are still intact today. After entering through one of the several gates, this is pedestrian-only territory offering an extensive array of shopping and restaurants and multiple churches to explore.
Liz and Stasia stop at the very first shop we encounter, a leather products store offering a vast selection of purses. As is my custom, I quickly survey the store and then exit to explore the immediately surrounding area while waiting for Liz to complete her assessment of the products offered. Only on rare occasions does she actually ever buy anything, but it became clear to me that we were now in unchartered waters.
After 15 minutes, Liz and Stasia are still in the store. Then 30 minutes goes by. I stop back in the store and find Liz, who has purchased a purse and lets me know that Stasia is still shopping. A full 45-minutes after initially entering, Stasia and Liz emerge from the store with newly purchased bags in hand and it hits me – Liz now has a shopping buddy! We have been traveling for over 20 weeks at this point and never spent this much time in a single store. I can’t help but wonder in what other ways I have curtailed Liz’s natural habits. She has likely been needing a shopping buddy for a long time and Stasia is just the right person. By now, through my reconnaissance, I am aware that the town is loaded with such stores. Just how much time will we need to look at them all if the first one requires 45 minutes? As it turns out, my worry quickly fades as our review of future stores is decisively quick. Apparently, the shopping bug, to the extent it exists, has been scratched.
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| Stasia and Liz |
Later that afternoon, after dropping Liz and Stasia back at the Holiday House, I drive to Florence to pick up Dick (Liz’s brother) and Jane (sister-in-law). They arrive shortly after I get to the airport, we put their bags in the back of the car and we are soon off for the one-hour drive back to the casa. Dick and Jane will be joining us for a week and then they are off to Lake Como, Croatia and other exotic places with some old college classmates of Dick’s from St. Bonaventure. For many years, this group has stayed close and have organized international travel adventures such as this one. It’s really quite remarkable that some 50 years later, they still get along so well as to want to spend weeks together on vacation. I am impressed and Liz and I are thrilled that their reunion trip provides an opportunity for Dick and Jane to join us in Tuscany.
The next day, we all drive back to Florence to tour the city. It is a Wednesday in late March and the city is packed. The lines to the Florence Cathedral (Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore) and the museum where Michelangelo’s David can be seen (Galleria dell'Accademia) are each in excess of an hour. All of us in our group, during previous visits, have seen both of these incredible masterpieces and, given the crowds and the heat, we elect to pass on seeing them on this visit.
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| The Florence Cathedral |
I was only slightly sad, especially for missing out on seeing the David. My only other visit was nearly 15 years before. Upon entering the museum, the statue is one of the first things you see and it literally takes your breath away. Not only is it larger than I expected, but its perfection casts a spell over you and leaves you in a trance-like mode where there is no time and space. Very hard to describe, but if you ever have the chance, go see the David regardless of how long the lines might be.
Instead, we walk the streets of Florence including its large outdoor market and the adjacent indoor market, the Mercato Centrale, an excellent market providing a variety of fruits, vegetables, meat, fish as well as restaurants, coffee shops, etc. After a late lunch, we drop Stasia off at her hotel as she has an early flight out the next morning, then we are back in the car and heading home where later that evening we enjoy a delicious dinner from items we obtained at the market including some lovely Italian wines from Chianti.
My previous trip to Tuscany was in 2005 with my first wife, Wendy (who lost a courageous bout with cancer in 2011). We stayed at a cute hotel called Tenuta di Ricavo that sat on the top of a hill somewhere in Tuscany. My son, Gareth, and his wife, Sarah, were traveling in Europe on their honeymoon and joined us for a few days at this hotel. What I remember from this trip is not much other than absolute tranquility. It felt like living in a fairy tale.
On my way to and from the airport in Florence, I saw signs for Ricavo and wondered if it was the same place I had visited 14 years before. A Google search confirmed that it was and, indeed, while sitting several kilometers out of town, the hotel was in Castellina in Chianti and only a 20-minute drive from our casa. So, I made a dinner reservation for the four of us to return to this blissful spot and enjoy a nostalgic meal together.
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| Tenuta di Ricavo |
The next day we drive to the city of Lucca, about a 2-hour drive. Another walled-city comprised mostly of pedestrian-only walkways with multiple churches centered in the multiple town squares. We walk and walk, then drive and drive, before returning to the casa and relaxing poolside with wine and cheese.
The next day we are off to the Brancaia Winery in nearby Radda and have an outstanding 2-hour tour complete with a wine and food pairing at the end, which takes the form of a full-blown lunch. The winery is very cool, the property is fantastic and their wines are quite excellent. We are joined on this tour by three restaurateurs from London who own and operate a restaurant called Tozi. They are accompanied by their wine distributor and the lot of us got along quite well. By the end of our tour and lunch, they have invited us to join them at their restaurant in London where we expect to be in five-week’s time. Should be fun.
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| The Brancaia Winery |
After lunch, we visit the town of Radda, another adorable, hilltop town in Italy’s wine country. They are everywhere and they are all wonderful.
The next day was a kick-back day (most of them have been) where we mostly hang out at the casa. We had arranged for the chef at Brancaia, Enzo, to come to the casa and make dinner for the four of us. We had met him during our tour and lunch at the winery. The food was exceptional, so we were pretty sure our dinner would be special as well. We also met his wife, Sophie, and 6-month old son, Enea, at the winery and invited him to have them join us for dinner this evening which they gratefully accepted.
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| Malcolm, Liz, Dick and Jane |
Enzo came around 4pm to start preparing and we eventually sat for dinner around 7:30 which consists of homemade focaccia bread, bruschetta with squid, pasta with shellfish, another fish course and then a lemon freeze dessert all accompanied with 4-5 wines. It is amazing from start to finish. Entirely too much food (and wine), but we couldn’t stop eating (and drinking). And the baby, Enea, is perfect right up to the end when he begins to fuss as he is placed into his car seat for the ride home. What a special evening.
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| Dinner by Enzo |
Enzo and Sophie, who is from the Netherlands, have been together for two years. She was in Italy visiting her father and they had been set up, unknown to them, on a blind date. One thing led to another and they were soon dating and, then, one thing led to another, and three months later Sophie is pregnant with Enea. They are a very cute couple and we wish them a long and wonderful relationship together.
Our next day’s activity is a visit to Siena, about a 45-minute drive. Here’s a bit of background about Siena from Wikipedia-
Siena, like other Tuscan hill towns, was first settled in the time of the Etruscans (c. 900–400 BC) when it was inhabited by a tribe called the Saina. The Etruscans were a tribe of advanced people who changed the face of central Italy through their use of irrigation to reclaim previously unfarmable land, and their custom of building their settlements in well-defended hill forts. A Roman town called Saena Julia was founded at the site in the time of the Emperor Augustus.
Siena did not prosper under Roman rule as it was not sited near any major roads and lacked opportunities for trade. Its insular status meant that Christianity did not penetrate until the 4th century AD, and it was not until the Lombards invaded Siena and the surrounding territory that it knew prosperity. After the Lombard occupation, the old Roman roads of Via Aurelia and the Via Cassia passed through areas exposed to Byzantine raids, so the Lombards rerouted much of their trade between the Lombards' northern possessions and Rome along a more secure road through Siena. Siena, then, prospered as a trading post, and the constant streams of pilgrims passing to and from Rome provided a valuable source of income in the centuries to come.
As Liz and I have traveled through Europe during these past several months, we have found Culture Trip to be a reliable and valuable source of information for places to go, what to see, where to eat, etc. Their advice has been incredibly accurate for us and we would highly recommend them to you. Here are their recommendations for Siena-
• Experience the Piazza Del Campo
• Visit Siena’s magnificent Duomo (cathedral)
• Climb to the top of Torre del Mangia
• The Palio horse race in Piazza Del Campo
• Taste Sienese food
• Wine
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| Piazza Del Campo |
The Piazza is the central square in Siena. It is large, beautiful and surrounded by wonderful places to eat. It is also the venue for a famous horse race called The Palio. The Palio is held twice each year, on July 2nd and August 16th. Ten horses and riders, bareback and dressed in the appropriate colors, representing ten of the seventeen city wards. Three laps around the square taking roughly 90 seconds to complete. Spectators pack the stands that ring the outside of the square as well as within the center of the square. It is an extravagant affair complete with parades and after parties. Unfortunately, our visit was not timed to coincide with the running of the Palio, but we did get to sit and enjoy an espresso at one of the many outdoor restaurants.
We also visited the cathedral, which is beautiful, and I did climb to the top of the adjacent Torre del Mangia from which you enjoy spectacular views of the city and the surrounding area.
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| The Siena Cathedral |
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| The Siena Cathedral and town of Siena from the Torre Del Mangia |
And as for food and wine, we have been enjoying exactly that every day during our trip to Tuscany, and we also took the opportunity for a fabulous lunch at an outdoor venue accompanied by a bottle of Chianti.
Siena is built on a series of hills, so be prepared to do a bit of walking to get around and expect to be climbing and descending stairs and steep pathways. It is also a formerly walled city with little to no automobile traffic within the main city center. Our ride home became a bit interesting when Apple Maps routed us from one side of the city to the other through narrow streets where the only cars were taxis delivering guests to hotels contained within the walls. After 15 minutes of driving through throngs of pedestrians, executing sharp turns, and climbing steep passageways, we eventually exited onto something that resembled a road and escaped home without being arrested.
Our visit to Siena was quite excellent as well as harrowing. Once again, Culture Trip did not disappoint.
Our next day includes visits to two of the smaller nearby hilltop towns – Greve and Panzano. We enjoy breakfast in Greve and lunch in Panzano with a stop at Il Molino di Grace winery in between. The hilltop towns in Tuscany are uniformly adorable and each has its own sense of place making them worth a stop. And the Il Molino winery is very special comprised of 75 acres of vineyards across rolling hills with spectacular 360° views. Our visit coincides with the busiest time of the year as the grapes are in the process of being picked and the crush is in full swing. Nevertheless, they treat us to an outstanding tasting of their delicious wines and then invite us to walk their vineyards unescorted which, of course, we did. At the very top of the hill is a giant statue of St Francis standing at least 20ft surveying the surrounding vineyards. Here’s the inscription from the statue-
All praise to You, my Lord, with all your creatures, and first for Brother Sun, who is the day and through whom You give us light.
And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor; and bears an image of You, Most High.
All praise to You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars, You formed them clear and precious and beautiful.
All praise to You, my Lord, through Brother Wind, and through the air, cloudy and serene and every kind of weather, through which You give life to your creatures.
All praise to You, my Lord, through Sister Water, who is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.
All praise to You, my Lord, through our Sister Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us and who brings forth varied fruits with colored flowers and herbs.
St. Francis of Assisi
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| Statue of St. Franncis at Il Molino di Grace winery |
That evening, our last with Dick and Jane, we return to Restorante Travola di Guido where we had enjoyed an excellent meal with Stasia the week before. This time, with better weather, we eat outdoors on the patio and the food is just as excellent as before.
The next morning, we say goodbye to Dick and Jane as a driver picks them up to take them to Florence where they will catch a train to Milan and meet up with their St. Bonaventure crew for their onward journey beginning at Lake Como. We are sad to see them go as they are fantastic company to enjoy a laid-back visit to the stunning wine regions of Tuscany. The remainder of our day, we experience mostly rain which provides a much needed opportunity to catch up on blogging.
For the next two days, we visit a few of the other nearby towns and then enjoy our final dinner in Castellina at Relias Reserva di Fizzano, an upscale hotel with a terrific restaurant located on a hilltop next to Travola di Guido and within sight of our casa at Brancaia. As we prepare to leave this region and continue on our journey, we are filled with gratitude for the friends and family that joined us for this experience. Your presence made our time extra special.
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| The sunset from Relias Reserva di Fizzano |
And as for the Holiday House at Brancaia, hands down the best AirBnb of our trip so far and unlikely that any other location will come even close. If you are looking for a secluded location in the wine region of Tuscany for just yourself or for a family of 12+, Brancaia would be an excellent choice. It was also the perfect choice for us to spend what will be the longest duration in any one place on our entire adventure – 2 weeks.
October 5-8, 2019
Lake Como
The next day, we are off by 9AM and begin our nearly 5-hour drive to Como, a small town situated on the southern tip of Lake Como, an hour’s drive north of Milan and only 4 miles from the Swiss border.
On our way and only about 30 minutes north of Florence, we stop at an outlet mall, practically my favorite thing to do, not. But this one was different, tastefully done, good stores in a nice setting. It is also a beautiful day which contributes to a positive outcome. Liz picked up a couple of things that she “needed” and then we are back on our way.
Our AirBnb in Como is referred to as “an artist’s workshop in an ancient industrial loft”. Upon our arrival, we meet the artist, Marco, who fits every pre-conceived notion of what you might think having read this brief description of his loft. He is 50-ish, handsome and stylish, in an artist’s way. He takes us up the elevator which opens directly into his loft with a wide-open floor plan and ceilings that are 15 ft high. Everything in his loft is industrial-chic, modern and hip, and his artwork is on display throughout. The artwork consists of large canvases with bold colors and I would describe it as somewhere between impressionist and modern (but I am no art major).
And everywhere you look, there is an artist’s touch from the sheer curtains that hang on the window covering only half of these giant windows to the 15+ bars of handmade soap, each a different shade of brown, that sit neatly stacked on the floor of the bathroom. And speaking of the bathroom, a full 20 ft slate wall with an 8 ft floor comprises the shower with it’s two heads descending from the 15 ft ceiling above.
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| Loft windows and artwork |
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| The shower |
The bed sits on the floor surrounded by near floor-to-ceiling windows on two sides. The floor throughout is concrete with only an occasional area rug thrown in to add a bit of color. The dining room table is long (18 ft) and narrow (3 ft) and serves as both the dining area (east end) as well as the office (west end). Parallel to this is the kitchen island that runs the same length, entirely made of stainless steel, includes a couple of sinks, a dishwasher, and numerous drawers.
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| The dining table and desk |
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| The kitchen counter |
And since the window coverings were meant as artwork and not for actually shading the windows, the ambient light from outdoors, which is present all night, comes streaming into the bedroom making it nearly impossible to sleep without eye shades.
Now this might all sound like so much griping, but it’s not. We loved this place. Liz and I tilt to the left of left-brained people. Marco is clearly at the other end of the spectrum and we really appreciated that. I think he might be some kind of genius. This world of ours is perfected by its diversity. From my observations, I think we need more Marcos to take the edge off and make us all a bit kinder and gentler as a human species.
After settling in, we take a walk around the neighborhood. The loft is on the edge of town, but Como is small, so it is only a 10-minute walk to the town center and here we find yet another quintessential European town with narrow, pedestrian-only streets lined with shops and restaurants. Como is an upscale resort town, the streets are filled with tourists and the shops and restaurants are perhaps a notch or two above many of the other towns we have visited. And, of course, we walk over to the lake.
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| The town of Como |
Lake Como begins nearly 30 miles north in the foothills of the Alps. The lake descends from there and just over halfway down splits in two forming an upside-down Y, with the resort town of Bellagio sitting at the intersection. At the bottom of the southwest branch lies the city of Como. Its harbor is full of boats including ferries that are used to transport visitors to the various towns that dot the landscape as you head north. And since the lake is formed from the foothills of the Alps, the view, as you look north, is stunning. It reminds me of Lake Tahoe except much narrower reaching a maximum width of only 2½ miles.
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| The harbor at Como |
The next morning, we walk 6 km along the western edge of the Lake up to the first major town, Cernobbio, a quaint town with a population of 7,000. We walk the streets, peruse the cathedral and then enjoy a delicious lakeside lunch before catching the ferry back to Como where we do the same – walk the streets and peruse the cathedral. That’s apparently what you do here which is pretty much what we have been doing for the previous nearly six months. I haven’t been counting, but I would guess that we have been in 120-150 churches so far. They are often the nicest buildings in town and almost always among the oldest and in nearly everyone of them, Liz has lit a candle for her mother, Dot. By now, I think only the Holy Mother Mary has candles lit in more churches around the world. Dot is in very good company.
The next day we take the ferry from Como to Bellagio. There are two ferries – a fast one and a slow one. The online reviews we read suggest that you take one of each as the slow one, which takes 2½ hours and makes up to 16 stops along the way, gives you the time to take in the beautiful scenery and see the many towns along the way. The fast one, which is a hydrofoil and completes the journey in 50 minutes, is a great way to get from here to there, but feels more like a commute rather than an adventure through some of the most scenic landscapes to be found anywhere. We followed the advice and take the slow boat to Bellagio and the hydrofoil home. A wise choice and we would heartily echo the recommendations of the online reviews.
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| Heading north on Lake Como on the slow boat |
George and Amal Clooney own a villa on Lake Como near the town of Laglio. Try as we might to spot it, even while on the slow ferry, we failed. Perhaps you will have better luck.
As you make your way north on the lake, stopping from town-to-town, the scenery begins to shift from foothills to more rugged mountains. Snow capped peaks can now be seen in the distance. The towns become smaller and further apart. That is, until you reach Bellagio.
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| Still heading north |
Bellagio, as previously mentioned, sits strategically at the point of Lake Como where it divides in two sending one shoot south and west to Como and the other south and east to Lecco. Due to its location, it has become the central town on the lake, attracts the most tourists and is the most expensive. Along the water’s edge are shops, restaurants and walkways lined with gardens. But Bellagio is also built on a hill with many streets and alleyways that wind their way up and through yet more shops and restaurants. The main church, the Basilica di San Giacomo, sits high on the hill in a square with magnificent views of the lake and surrounding mountains. We spend several hours here walking the streets and enjoying a lovely lunch before catching the fast ferry back to Como.
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| The Hotel Belvedere in Bellagio |
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| Basilica di San Giacomo in Bellagio |
If you ever find yourself in this region, Bellagio is a must visit. You might even want to stay here or at the nearby town of Menaggio on the west side of the lake or Varenna to the east, both with easy ferry access to Bellagio and Varenna can also be reached from Milan by train.
The next day is cloudy and cool with rain threatening. I use the time to blog while Liz meanders through the town of Como. This is our final day in Como and we celebrate with a lovely dinner at Figli Del Fiori, a short walk from our loft.
The next day starts off poorly. Liz and I have an argument centered around the final weeks of our adventure. From the very beginning, these weeks have only been loosely defined. We had some notion of going to Morocco, then Madrid and ending in Paris before heading home on Dec 21st. However, by the time we got around to planning Morocco, the two tours we had in mind were fully booked and we didn’t want to simply go there on our own. Further, the Schengen visa thing was hanging over our heads, so spending time in Madrid and/or returning to Paris (France had rejected our application for a long-stay visa in April) seemed like a risk not worth taking.
And so there it sat, unresolved for several weeks. And while this may be the proximate cause for our argument, it wasn’t the root cause (and it never is). Like any two humans in a relationship, Liz and I are two separate people with different ways of approaching life. Further, we met later in life with our personal habits and approaches fully formed over decades of living as adults and not with each other. With that said, we each have a sincere commitment to be that person that the other one needs and to let the other person help us become the best version of ourselves that we can be. Great ideals that, at times, can be difficult to practice.
So, this was one of those times. Liz is someone who needs time to thoughtfully consider alternatives and suggestions. I tend to be someone who makes decisions quickly and proceeds to action. These different styles collide this morning as we prepare to leave the artist’s loft in Como. I asked Liz to consider an alternative to how our trip would conclude. It is a bit whacky and a big ask. Liz, who prefers to ponder ideas and let the answer formulate over time, but feeling a bit threatened by my propensity for quick decisions, quick action, gives an emphatic response of “no” which likely is intended to keep me quiet for awhile so that she can think it through more methodically.
Instead, I find her emphatic “no” response to be hurtful and then say a few things with sentences that begin with “You…” rather than describing how I was feeling, and, before you know it, a total silence falls over both of us which largely prevails until we are halfway along our 2½ hour drive to Alba. At that point, Liz wisely suggests that we do a role play in which we will re-create this morning’s argument except she will be me and I will be her.
She goes first and in her role as me she says, “Liz, I know you prefer to spend time thinking through things before making a decision and so I want to run an idea by you, but I am not looking for an answer immediately. Think it through and then we can discuss.”
As I hear these words, I immediately recognize the wisdom and simultaneously am confronted with those aspects about myself that I like the least, those bad habits that have existed for years and years against which so little progress has been seemingly made.
And isn’t that exactly what a relationship is for? To stand as a mirror and allow you to confront your worst habits, to continually improve and to become that best version of yourself? I am reminded of Jack Nicholson’s character Melvin Udall in the movie As Good As It Gets when he says to the waitress Carol, played by Helen Hunt, “You make me want to be a better man.”
“You make me want to be a better man.” An expression that you love someone so much that you are prepared to change who you are for that person. Just over two years ago, during our wedding ceremony, I said these exact words to Liz – “you make me want to be a better man”. And I am as committed to that today as I ever have been. This morning, in this argument, I failed in that respect. This afternoon, in this role play, Liz showed me how to get back on the path. Thank you. I love you. You make me want to be a better man.
October 9-12, 2019
Alba, Piemonte
The Piemonte region of Italy (Piemonte is Italian for Piedmont) is located in the northwest corner of Italy roughly where the kneecap is (using the boot analogy for Italy) and near the southern border of Switzerland. I had traveled here once before in 2012 when our family spent a week in a small village about 20 miles east of Alba.
We arrive at our AirBnB in Corneliano d’Alba, about a 20-minute drive from Alba, in the mid-afternoon. There we meet the father of our host who let us into the home and gives us a quick tour. His daughter, Roberta, was in Rome on business and owns this complex which includes two recently refurbished, 2-story apartments, each with 3 bedrooms. Roberta lives in one of the units with her young daughter and rents out the other. Our unit is well equipped and quite nice. It sits up on a hill and has a large patio from which you have lovely views of the vineyards in the valley below and the hillsides beyond. It will make for a nice home for the next four days.
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| The view of Corneliano d'Alba from our AirBnB |
We walk into the small village and visit one of the three restaurants in town which turns out to be a diner with almost no atmosphere and unremarkable food. As the best rated restaurant in Corneliano, it is clear that we will be going elsewhere.
For dinner, we head into Alba for gourmet pizza at Gusto Madre. It is excellent. Alba is known for its wonderful food and we would be returning here again and again during our stay. After dinner, we walk through the town. Alba, with a population of 31,500, is the capital of Langhe province and is famous for white truffles, food and wine. As it turns out, the timing of our trip coincides with the 89th International White Truffle Fair held each year at this time in Alba during the white truffle harvest. The city of Alba is all abuzz with discussion of white truffles.
The next morning, we are back in Alba for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The food is outstanding. And the town is extremely cute with a large square in the middle surrounded by shops and restaurants and mostly pedestrian-only streets throughout. This is a great place to just stroll. Like so many other cities in Italy, Alba traces its roots back to pre-Roman times, then Roman, followed by centuries as a city-state, conquering by the Spanish and French, intermittently, until, eventually, Italy became unified as Italy in 1861.
For centuries, the Catholic Church has played a big part in Alba and it is unsurprising to find multiple churches in a town of this size including San Domenico, St John the Baptist, Santa Maria Maddalena and the largest of them all, Duomo of San Lorenzo. Of course, we visit them all.
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| The Duomo of San Lorenzo (aka Alba Cathedral) |
In the afternoon, we visit the nearby Ceretto Winery – famous for its Barbaresco and Barolo wines. The predominant grape grown in Alba, in fact, most of Piemonte, is Nebbiolo. Barbaresco and Barolo are both wines made from the Nebbiolo grape. However, like Champagne and Chianti, the name Barbaresco and Barolo can only be used for grapes grown in one of these two small regions that surround Alba. The Barbaresco region is comprised of 1,800 acres west and north of Alba and the Barolo region, nearly three times the size of Barbaresco, sits south and west of Alba.
But calling your wine Barbaresco or Barolo is even more significant than either Champagne or Chianti as the wine regions of Barbaresco and Barolo have demonstrably higher quality than other Nebbiolo grapes and produce some of the best red wines in the world. In this respect, a better analogy is Brunello – a wine from the Chianti region made from Sangiovese grapes. Brunellos are demonstrably better than Chiantis and Brunellos are the very best Chiantis, just as Barbarescos and Barolos are the very best Nebbiolos.
The Ceretto Winery is comprised of 400 acres across four wineries contained, primarily, within the Barbaresco and Barolo wine regions. We visit the main winery in Barolo, just south of Alba, and it is fantastic. There we are treated to a superb wine tasting and walk away with a couple of bottles.
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| Barrel room at Ceretto Winery |
Dinner that night is at Caffe Umberto in Alba on the main square. One of the menu items is a Beyond Meat burger. I have been eating Beyond Meat burgers regularly for the past year. When I am home, I have one almost every day. Beyond Meat is a plant-based meat substitute burger that I believe is far superior to every other faux meat product I have tried including the Impossible Burger. With that said, the Beyond Meat burger at Caffe Umberto is in world class all of its own. Topped with black truffles and gruyere cheese, marinated in who knows what, and served on a brioche bun, this burger is the best burger – meat or no meat – I have ever eaten. Liz has pasta with white truffles and equally raves about her entree. This is among the best meals we have had during the entire trip.
The next day we drive to the hilltop town of Barolo and walk its winding pathways from which we have magnificent views of the vineyards draped over the neighboring hillsides stretching in every direction as far as the eye could see. There is something deeply romantic about vineyards – a beautiful combination of farming, science and art.
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| The vineyards of Barolo |
For our final day in Piemonte, we get up early and head to the Saturday Market in Alba. This outdoor market was listed among the ‘must-do’ items in Alba, but, honestly, it sucked. Table after table of overstock merchandise that you would find at Goodwill. Does anyone really need that many purses or pairs of socks?
After this disappointment, we drive to Bra, about 30-minutes away. Bra is where the headquarters for the Slow Food Movement is located, an intended backlash to the rise of fast food and the destruction of our diets everywhere. We spend a couple of hours walking the streets and alleyways and visiting the occasional church before jumping back in the car and heading home. In our opinion, a visit to Bra does not need to be on anyone’s ‘must do’ list.
That night we have a repeat performance at Caffe Umberto and order the same thing as we did two nights earlier. Why risk having something that isn’t quite as good? As a repeat performance, it did not disappoint.
October 13-14, 2019
Milan
Our final two days in Italy we spend in Milan, a 2-hour drive from Alba. Here we stay at the AC Hotel Milano, a Marriott property, less than 3 km from the Milan Cathedral in the main square. Milan is Italy’s second largest city after Rome with a population of 1.4 million (3.3 million in the greater metro area). It is the financial center for Italy and one of four fashion capitals in the world together with Paris, New York and London.
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| The Milan Cathedral |
After checking into the hotel, we catch the metro to the city center and the Piazza del Duomo (Cathedral Square) home to the magnificent Milan Cathedral. Right off the square is the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, Italy’s oldest active shopping mall, designed in 1861, with its distinctive archway and glass ceiling. We stop for lunch here and have one of the better pizzas so far on this entire trip.
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| The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele |
Bentley Systems’ headquarters (my former employer) in Italy was in Milan and I had traveled here several times before. On one of those visits, the local staff introduced me to Grom gelato, the best gelato I had ever had, made from the world’s finest ingredients. On each subsequent trip, I insisted we stop at Grom’s after dinner. Accordingly, after lunch, Liz and I seek out the local Grom retail shop and treat ourselves to gelato. It is excellent, but not nearly as spectacular as my memory. This has held true for each of the gelato experiences I have had in Italy, which suggests to me that my natural love for ice cream, in general, and gelato, specifically, may have changed. Maybe that’s good news.
We walk the 3 km back to the hotel with a stop at a vibrant outdoor mall and restaurant area not far from Milan’s main train station and our hotel. Later that night, we return to have dinner at Eataly, a combination gourmet food store on three floors with multiple restaurants, including one that is Michelin rated. We select the pasta place and enjoy an excellent meal.
The next day we return to the Piazza del Duomo as we had purchased tickets to tour the Milan Cathedral, a tour that includes a trip to the roof. On one of my previous trips, I had done this and at the time, the cathedral had just begun a years long process of cleaning centuries of black soot from its exterior. Back then, the cathedral was mostly black – the result of burning coal for heat in previous times and, more recently, the burning of fossil fuels. But on this trip, with the cleaning project complete, the Milan Cathedral looks almost brand new with its sparkling clean exterior.
The interior isn’t bad either and the roof is amazing. Fortunately, there is an elevator that you can ride to the top and the self-guided tour from there lets you walk almost the complete perimeter of the cathedral offering amazing views of the intricate stone work of the buttresses, a fantastic view of the plaza below and sweeping views of the city beyond. This is a must do when in Milan.
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| The roof of the Milan Cathedral |
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| Piazza Del Duomo from the roof of the Milan Cathedral |
After the tour of the cathedral, we had planned on going to the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie to view Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting of The Last Supper. Unfortunately, as it is Monday, the building is closed to visitors. So, instead, we head to Sforza Castle and Sempione Park. The castle dates back to the 15th century and the 95-acre park is a botanical oasis within this bustling city of Milan.
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| Sforza Castle |
After our stroll through the park, we head back to the hotel and later, back to Eataly where we enjoy dinner at one of the other restaurants within this amazing grocery store.
In the morning, we will head to the Milan airport and then Warsaw, Poland where we will begin a 7-day guided tour of concentration camps and ghettos as part of a Holocaust Tour. We will be joined there by our friend Carrie Niederer. This will be an emotionally challenging week although, I must say, it’s one I have been looking forward to since our trip began.
And, so, ends our time in Italy – a total of 30 consecutive days. Only in Spain (37 days) will we have spent more time. Italy has been remarkable. It is beautiful from head to toe (or should I say heel to kneecap?), the food is arguably the best in the world, and the wines, well, they are spectacular. Arrivederci!
Musings….
Before I start writing my musings I always read Malcolm’s blog posting. It’s hard to be the one following his posts. He is so deliberate in his prose and thoughtful in his descriptions….what the heck am I going to say? But I’ll give my 2 cents anyway.
Italy - what’s not to like? It’s on everyone’s list of favorite places and it shows by the amount of Americans floating around the country. Food is great. Wine is superb. Scenery is gorgeous. And sometimes it’s too crowded, but hey….gotta love it anyway. I must admit I was shocked at just how crowded it was given it was October - could have been July for the amount of tourists (especially on the Amalfi coast).
What I had forgotten since my last visit was the crazy drivers and windy roads! Blinkers - what are those? I’m a backseat driver so Malcolm deserves a medal for listening to me gasp every time we went around a bend (which in Amalfi is every 25 yards). We survived and my white knuckles eventually faded.
It was so nice to hang out with Jason, Lauren and the 2 girls. Love them - so adorable and so easy to be with for the week. We (the adults) loved our new found fav drink - the lemon spritzers Malcolm described - it’ll be our new summer drink poolside (add mint and fresh lemon - good to go). Good news is we got our daily exercise in with climbing all the stairs. Malcolm just can’t escape luggage and stairs - no matter where we go;).
As Malcolm mentioned, our place in Tuscany was fantastic. Such an easy place to chill, visit with Stasia (what a treat and yes, she was my shopping buddy!) and have Dick & Jane hang with us prior to the rest of their journey. It was definitely what the doctor ordered. Plus Chianti is one of my favorite wines and to be there for crush and all the tastings was great fun. If you’re going, I highly recommend renting our AirBnB and visiting Brancaia Winery - can’t go wrong with either.
Como was beautiful. And our flat was so cool - I love Marco’s creativity. Didn’t get to see George even though I was looking for him everywhere! Piemonte was new for me - first time in that part of Italy. Alba was interesting - our AirBnB a bit out of the way, but nice. The white truffles far surpassed my expectations - absolutely the most delicious pasta dish ever. However, after Tuscany, it didn’t seem as cool. Great wines, don’t get me wrong, but I’d still pick Tuscany. And I love Milan - think it’s a great city, especially for people watching.
As you can tell, we haven’t stopped carbo loading or drinking wine. I am now researching detox facilities and fat farms for my return home. This insanity needs to stop soon…please before I can’t fit into any of my clothes (which is getting harder by the day).
PS - The argument that Malcolm described as we were departing Como - makes me sound like the cool calm collected one. I wasn’t. He painted a nicer picture. Let’s just say I might have been a tad bitchy… just a tad;). Love him to pieces!
Ciao! Catch you after Poland.
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