Hola, mis amigos! It has been too long, I know, since I have written. After Milano, my parents and I went up to the Italian Lakes to stay on Lake Como in Menaggio.
It was very beautiful, but a little loud. We ventured over to Lugano in Switzerland, which was expensive and a bit snooty--a contrast to the friendly, loud Italians.
On Friday 15 June we headed to Bellagio across the lake which was very cute and had some delicious local pasta in the cutest cafe.
After Bellagio and a crazy thunderstorm while on the ferry back to Menaggio (!) we headed to Como so that I could catch the shuttle to Malpensa Airport in Milan to pick up Xander. A somewhat disasterous evening after hours of delays and my parents abandoning me in Milan, but Xander eventually arrived and we got a last-minute hotel room in Milan at a bizarre place near the church housing the Last Supper. It was wonderful to see his smiling face again, and we had a lovely evening anyway.
The next day we jump on the train back to Malpensa airport after I had my brand-new iPod stolen (sniff, sniff, but who needs material goods?), and meet Katie at the train station. My parents are waiting at Malpensa to pick us up and head down to Tuscany where our villa awaits. The folks and Xander meet, and of course it´s a bit awkward, but we all jump into the car and we´re off.
After about 4 and a half hours (we thought it would be two!!) of extremely windy and harrowing roads, we arrive at Rustico Lamola, which leaves me speechless it is so beautiful.
And those of you who know me know that it is hard to shut me up. We head down to Castelnuovo de Garfagnana, the largest town nearby (10 mins or so), to pick up supplies and eat, and then promptly get lost on the sickeningly windy (not WIND-y, WYND-y) roads for an hour and a half.
The next day, we´re off to Pisa to see the leaning tower and drop off Xander at the airport, but not after Xander puts the finishing touches on my folks´ adoration for him (and makes me love him more) by cooking us the most delicious farmer´s omelet EVER for breakfast. That guy. Pisa is hot and full of plastic leaning towers, and I hate to see X go. But I must. I´ll see him again in three weeks.
The following week we spend between lazing around by the pool, cooking up bowls of pasta, exploring beautiful Garfagnana, going to BLOODY hot Firenze and sweating in the non-airconditioned train back, and going to very very cute Lucca.
My aunts and uncles arrive in the middle of the week, and we have lots of fun with them, too.
Katie and my parents leave early saturday morning to head home, and I head to my aunts and uncles villa for a couple of days before heading to Spain on Monday 25. And here I am in Madrid.
It feels good to be alone again, or felt good anyway...but now I´m ready to have some companions. In a city which begins its nightlife at 10 PM and continues it early into the next moring, it would be fun to have someone to pal around with! But I´m enjoying it anyway, and Madrid seems familiar--like NYC but in Spanish, with more meat and better, cheaper wine.
Saw the Prado today, it was overwhelming but I revived myself with some gazpacho and a glass of vino tinto. Nap time, then a little shopping to energize me. Tonight, some tapas and then maybe a little churros y chocolate?
More soon...
1 comment:
Miss you friend...Glad to see you're having a smashing time!
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