Life as we know it...: Italia!

This morning we left the convent, and headed towards Italy! It was only about a hour and a half drive! We crossed the Switzerland border into Italy where Lake Como is. We wound around the narrow streets that line the lake, looking for the town of Ossucio, where our bed and breakfast hotel was. After a few wrong turns through very tight and narrow streets, we found the Bed and Breakfast Gorzola. It is up on the side of the mountain, from where you have beautiful views of Lake Como!

The people that own this place are adorable! A family; mother, son, girlfriend of the son, and a few others which appear to be relatives. The son, Christian, is the chef, and also speaks English quite well, so he has given us some tips and information about the area. The girlfriend, who we haven't caught her name, is so sweet and has served us our meals from the restaurant, which have been delicious.

Once we checked in today, we opened our windows of our room, and relaxed for a while before going down to the restaurant for lunch. We sat outside on the patio, and had some pasta with funghi (mushrooms: ) and locally milled polenta with gorgonzola cheese! It was so good!

After lunch, we headed down into the town (about a 15 minute walk) and made our way through some very small narrow alley-ways with cobblestone walkways, and out to the edge of the lake. Lake Como is a very large lake, the third largest in Italy. It is shaped like a "Y". We can see the town of Bellagio from our hotel, which is in the point, where the three branches of the lake meet.

After walking down the main road that runs through town, we headed towards the Villa del Balbianello. It was built in 1787 on the site of a Franciscan monastery, and became the home of an explorer, Guido Monzino. It is known for its terraced gardens, which we toured today. There was actually a wedding that was going to take place shortly after we left, and all of the guests were arriving by boat.

After touring the gardens, we went back towards town, and waited outside the supermercado (grocery store) for it to re-open after lunch hours. Most things close from 12-2pm, and then reopen for the evening. We got some snacks and headed back to the B & B. We had to walk about a half a mile up the steep roads to get back, and we were both sweating by the time we got back.

We got our swimsuits on, and after skyping with my mom and Caden, we went to the pool that is here at the hotel. We took a dip, and then laid out on the lounge chairs. It was warm, but not so humid, and I think I actually fell asleep for a few minutes. Afterwards, we came back to the room to shower, and get ready for dinner. We ate at the restaurant here at the hotel again. Tonight Jared had lake fish with herbs, and I had polenta with beef. Again, the food was very good!

After dinner we went back down the steep road to do some more walking around. The town here is having a festival to celebrate a saint, San Giovanni, so there is a carnival set up a few streets down. On our walk down towards the festival we saw many people having parties and cookouts in their yards. The buildings are very charming, with lots of gardens, and the whole atmosphere is very Italian! : )

We walked around for a while, and took some pictures before making our steep walk back to the B & B. We plan on going out on the patio in a bit to watch the fireworks that are going to be shot off from the island, Isola Comacina.

Tomorrow we will be going to Bellagio! Apparently Clooney has a house there. If I see him, I will let ya know! Here are some of our pictures from today: