Lake Como, Italy - Part 1

Ciao from Blevio, Lake Como, Italy!

We left Freiburg, Germany this morning.  We were a little apprehensive of travelling on our own.  Our fabulous tour guide, Lothar, and his wonderful wife, Ingrid, gave us some travelling tips, and they were invaluable.   We made it to the train station at Como S Giovanni without any problems.  We got on a bus that was supposed to take us within 150 meters of our apartment.  When we got off the bus we quickly realized that we were much farther away.  We asked a nice looking local man (who was walking his dog) for directions, and he bent over backwards to try to help us.  He enlisted the help of at least 7 other locals, and we finally got the correct directions.  We had a good kilometre hike (in 30+ degree heat), dragging our suitcases, but we finally made it.  Our host was waiting for us, waving enthusiastically out of the window as we walked up.  Our lovely apartment has a gorgeous view of the lake.

We went out to search for a restaurant for dinner.  We found one, back where the bus dropped us off, and we were surprised to find out that most restaurants in Italy are closed on Mondays.  A very nice British woman overheard our request for food and pointed us in the direction of the Momio restaurant.  It was way down by the water, and the patio jutted out into the lake.  Absolutely stunning.

The owner was a hoot, and he welcomed us with open arms.  He serenaded us all evening (though slightly off beat) with some reggae, some disco and a rousing rendition of Moon River.  We obviously joined in on that one.  :-)  We were served double the wine that we had ordered (on the house), and he insisted that we partake in some shots of limoncello.  We had already paid for our meals (delicious homemade pasta), but he left the bottle of limoncello and wouldn't take no for an answer.  He told us that he wanted to make our first night in Italy memorable.  He succeeded.  There may have also been an invitation to skinny-dip, but we won't talk about that.  ;-)

We have been surrounded by such friendly, helpful people so far in Italy.  What a great introduction to the country!