The shorest river offers the longest walk

Milan and Lake Como 11:05 Hotel Rivera

            Well Milan was . . . disappointing! Lets just say I’m glad we were only there for four hours. The people are rude; mostly teeny-boppers [Beka and Debra imagine Larosa’s] that blow smoke in your face. I did however extremely enjoy the opera house there. It is called La Sala and there is a museum attached. I looked around the museum section and then moved over to the opera house. I was extremely blessed in that I got to go into the auditorium with the lights up, watch them practice the set-up, and then came out the listen to three people warm up for that nights show! It was magnificent. I spent well over an hour in there. After I strolled the streets and looked at people. I was pretty tired too from carrying my bags, we weighted them and my backpack is 13 kilo and my suitcase is 28 kilo . . . I know CRAZY. I learned my lesson well. One girl in our group her entire suitcase is only 9 kilo!!!! I think Milan would maybe be better if it were just Beka and I, and I didn’t have all that to carry around and we could dress up and have more fun, but still I think I could do all that in Chicago. ; > Grant it we also climbed the Duomo and that was cool.

            Moving on the Lake Como was so much better. We had to catch the bus [with all the locals who hate tourists]. I was worried about people being mad since I had so much luggage, but I sat down next to a girl who looked at me and said, “I’m drunk [at 5pm] are you American?” We then proceeded to talk for twenty minutes [she wanted to practice her English] where she taught my foul words in Italian and she bashed Italy!

            The following day we got an all day ferry pass to hop between the five adorable towns. We started in Bellagio where we walked through the town and shops and had a cappuccino. After that four of us [Carol, Donna, and Brain whose ages range from 46-68 keep in mind] went to Varenna to take a “quick” hike. We first went up to a Castle which was awesome…from the outside anyway, no one thought to tell us it cost $8.00 to get in BEFORE we climbed to the top! We then made our way over to this river; it is the shortest river in all of Italy. Leonardo DeVinci walked this path because he wanted to see what milky white water looked like. Anyway so I was nominated “tour guide” since I held the map. It was estimated at 20 min uphill and 20 min back. So we come first upon this adorable little shop in the middle of the hike, and I got a sweet bracelet. Also we could see the Swiss Alps! It was about an hour ride to Switzerland. ; >

Then continuing on our hike there were a few forks in the road, and we follow the sings to “Riviera” [which apparently does NOT mean river] since what should have been a 40 min walk along an easy path turned into 3 hours of goat trails! Literally! We heard the water and could see it just barley through some trees, and we were so convinced this was not it we kept going. The problem being it was getting steeper and less of a climbable path. Once we came upon an interstate we decided to turn around. Having proven myself TheLostPalindrome I was frustrated that I had led my group astray. We get back to where we can see a glimpse of the water and I go hunting for another path. I find a downhill “slide” and tell the others to wait and I’d investigate. I found a crazy route that proved to come out by the water, and I could see other people [using stairs of course]. So the four of us [keep in mind their age] slide down this slope [I truly mean slide, I have a dirty bum to prove it] I slipped and dropped my lens cap [yes I found it] and we come upon the most breathtaking view ever! The water is so crazy. It was gushing out of the mountain and is solid white. So we all walk around and take it in. Then Carol comes up and says there is a group of locals [from Milan] having a picnic and they have invited us to join! So the four of us go down there are maybe 12 people about 25 years old grilling out. After they convince us we join in and eat the best meal ever! [Keep in mind its like 3:00pm and I hadn’t eaten since 9am]. It was some type of steak [also meat is not common to eat in dinner so it had been a while] but it was so juicy and delicious. We all tear into it, and they come over with utensils, and we are like “oh, riiight.” After we have the best meal over and invite them to come visit us next we depart. On our way out there was a spot to fill our water bottles with water from the river and the water was AMAZING. Literally I have never tasted anything so crisp and amazing. I cannot tell you how awesome this whole event was. Like in my opinion these are the stories you hope to come home with. Between this and Lucca I’m ecstatic, just wait till Venice!

ANYWAY so then we go into the town and grab a gelato and hoped a ferry to Melagio where we found this awesome antique fair thing. I almost bought an old school camera [I love to decorate with them when my MOTHER doesn’t steal them] but what I thought was $4.00 was $40.00! It was funny when I was trying to pay with coins; the guy was just looking at me! Then we were going to catch a ferry home but it was an hour wait, so we took what we thought was a 25 min walk home, but no it was definitely 45 min! We did stop along the way at the cool bar/restaurant with a great view.

Then for dinner after a hot shower we took the Ferry back to Varenna and had the best dinner! We walked around a bit after all the stupid tourist went home. ; > It was the best day ever! We head out tomorrow for Venice however it will be a full day of travel. I’m having the best time ever, and I love all the perks and surprises God is throwing in! ah.

And even though I TOTALLY proved to be TheLostPalindrome it all turned out AMAZING! Wouldn’t trade it for the world. Can’t wait to see you in 3 more sleeps! –TheLostPalindrome.

PS…I finally got my “egg” fix, it was on top of my pizza! Lol. Like a cooked egg juice and all! Actually was pretty yummy. I’m just bummed I missed out on the “Vodka Macaroni.” ; > XOXO