05/12/2025 – Como adventures
The adventures in Como were not limited to just driving up the long and winding road to our hotel. We also hoofed it up a steep and winding goat path trying to reach the summit of a mountain. Alas, Kathy gave up before reaching the top. It was a valiant effort but the terrain bested her and Dave graciously turned around after going about 1.5 miles straight up from the hotel. Dave’s motto is stick together and never leave your hiking buddy.
After the arduous trek, we decided we could do with a bite of lunch, but we were hoping for a different setting from dinner the night before. Hopping in the car, we headed back down to the lake to find a charming spot to eat. We momentarily forgot: no restaurant opens for lunch until 2pm… way too late for us. We again opted for some McDonald’s, along with what seemed like much of the rest of Italy. We have never seen such large and busy McDonald’s restaurants anywhere else. The Italians really like this fast food joint, and so did we. Soon satiated, we headed off to take a scenic drive around the lake. The twists and turns of the mountains are working every single gear in our tiny Fiat and also working Dave’s right arm. He is going to come back looking lopsided from all the work his right arm is doing just shifting gears non-stop. It was amazing, the drive gave us glimpses of waterfalls, lush flowering bushes, and the ever present beauty of the pristine lakes ringed by quaint, and sometimes enormous Italian villas. Well worth drive.
Heading back toward the hotel, we decided dinner by the lake would be a nice way to end our visit to this beautiful region. Well, not exactly by the lake, but in the bustling interior of the village, we settled into a bar where Kathy had a not-so-Caesar Salad and Dave had a not-so-normal panini. When traveling, sometimes you have to roll with the punches. Taking a deep breath in we headed back up the narrow, winding, goat path of a road to our hotel, praying the entire way we won’t meet up with any cars. Finally back to our temporary home, we decided to round out the evening with dessert. In an epic “failure to communicate”, Kathy ended up with Tiramisu and Dave some weird looking pasta. Dave tried explaining: no, he wanted the caramel dessert….not whatever pasta carabel or carapel or whatever it was. Finally, all was fixed and right with the world. We could now lay down our heads for the night and hope that the horses that roam freely won’t stick their heads in our window or manage to get our door open. Agriturism is an adventure!
Just a note about the shower in our agriturismo lodge. It was smaller than a phone booth (anybody remember those??), yet had a rainfall shower head that was so big, it almost filled up the entire shower stall. You could not stand anywhere and not be getting showered on. The first day, there was only one bath towel (but 5 hand towels!), and no soap or shampoo. Dave had to make do, although there was no place to put soap or shampoo in the shower stall. While trying to wash off, he could not avoid knocking into the shower handle, stopping all of the hot water. Brrr. After he was done, he turned off the water, but it kept draining out of the rainfall shower head for several minutes. You cannot get dry while standing in the shower at all. You have to exit the shower through the tiny opening in the corner and then you can grab a towel and start drying. And don’t get Dave started on the bidets in every bathroom. Kathy kept insisting they were urinals, but Dave isn’t buying it – or using it! Ah, the joys of international travel.
