Day 12 Como

We had no real plan when after a rest we went out to dinner last night. We just went for a walk and followed our senses. We ended up well away from the water in a tangle of lanes. Then out of the darkness we would see light and a knot of people drinking and laughing as they spilled out of the many bars. A bar was not what we were looking for as we both felt like a pasta meal. At last we found a place that seemed to have a dinner menu and again, despite not having made a booking, they found a table for us. We ordered anchovies as entrée and then we both had ricotta and chicken stuffed ravioli, Johnny had a couple of glasses of Chianti. The food tasted great but they were bar snack sized portions. Still, we have both being enjoying the food a bit too much so the smaller serves were probably better.

This morning I woke thinking of our family and how we are scattered across a global landscape. We hold our children close, nurturing, protecting and growing them as best we can, but suddenly they spin away from us and go out into the world of strangers. All we can do is hope that we have prepared them well enough and tht the world treats them kindly.

Breakfast was lovely in the Alberno Terminus hotel.  Lovely breads, a marvelous eggy frittata, fresh fruit salad, cured meats, cereals and no end of pastries. Needless to say we felt obliged to try a bit of everything. I also collected some rolls, salami and boiled eggs into my pack for a picnic lunch later in the day. We popped back to our room to try and ring Perry. It was lovely to hear him in such good spirits.

It was Sunday morning and I was keen to go into the local basilica around the corner from the hotel. There is something oddly calming about sitting in a church with its sedate program of music, spoken serious words and then, long silences. Though signs near the entrance warned tourists not to enter till the service was over, I judged that this meant no intrusive wandering and photography. Surely it didn’t mean that we couldn’t just sit quietly and listen. So in we went and it was beautiful. We caught the very end of the service.

Outside the towns restaurants had opened to catch the dispersing congregation and the tourists who had finally emerged from their Sunday morning sleep in. Just outside the church the Red Cross had set up a full blown operation, serving crepes with hazelnut filling and four enormous barrel roasters ready to cook chestnuts. One volunteer was busy unloading a great pile of split logs that burned quickly and filled the piazza with a wintery smoke. It looked like this operation was going to reap them a lot of money.

We headed past the hotel and along the lake’s edge past a string of lakeside restaurants, both to scope out a place for dinner and for john to have a ride on the funicular railway up to the dizzying heights of the hills surrounding the lake. We found a place that looked very nice and the waiter took the time and trouble to go through the menu with us. We took his card and told him we would think about it.

Johnny rode the train to the very top and caught sight of the Swiss Alps in the distance. I stayed at the base, drinking cappuccinos and reading more of Helen Garner’s short stories on my ipad. We were both doing something that made us happy.

The lakeside walk was popular but the huge crowds we saw yesterday were not there. Possibly people were having their famed Italian family lunches. Possibly the faint mist across the lake encouraged people to think it would be too cold for a walk. We walked on regardless and were rewarded a wonderful. peaceful walk out to a villa at the far curve of the lake. Seaplanes swooped low over the water, past the near mountains and into the larger lake. We found a seat next to the water and demolished the salami rolls and boiled eggs we were carrying.

A slow walk back took us past a gelati shop that sold a wonderfully rich coffee gelato, then past the restaurant we had stopped at earlier. We popped in to make a booking for tonight. Then we went back to our room for an afternoon snooze before heading out for a free music performance at the archeological museum.

We were surprised at how many locals were there when we arrived. A very serious professorial type was already in full flight, explaining the artistic and cultural context of what we were about to hear. He led us from “salle” to “salle” liberally pointing out details in the frescoes and punctuating everything with sweeping gestures. He even threw in a few comic observations and the room tinkled with polite laughter. Did I forget to mention it was all in Italian and both Johnny and I were totally at sea. We listened intently for any crumbs that might be understandable but only managed to catch the words “Baroque” and “Rococo” in the whole half hour of dissertation. I was struggling and looked imploringly behind me to Johnny, who was casting a critical eye over the surrounding statues. It was with some relief that the professor eventually led us into the performance salle. As we walked through I asked Johnny what he had been so interested in. “Nice breasts” he replied in low and somewhat creepy voice.

Then a very serious young cellist took over and proceeded to give detailed explanation of what we were to  hear. She eventually hand-balled (or should I say passed the baton) over to an equally serious young pianist (who proved how serious he was by stroking his beard throughout the 15 minutes of her previous explanation). Finally he launched forth and played a series of short pieces, pausing between each to give us a fulsome explanation (in Italian). This was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon and it would have been even more so had we any understanding of what they were saying. As we left the archaeology centre, night had all but fallen and the tops of the dark, surrounding hills were quietly retreating into the mist. Day-trippers were straggling towards the local train and restaurants were lighting up outdoor heaters in preparation for the evening guests.

We had a really lovely meal at Cervo restaurant on the waterfront. Beautiful surroundings, attentive and friendly wait staff and really nice food made it a terrific night. We got complimentary proseco on arrival and complimentary liqueur at the end of our meal. As we started our meal, the heavens opened, a wind lashed the front and lightning lit up the horizon. There would be no more passing traffic tonight. We might go back tomorrow night. It really was very good.