Vacation Vacation

Friday we went into Venice by train.  the train was fairly crowded and there seemed to be a lot of kids on it.  Grabbed a vaporetto and headed towards Acadamia.  Got past the Rialto where this particular trip ended, so we walked the rest of the way there.  Venice is a great walking town.  Tourists everywhere, all the time.  All coutries of the world represented.  Were planning on going to the Guggenheim Museum, but opted out.  Had lunch, went to San Marco, where in the middle of the square was a huge crowd----with umbrellas listening to a man speaking.  Turns out the this was a college graduation ceremony, hence the crowded train.

Tarzo was a relaxing stay.  Really in the middle of nowhere, on a backroad, and the only sounds were the bells ringing in all of the surrounding villages.  These must serve as some sort of official alarm clock as they all start ringing at seven in the morning, even if you don't want them to.  Donna thinks the chickens that start at five thirty in the mornig are to wake up the guys that ring the bells.....Donna fell in love with the puppy, Ginger, and the owner said we couldn't take with us.  Went back to the Cremeria where we stocked up on breadsticks, and some more cheese to bring home.  Offered a sample of the cheescake, which we then proceeded to buy a decent quantity of.  It had a "sweet pasta crust" and was made with Riccotta and chocolate.  amazing......

Left Tarzo on Saturday morning heading to Lake Como.  One good thing about driving here is that they have speed limits for dry and another limit for when it rains.  Drove through some heavy showers and some hard rain, but no sunshine. On the outskirts of Milan, the traffic started getting pretty heavy.  That happens at almost any decent size town where you have two motorway exits----usually one east and one west.  The A-4 that crosses Italy east west is the major truck road from Eastern Europe, so, lots of trucks.  Donna counted one convoy that was over twenty trucks, nose to tail.  Fortunately, the traffic is much lighter on Saturday, and trucks don't run at all on Sunday.  (Figure they're thanking God for surviving the previous week)

 So, on the outskirts of Milan, the traffic is building, it's pouring, and there are always a couple of drivers that don't believe the sign about slowing down in the rain.  Just passing on the outskits of Milan we see three different accidents, one big enough to close down a four lane divided highway.  Now, at the end of that four lane divided highway is a traffic circle, that everybody uses on Saturday morning.  Fortunately, they were all going the direction we were coming from..............they were backed up for miles as we went by!

The GPS tells us to take Exit 51 to Lake Como Nord.  Great advice if they's put numbers on the signs.  Just past exit 51 the backup begins.  I assume that we're in the backup of another accident as we're stopped.  We creep forward till we round a curve to the Swiss border.  Waved through the italian side and immediately stop sticked by the Swiss.   Pull over there.  "You must purchase a sticker for 40 euros to drive in Switzerland".   Donna leans accross me and says "WE DON'T WANT TO DRIVE IN SWITZERLAND!"  "Where are you trying to go?"  "LAKE COMO!"  "You must go back that way----I will stop the traffic so you can go back."  "OK!!!"  Driving back across the Italian border I'm thinking of what I'm going to spend the 40 euros on.......

The house in Argegno is up about 400 feet above Lake Como with a panoramic view.  The living room has a twelve foot sliding window that opens halfway with a wrap around balcony.  though not sunny as we'd like, it's a great place to take a "vacation from our vacation."  Went for a sunday drive to Bellagio, which is pretty much closed up for the season, had dinner last night with George Clooney, who lives next door and is surprising approachable. 

Today we went to lunch down in Argegno at a restaurant called La Piazzetta.  When Donna says it's the best pizza, that's saying somethng!  She had a margheritta pizza with Bufalo mozzerella that they have delivered once a week from Naples, the sweetest cherry tomatoes ever, and huge fresh basil leaves that could be smelled accross the room.  It actually beats my favorite place in Rome, not by a lot mind you, but it does win.  Today we're being lazy.  Donna's laying on the couch with her kindle, we've got dinner in the fridge, veal chops with a mushroom cream sauce, and some wonderful spaghetti.  A bottle of Proseco and a movie for dessert.