Our Travels

The Italian Alps

November 6, 2024November 30, 2024ssolsen12Leave a comment

On November 3, after one more pretty sunset over Lake Como, we packed the car for an a.m. departure from Nesso.

Sorry, George. 😉 The Olsens are bound for the Alps!

Not the Swiss Alps, the Dolomites, otherwise known as the Italian Alps. We’d planned a 175-mile drive north and then east over to Trento to skirt along the lower edge of the Alps. Too close to winter to venture way up there – we prefer to see the snow only from a distance.

But first, a boat ride on Lake Como!

A quick dash inside for tickets to Varenna

From the shoreline at Varenna, we wound our way up the mountain via switchbacks and through the mountains in numerous l-o-n-g tunnels.

Per the sign, this tunnel is 2060 meters (1.28 miles) long!

Along the way, we passed through towns of various sizes.

While stopped for an early lunch in the town of Vezza d’Oglio, we researched (i.e. googled) the unusual name. Legend has it that after a flood destroyed the ancient village of Rosolina, a large barrel of olive oil was found among the debris, giving rise to the name for the new town to be built on the ruins. The dialectal translation of Éza is “barrel,” thus basically “Barrel of Oil.” Tada!

The other tidbit we picked up led to a small adventure to find the nearby Parish Church of San Martino, one of many of the same name in Italy, this one dating back to 1100. Google claimed we could drive up to the small church. Unfortunately, you cannot always trust Google’s interpretation of “roads” to mean a car will actually fit. After reversing back down out of a particularly tight squeeze, we parked and set out on foot. When we tried to ask a few residents, the language barrier got in the way, so we were on our own.

This is a nice two-way street
(much wider than the lane we’d backed out of)

Once we could aim for the bell tower, we easily found the church. The inside is surprisingly ornate, from an entirely different time period than the tower, which, sadly, is the only thing remaining of the original church that was destroyed by fire in 1700, along with a large part of the town.

We arrived in time to watch the bells at Noon

Post lunchtime adventure over, it was time to return to where we’d bailed on the car. Hmmm… Honey, just where was that again?? Oops.

In addition to not trusting Google Maps for what’s a viable road, we’ve now learned, A) the Italian word for church (since apparently neither making the sign of the cross nor folding hands in prayer are helpful gestures in the game of language charades); and B) to drop a pin on the map on one of the phones before wandering away from the car (since cars don’t have handy, easy-to-spot bell towers). 🙂

Once back on the road, we cheerfully enjoyed the fall color and snow-capped mountains! Until…
UH OH

If cruising is aptly referred to as “working on boats in exotic locations,” just what do you call it when the alarms go off on the foreign rental car and the main thing you can make out on the panel is WARNING OF IMMINENT ENGINE FAILURE. Huh. Not good.

Well, as we were more than five miles from the nearest town, we considered ourselves lucky to slowly make it to a place to pull off the narrow, curved mountain road, into the large parking lot of a ski lift. Bonus, perhaps we could ask the workmen over there for assistance in reading the instrument panel! No go on the assistance part, as both of them soon drove off right past us. Heading to lunch perhaps? (Insert enthusiastic raspberry here.)

No worries, we had our resident mechanic, Todd. Radiators being the same in any language, we waited for things to cool down and fortunately located the blown radiator cap in the engine compartment! Hmm, now we needed water, and we just happened to have most of a 1.5-liter bottle Susie had brought with us. Into the radiator, it went (yeah!), and we were back on the twisty road with fingers crossed and those praying hands folded, hoping to make it off the mountain and to Trento before dark. (Susie, you can stop hyperventilating now.)

While trying to photograph the poles that line the road to guide the snowplow (think about that one – yikes!)

As the sun was setting, we reached Trento, left the car resting in a small parking garage outside the town center, and set out on foot to find our small B&B, supposedly very near the historic Church of Santa Maria Maggiore. We found the church easily enough – those bell towers are so helpful – and after a few wrong turns, located our lodging.

The church was built between 1520 and 1524

Since we would only be in Trento one night, we dropped the luggage, downed the water, and dashed back out, utilizing the remaining daylight to find the duomo of Trento / the Cathedral of San Vigilio.

The pleasant street near our B&B
(Yes, cars also pass through here…)

With roots back to 397 A.D., the L-shaped structure of the Cathedral of San Vigilio is so large, it took three shots to capture the facade from our perspective on the piazza.

The next morning, we strolled over the bridge and along the river to the Church of Sant’Apollinare, one of the oldest buildings in the city. The church has looked this way since the 14th century, and among those buried in the outer walls is Marcus Apuleius, gravestone dated 23 BC. Now that’s old!

Our last stop in Trento was a cable car ride to the town of Sardinia at the top of the mountain.

While waiting in the lobby, should we be worried about the man on top of the car??

The scenic ride up and back was fairly quick. We found the most interesting part to be identifying the historic town center of Trento from the top. Game time!

It is easy to see the oldest church near the bridge (lower left), but can you spot the town center on the other side of the river?

The black arrow shows the distinctive tower of the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, behind which is the small B&B (not visible). The red arrows show the L-shaped Cathedral of San Vigilio. Now look back at the other shot – bet you can find it.

And with that, we grabbed our luggage and a bottle of antigelo (antifreeze) and confidently departed for Modena. Moving on!

Duomo di Milano

November 2, 2024November 11, 2024ssolsen124 Comments

Our venture into Italy was based largely on the quest for… great food, right? No, no, that’s a side benefit. We wanted to see the historic architecture, especially the many cathedrals. You might recall that we have now been in a basilica in the U.S. (It’s more than just a church. We’re learning.) This time up, it’s a real cathedral, a duomo /dwō′mō/. And so, it begins!

On October 31, we drove a couple of hours south of Nesso to tour the Duomo di Milano (Cathedral of Milan), one of the largest Roman Catholic cathedrals in the world. It depends on which list/criteria you’re considering, but at any rate, it’s really BIG. Capable of holding 40,000 visitors! May as well start there.

Construction began in 1386 and wrapped up around 1965, with ongoing maintenance continuing most likely… forever.

The drive into the city center took a bit longer than we’d planned. Susie worked on the fly to identify the parking garage closest to the cathedral, and Todd made it happen, squealing in on two wheels. We then practically jogged (okay, one of us gimps…) the last few blocks to arrive just in the nick of time to meet the guide, don headsets, and head into the cathedral with the group.

It was amazing, far bigger than anything we’ve seen. Even bigger than the stunning St. Patrick’s in New York!

As expected, the cathedral is full of grand pillars, stained glass, paintings, statues, and buried saints. There are also interesting things like the “red bulb” way at the top in which is stored a nail from Christ’s crucifix and the sundial built into the floor (no photo – partly cloudy day). The place is full of history. What we had not accurately anticipated was the size of the crowd milling about, necessitating reaching up over people’s heads to snag photos. Yeah, us grumpy oldsters wanted some quiet time, not a selfie. Ha!

One of the more curious – and frankly creepy – statues in the cathedral is that of the fisherman Bartholomew (died about 70 AD), one of Christ’s Apostles, who, according to one tradition, went as far as Armenia, where he converted twelve cities to the Christian faith. In the process, he aroused the envy of the priests of the local divinities, for which he was ultimately punished – skinned alive, and beheaded. Yikes!

Created in 1562, the statue of Bartholomew is depicted still holding the Gospel in his hand. The sculpture is characterized by close attention to anatomy and without skin, which, in fact, drapes around him and down his back like a robe. All carved in stone!

Saint Bartholomew – what looks like an extra hand is actually part of the “robe” of his skin

Beyond the grandeur (and the bizarre), for us, one of the more fascinating parts of the tour was beneath street level, below the front of the cathedral, where we walked among the remains of two previous churches dating back to a time between the Roman Empire and the Middle Ages. Demolished to make way for the construction of the new cathedral in 1386, the ruins reflect the square where two basilicas once stood, along with the Baptistery of San Giovanni alle Fonti, built in 378! Augustine was baptized here in 387, when Milan was the capital of the Western Roman Empire.

Wow! Talk about history beneath your feet.

Next, we joined the queue waiting to go up to the multi-level “terrace” (roof).

256 stairs!

Our mamas didn’t raise no dummies, as they say. The tickets included the small elevator for the ride to the first level. 🙂

We would have to take the 256 stairs back down.

The first level of terraces is approximately 101 feet off the ground. After that, two steep stairways (with no elevator option – it’s exercise time) lead to the second level 148 feet above the ground, i.e., the Central Terrace, the highest point reachable by visitors.

There are more than 3,400 statues, 150 gargoyles, 96 giants, & 410 corbels! On the roof! Oh, these crazy, wonderful Italians!

The central “Great Spire” was commissioned in 1762, and in 1765, the proposal was made to top it with a statue of the Virgin being brought to heaven.

Even the Madonna’s Great Spire is surrounded by scaffolding

The Madonnina has been watching over Milano since December 1774. Of course she’s been worked on throughout the years, with the last re-gilding in brilliant copper in 2012.

Back out on the piazza, we spent a few minutes watching the antics of the crowd with the pigeons and then paused for a quick selfie to prove we are cool before moving on. (Cool?? We took our selfie with a long arm and an actual camera, Honey. 🙂 )

The streets of Milan are b-u-s-y with a capital B!

Ultimately, it was quite a day. We were happy to complete the two-hour drive back – heck even yet another trip up the mountain – to the peaceful Villa Lorenza overlooking Lake Como, where we could take deep breaths and contemplate the historic, lovely duomo we’d been privileged enough to see. Thank you, Milan!

The “Pearl”

October 31, 2024November 7, 2024ssolsen12Leave a comment

We’d planned to explore both Como and Bellagio during our stay in Nesso. Our few ventures into Como, however, proved somewhat too challenging for our taste. WOW! What a crazy, bustling city! Instead, we chose to spend a couple of days enjoying the much less busy town of Bellagio – not the one in Las Vegas, but the so-called “Pearl of Lake Como.” Ha, imagine finding a place that has the same nickname as our car!

Having worked our way through the main street of shops in the historic center and checked out the 11th century chapel, then down to the lakeshore area for a late lunch, it was time to return to the car. Whew!

First step, a lot of steps back up to street level!

Not owning a house at the moment, we don’t really have need for a great deal of shopping. Surprise! The next day, we opted to return to Bellagio not for the shops, but for a stroll through the Giardini di Villa Melzi (Gardens of Villa Melzi) instead. The complex was created between 1808 and 1810 for Francesco Melzi d’Eril (1753-1816), Duke of Lodi, vice-president of Napoleon’s Italian Republic and, later, Grand Chancellor of the Kingdom of Italy…and a, oh, well, there’s more, but enough is enough! Most importantly for us, it would close for the season on November 3. Time to go!

Melzi dwelt in the villa until the end of his political career, after which it became his summer home.

_{Not too shabby…}

The villa itself, still privately owned by the family, isn’t open to the public, but there are plenty of grounds to enjoy. One of the highlights is the sprawling, diverse garden filled with loads of majestic century-old trees that are in some cases quite massive. Even better, a great biological garden that included signs on the special plants. Todd loved it. No Todd, we can’t read them all! 🙂

Atlas Cedar that’s way taller than the villa

Scattered through the garden is a fine collection of commemorative and mythological statues.

This fine nobleman was fortunate enough to have his own family chapel on the grounds.

After wandering all through the garden, we hurried back to the car and headed off to find a “nearby” restaurant named Trattoria Baita Belvedere, enthusiastically recommended by the kind agent at the gate as her “favorite.” She failed to mention, however, that it is located near the top of a mountain. A wonderful drive until the last mile or so of the skinniest “one lane” road to date! Thank goodness Todd doesn’t have much because it was absolutely hair-raising! NO pictures were captured on the way up. (Breathe, Honey….)

Near the end, it seemed even this guy was chuckling.

But make it we did.

That’s our spiffy blue Renault parked in the “lot” at the top of the mountain.

UGH. Do we have to drive back down? NAH. It must be a one-way drive up & another down (he says, optimistically…)

One thing at a time. How about lunch?

Corner table with a view
(Villa Melzi marked by the arrow)

Our friendly young server, Francesco, delivered a spectacular lunch along with plenty of local knowledge and basics he felt we needed to know. In fact, we closed the joint while pondering (putting off?) the drive back down. Eventually, we really had no choice but to hit the road. Francesco assured us that we shouldn’t meet anyone coming up since the restaurant was now closed until 7pm. Todd thinks he winked. 🙂

Fingers crossed that we wouldn’t meet anyone

Whew! That’s a relief. Now that we’re back to the main road, let’s stop for a few supplies.

Sure. It’s right here in town, on this oh-so-wide road
Ha! 🙂

Wait. Are those “whacks” on the lefthand side??

Italian beef

October 30, 2024November 2, 2024ssolsen12Leave a comment

As we settled in last week, luck would have it, so did a lazy rain. Yup, you know, one of the kinds that drizzles on for a couple of days, or in this case more than a couple. It was fine as we were just getting used to the new world in which we landed.

It’s rumored that the villa below us and to the right belongs to George Clooney. Although that may very well be just something to tell the tourists, it didn’t stop one of us from keeping an eye out over there. 😉

We managed to sneak out between showers to drive to Como for shoes because SOMEONE actually “forgot” theirs. Oh geez… in the 15 plus years of our life together, we used to laugh at the number of times Todd forgot a belt. Well, the new Todd remembered those; this time it was his shoes! He wore only sneakers and flip flops, much to his own chagrin. He feels like an “idiota,” but luckily, we found a nice pair on our first stop!

Into every life, a little rain must fall

The clouds and rain continued as we made a quick stop at our favorite market, the Granmercato, on the way back to the rental. Hence, we tucked back in for a couple more days.

Good thing there’s the awesome view of Lake Como, right?

One never really knows what they will obtain when renting a small house. Kitchens come in all shapes and sizes. Fortunately, it’s one of the many things we enjoy about traveling and exploring – and the adventure of just cooking? Fuhgeddaboudit! We can always throw together a tasty pasta dish. Oh, and one little espresso pot waters down nicely into two lovely cups of coffee. Ha!

A few days in, the weather cleared enough for our Todd to try his hand at the BBQ down in the garden. Armed with a hunk of beef worthy of Fred Flintstone, off he went to evaluate the situation. Turned out that one ribeye was a thick one, weighing in at 1 kilo (2.2 lbs)!

This Italian life in the lake district requires steps, lots of them. In fact, 35 down from the road to our front door, and the grill is down a couple more long flights, into the back yard.

With no luck finding grill tools in the house, Susie headed downstairs with the longest fork and spoon available in the kitchen, basically a small salad serving set.

To set the proper perspective, the long path to the grill goes like this:

Out the front door, past the 35 stairs that lead up to the parking pad

The owners had provided lump charcoal and all the wood anyone could need. Lump doesn’t start quickly, but nothing a good fire can’t handle. So, Todd began the process saying, “That steak’s gonna need a good hot fire!”

Finding the proffered tablespoons ill-suited for the task, Todd headed back into the “shed” area

Undaunted – and actually having fun – he went back to work and got a “proper” fire burning. (Yes, the grill has a plant growing around it.)

Fiddle with this and that, and we have Step One:

Getting a good fire to burn down to wonderful coals took long enough that the sun set before the cooking could begin. Have no fear, armed with cellphones, a small light, and some wooden spoons, that chunk of beef would absolutely get cooked, and it WOULD be delicious (declared Todd).

And just what was Susie doing this whole time?

Hey! You mean besides photo journaling, running back and forth up and down the stairs to fetch things, cook the sides, set the table, uncork the wine, etc.?

Well, drooling, of course.

When we finally sat down to dig in, the meal was absolutely “delizioso.” A bit late, perhaps, but perfect. Wait, we’re in Italy. It wasn’t late; it was right on time, speaking from our new world perspective. In fact, that steak was great for several days!

To cap things off, the sun came out the next glorious day and we could finally do a bit of laundry, Italian style!

Supposedly photographing the sheets & clothes drying on the terrace

And that, friends, ends our tale of “Italian beef!” 😉

Hey, Italy’s to the east…

October 24, 2024October 24, 2024ssolsen123 Comments

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

After enjoying a few days in Longview, TX with friends Terry and Lynn, we garaged our trusty steed(-ette?) Pearl in her temporary digs at their place. On the way to a wedding in Dallas Saturday, they then dropped us at a hotel near the Dallas Fort Worth Airport.

Amazing planning by the super planners!

Sunday afternoon we flew to Atlanta to catch a long flight across the ocean all the way to Milano, Italy. The vagabonds are cruising by air! Luckily, we didn’t have anyone next to us on the 9-hour leg. That’s a long way! But arrival was exciting, and customs was a wonderful non-event.

At the gate in the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport

After securing our suitcase (Score! No lost luggage!), we followed the signs to the “Noleggio Auto” in the airport, pulled a number and settled in for a bit of a wait.

Once handed the key to a snazzy blue Renault, we hit the road amongst a plethora of signs, all unreadable to these Americanos. Fortunately, many of the important ones are symbols: Stop, Yield, Merge, Do Not Enter, No Parking, etc. (And at least the Italians drive on the right. Ha!) Through the magic of cellphone navigation (yeah, T-Mobile!), – not to mention, we are so young and cool 😉 – we found a mobile phone store in Milano and picked up a local Tourist SIM card for our spare phone. Poor handsome dude spoke a smattering of “Inglese” to help us now somewhat babbling oldsters.

The next task was even more challenging – find a market and purchase enough food to scrounge up dinner and breakfast at the rental so we could get some much-needed sleep before facing a larger provisioning trip. That first attempt at grocery shopping was certainly entertaining… until our “young cool side” remembered that crazy cellphone. We are now learning how to make the best use of Google Translate. And it’s Fantastico!

As to driving? Nothing like going rapidly from 85+mph (135+ kph) to a crawl (and everything in between) whilst operating a manual stick in a foreign country. Yahoo! Navigating through and around Milano’s larger roads turned out to be good training for things to come when we reached the Como area. Mamma mia!

About an hour outside of Milan, we were rewarded with our first glimpses of the famous Lake Como!

Another 30-minutes of increasingly narrow, twisting roads and several hairpin turns up the mountain (double mamma mia!), and we found our first home away from home between Como and Belagio.

We’ve spent our first few days sleeping, provisioning, sleeping, enjoying the view, sleeping, and getting used to things. We can’t wait to explore and share the adventure. For now, arrivederci, one and all!