I thought Cinque Terre was the prettiest place I had ever been: wrong. Maybe it was just timing of the seasons or maybe there was “magic” but Lake Como is my favorite place on earth right now. -The sun was out full blast on Saturday and it was cloudy on Sunday. -I took pics but none of them capture how absolutely gorgeous the area was. The Alps are different from the Appalachian. For one thing there is nothing living (I.e. trees or plants) on the tops of them. Just snow.
This past weekend, I took a solo trip to Lake Como. I had originally planned to go over to the Switzerland side one day but changed my mind and just stayed in Italy. It is a major weekend destination for people from Milan because it’s about a 30 min. train ride away. I stayed in a town called Como but traveled by boat to Bellagio which is a smaller town closer to the center of the lake. Como is very urban yet has a very homey feel. Something I have been majorly disappointed with in Italy is the fact that basically all of the country prostitutes itself out to tourism. Everywhere I had gone, until now, there were tourist EVERYWHERE. Literally, almost everyone on the street looked liked a tourist, especially here in Florence. Como did not have that feel though. Because it is in the Alps, it’s so cold during the winter only the locals stay there. I got the feeling the people are use to the idea of tourists, but this time of year is for them…..there are no tourists. Como very much had a family atmosphere going on. There were families with kids and strollers. People obviously Christmas shopping (because of the “Milaners” during the summer, they have great shopping with top designer stores). There was a Christmas market happening with local artisans. An ice rink was set up with ice skaters out having fun and goofing off. It seriously felt like something out of a Hallmark movie. I did not see anyone I could tell was a tourist, the vibe was one of friendliness and such. What was good for me was people thought I was Italian simply because they don’t usually see tourists this time of year; however, many of the shops in smaller Bellagio and the little mountain town I went to were closed. During the summer, I could definitely see it as a type town out of “Dirty Dancing.” That wealthy weekend play time for families with tennis, swimming, upscale camp type feel while staying in the best hotels. It just felt right.
The moment I will remember the most will probably be standing on a pier looking out over the snow-capped Alps. It was a curve on the lake so I could see in three different directions. The panoramic view was just right. I have never seen anything so breath taking in my life. The lower lake area/towns did not have snow at all but the Alps surrounding the lake were all covered in the stuff. I can’t even describe how “magical” it was (yes I just used that cheesy word). It was absolutely freezing and being on a lake, it was extremely windy which didn’t help the wind chill. I literally remember staring out for several minutes, then all of a sudden it just hit me how absolutely gorgeously, stunning it was. Literally, like a light bulb. Sharing just a little about this because it’s kind of private: the exact thing that came to my mind was out of everything God made, out of this absolute perfect landscape, I was God’s favorite. I was staring at what to me, is ultimate, perfect beauty. Nothing as comparable as that. But He thinks me more beautiful than that creation. At that point, I literally didn’t feel the cold for a full 15 minutes. It was the most perfect moment, and literally, my favorite part of the trip.
What is this life I lead? I take weekend trips to the Alps. I live in Italy. So cliché, but what is this life? Who am I? This is crazy and at no other time in my life will I have this. It’s crazy!
The whole time I was staring at the mountains/a safe distance from actual danger, I felt a pull to be in them, literally facing the dangers and the harsh cold and the feeling of “communing with nature” if you will. I don’t know where this was coming from because I generally don’t like mother nature past a day or two of hiking at once. It was a weird feeling like I shouldn’t be looking at them, I personally needed to be literally feeling them and challenged by them. Like most of this post, it’s hard to explain but I felt like I was in the wrong place by not being physically challenged in that way by those mountains. -makes no sense, I’m aware.
As beautiful and serene as the snow-capped mountains seemed during the day, is how harsh and frightening they seemed as night fell. I was in Bellagio to see what I could see of the sunset (giant mounds of dirt are hard to see over). The feeling I got from them was distinctly different. The snow seemed scary and almost a threat to my life even though I was miles and miles away from the tops. Maybe is was because they are so vast…I don’t know but I was glad I was not on them after dark. I prefer life.
Sunday, my last day, I stayed in Como and explored along with taking a lift up a mountain close to the city. I was on the edge of Alps so this particular mountain does not generally see as much snow fall as most of the mountains I saw Saturday…hence the reason they could put a little town on the top. Again, this place was basically shut down for the winter since tourist season is during the summer. I thought it was cold in the city, nope. It was FREEZING at the top. It was not snowing at that moment but it had snowed fairly recently because there was 6-12 inches everywhere. I couldn’t walk around too much because I didn’t have proper shoes. After the snow got in my shoes once making my feet cold, I didn’t do it again. I couldn’t feel my fingers and they were beginning to hurt due to the level of coldness (that’s not a word, I’m aware). I was pretty excited to see snow even for a few minutes though…and ONLY for a few minutes. I threw it up and then walked through the powder. I felt like a kid, it was great. The whole time I was on the top with all this stinking snow, I kept thinking, what the heck is a southern girl from NC doing on the top of a mountain in the Alps. I’m not use to cold!-Literally, this cold was different than any I have experienced in the states. It was a much colder to the bone feeling, that again, I can’t describe. Even with a fleece pull over, my north face, a gore-tex Marmot, a scarf and gloves, that was not touching the cold with the wind. It. Was. Freezing.
As I was leaving Como it had been snowing for about 3 hours.
Both nights, I was a hermit in my hotel room. They were cold winter nights so I ordered pizza and figured out how to change the Italian tv into English. Law and Order UK is the first English tv show I had seen in 3 months. It was glorious. Simply glorious. I am so proud of myself. I lived through a weekend traveling in Europe all by myself. I didn’t forget to validate my train tickets, got to the correct plat forms even after delays (snow pretty much sums up my weekend), didn’t get lost walking around an urban city/didn’t get killed, figured out things even in a foreign language, I found fun things for only me to do with no knowledge of the area, etc. I lived!!! So. Proud.
Embarrassing moment of the weekend: I had to change trains in Milan, which is one of the biggest train stations I have ever been in. I was briskly walking because I had to use the little girls room before rushing to my next train. So here I am, walking quickly and deliberately when I start to slide. I started to fall backwards when instinctively I knew I might hit my head and that would be worse then falling forward. So, I over correct myself thinking ‘ok, maybe I’m not going to fall.’ Then boom. I pancaked out on the floor. With my book bag on, carrying a handbag, and wearing many layers, I sprawled out, limbs in ever, direction face down. How embarrassing. Several people came over to me (it’s a busy station, lots of people saw). The people of course were not speaking English and at that moment I just wanted to bounce up and forget it happened. One Italian woman said “banane” trying to lighten the mood while helping me up. -I’m not as young as I use to be. As soon as my knees hit that stone floor, they started what was in between a throb and a sting. As I was walking away I was trying to keep what little dignity I had left and walk without limping….majorly hard. My knees still hurt days later. As a kid, or even a couple years ago, that would not have damaged me so much. At least maybe I sacrificed myself for the wet spot, hoping to prevent an older person from falling and breaking something.
I was just e-mailing my mom about Christmas stuff and was thinking about the wine that would be nice to have with the different festivities, then realized, I don’t get wine at home as often I get it here for several reasons two of which include me not being 21 yet and a bigger one, most of my family doesn’t drink wine very often if at all. I have come to expect it with meals and such. One of my favorite combos now is red wine and chestnuts. “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire” and red wine…nothing better in the world. Even when thinking about my friends, I was so excited for a split second thinking about how I could make a new biscotti recipe we made with my cooking class on Friday, which should be dipped in a dessert wine (for our Christmas party!!! so excited!). I can’t do that because we aren’t 21 so I don’t know how their parents would feel about it/if they like wine or not. The complications of drinking wine in the US are an after thought because I don’t have any of those problems here. Wine with dinner. Wine with lunch. Wine tastings. It’s all the norm and something I absolutely love about Italy.
Now on to exams and those papers that unfortunately were waiting for me upon my return. I have two weeks and one weekend left abroad. Como was my last trip in Europe though, for now. To be continued…
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