10/27/2025-Como, Italy
The skies were clear and the air was crisp as we walked the
lake front to the Funicular for a ride up to 222 m. The view from the top was
beautiful, mountains and lush landscape dotted with beautiful old homes. We
followed the path to the Farro lighthouse ascending another 200 m on an
artfully constructed stone path past the imposing old homes. From the light
house we could look to the west and see one of Switzerland’s fingers of
mountain that poked deep into Italy. Our cell phones chirped with welcome to
Switzerland picking up on their cell towers.
In the little town below the lighthouse, we could see the Swiss influence. In the café we enjoyed a body warming and filling potato soup and a beer for lunch. The walk down the hill to the Funicular seemed to go so much more quickly. The short decent in the funicular had us back at lake level in no time. From here we walked into the walled city.
Como is famous for silk. Duke Ludovico
Sforza planted mulberry trees in the late 1400s and this attracted silk
warms. In the 18th century the silk production was industrialized. Como
became the third largest producer of silk after China and Japan. This little
fact had the Admiral on a mission to purchase a Como-made silk scarf. There was
no shortage of stores in the old city and Suzette found her perfect scarf. A
quick stop at the apartment to regroup and off to walk the east side of the
lake and find a place for dinner. On the east side of the lake there is a
fountain not unlike the geyser of a fountain on Lake Geneva. It was beautifully
lit with a sliver of a moon above it and the city lights behind it. Nearby
there was a huge wedding reception taking place at a beautiful old inn at the
water’s edge.
I had asked the waitress earlier in the day about fresh fish from the lake. She indicated that there was fresh fish and that the classic preparation was pan fried and served over cous cous. Now I was on a mission to find a suitable restaurant that served this dish. It took a few google searches and some walking and peering at menus but we succeeded. The dish was well prepared but not one that I need to try and reproduce. Suzette enjoyed seafood pasta.
10/28/2025-Como, Italy
Another beautiful sunny day but we were a little bit
stranded in our apartment. We had done a load of laundry the day before but the
front loading washing machine would not open and allow us to retrieve our clothes.
This was a very nice apartment, but it had its issues. The technician arrived
at 0830 along with the owner. The technician went to work, and we shared with
the owner all of the issues with the apartment. He was very apologetic and
allowed us to check out late so we could dry the wet clothes that came out of
the washer. When he was leaving he asked if he could bring us a taste of Como. Of
course, we said yes and he returned shortly after with a delicious loaf of
sweet bread.
While our clothes were drying, we went for a walk along the
west side of the lake. This was clearly the preferred side with grand villas
lining the shore. They had boat garages below that had direct access to the
lake and beautifully manicured landscaping. Most of the villas were now
occupied by the government or operating as hotels, beautiful none the less.
The 1230 train to Bergamo was canceled so we waited in the train station for an hour and caught the 1330. All the trains ran through Milan where we changed trains and made our way to Bergamo. Bergamo is famous for its Venetian walls from a time when it was the westernmost outpost for the Republic of Venice, but Suzette was after shoes. We had been here several years ago, and she was very happy with shoes that she had purchased here. Our other piece of business here was visiting our friends at Beltrami, a manufacture of fabulous sheets and towels that we had discovered when we were at the Cannes Yacht Festival. We had an appointment with Cinzia and Stepania the next day and we needed a car.
After getting settled into our apartment, a huge 3-bedroom
modern décor place, we called up an Uber to airport and were quickly on our
way. We rented an MG, not a sports car but an SUV. We were like two retards
navigating back to the apartment, wrong turns constantly, but we made it
finally and settled in for the night.
10/29/2025-Bergamo, Italy
A light rain falling and a lazy morning as we prepared to
make the 30 minute drive to Baltrami in Cene, just NE of Bergamo. We managed to
do a better job of navigating and arrived a few minutes early. Stephania met us
and kept us entertained for a while. She and Suzette looked at various products
they make and a variety of fabrics that are available. The fabrics that
Beltrami make are made from birch trees. They do the whole process from harvest
to processing and production. We were picking up some additional sheets and pillowcases
for Raffaellesco and for home. I have a canvas project on Raffaellesco but you
can only get our color of canvas in Europe. Cinzia was kind enough to order 5 m
of fabric for me.
Cinzia, Beltrami’s CEO, took us all to lunch at her favorite restaurant and we enjoyed good food and conversation. The ladies decided that we needed to go to Cinzia’s favorite dress shop and do some shopping. Cinzia is small like Suzette, and this was her go to shop for things that fit her. They had a grand time trying on all sorts of clothes. Suzette selected a very chic pair of pants though they will require some tailoring. Cinzia was kind enough to volunteer to DHL them to Suzette in Barcelona when they are ready.
We said our goodbyes to Cinzia and drove back to Bergamo for
some early evening shopping. We were trying to locate the shoe store that we
found on our last trip to Bergamo but no luck. It was raining again so we
headed home.
10/30/2025-Bergamo, Italy
The day started off rainy but tapered off by mid-morning. We
drove to Upper Bergamo, the old part of the city high on the hill north of the
city. This is a beautifully preserved area with grand old buildings full of museums,
shops and restaurants. Suzette was whitling away at her Italy shopping list and
found a beautiful leather handbag. We stopped for pinza at a shop displaying a
huge selection of pinzas. This is a thick crust version of their pizza, kind of
a focaccia loaded with toppings, my favorite. The recipe for the bread traces
its roots 2000 years ago when it was originally baked by the rural population
living just outside of ancient Rome. Having exhausted the shopping in the upper
city we headed to the airport to return our rental car, a much smoother
navigation this time. We took a cab back to our apartment to regroup.
In lower Bergamo we scoured the shopping district and Suzette managed to find a cashmere sweater, warm socks and a beautiful pair of black Italian leather boots. This left only a couple items on her Italian shopping list for our visit to Milan. At the edge of the shopping district is the financial district where the banks and businesses occupy the beautifully restored and maintained old buildings. We stopped for aperitivos and watched the people of Bergamo pass by.
10/31/2025-Bergamo, Italy
It was another drizzly morning as we packed our things and walked to the train station. An uneventful train ride had us in Milan by noon. We are getting pretty comfortable with the trains. The VRBO allowed us to check in early so we grabbed a taxi at the train station and headed to our apartment. The apartment was fabulous, the ceiling was perfectly preserved ancient wood beams, the floor was stone, and the décor was a beautiful mix of classic and modern elements. The unit had windows on both sides that opened to quiet courtyards, no noisy streets. There was a bakery below filling the courtyard with the delicious aroma of fresh bread. Unlike the other apartments, this one was warm and the marble bathroom floor was heated.
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| Treats from the wine and cheese shop? |
We were at the Northeast corner of the old city so decided
to explore the area north of us where there were many unique modern buildings
with a few ancient structures mixed in. The area was familiar from our last
stop in Milan 4 years ago. On the way back to the apartment we picked up some
fresh bread, cheese and a bottle of wine to go with our planned dinner of Fungi
and fresh pasta. Suzette made a fabulous dinner and we enjoyed a quiet night,
no noisy city streets.
11/1/2025-Milan Italy
It was an overcast morning and no rain. The order of the
day, shopping for our last full day in Italy…for a while. We strolled the high
end shopping areas on our way to the beautiful Vittorio Emanuele, the Galleria
near the Milan Duomo. The famous and unaffordable shopping streets are Via
Monte Napoleone and Via Della Spiga, lined with the luxury brand stores and
filled with lambos, Ferraris and Bentleys in the streets. Fun to window shop
and people watch here. Coming off Monte Napoleone the majestic Duomo of Milan
comes into view dominating the skyline. This remains the most beautiful
building I have ever seen, awe inspiring height and amazing details everywhere
you look. Adjacent is the famous galleria with its high vaulted glass and iron
roof, an architectural marvel.
We found a nice restaurant just off the piazza of the Duomo and had a fabulous lunch; eggplant parmesan, roasted vegetable salad and a pinza covered in roasted toms, burrata, olives and roclate (arugula). Way more food than we needed but it was all so good. We took half the pinza home with us. After lunch we managed to finish off Suzette’s list, unlined leather gloves and black stockings. I guess this means we can leave Italy now, replete with Italian goods. We picked up a bottle of wine on the way home to enjoy with our leftovers. The Italians have upped their game with Chianti so chianti it is.
At the apartment we checked the AIS to see Raffaellesco’s progress.
She is due into St Thomas 11/11 in the early morning. I spent the evening
finding a way for us to go from Barcelona to St Thomas and it was not easy. I
canceled our tickets to Baltimore and managed to find a flight that would get
us into St Thomas in time. It will not be fun; Barcelona to Atlanta, overnight
in Atlanta, Atlanta to St Thomas, all in Main Cabin! The boat is expected to be
unloaded sometime between 11/11 and 11/13 and we need to be there to receive
her and find a mooring for her.
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