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|  || Thursday, October 26, 2006 || Days 39-41 (13th - 15th Oct) - Italy The world, I think, can be divided into two groups of people. Those, lauded by generations of poets and novelists, who can sit back in quiet repose and silently appreciate the beauty of Nature, and those who can't. I think I belong to the second group. Happily, my happiness does not depend on the opinion of writers in general, most of whom I think are fluffy-headed left-wing idiots anyway. Friday, Day 1 So our destination was the town of Menaggio, by Lake Como, to the north of Milan. To describe it succinctly, it was small, quaint and had good scenery. In short, it is a place for the first group of people. Although to do it justice I did have an enjoyable time by Lake Como. Not great, not excellent but nevertheless, enjoyable. I suppose my placid feelings are a reflection of the sort of place Menaggio is: calm, slow and quiet, not the sort of place to stir strong emotions at all. Being a creature of spirit and heart, naturally it did not call out to me. Still... beauty always recognises beauty and Menaggio at very least was pretty:  [From left to right - Row 1: At the hostel, a boat in French colours!, a pretty little white flower, mountains by the lake; Row 2: Buildings, lakeside scenery, view from the hostel, more lakeside scenery; Row 3: More buildings, lakeside scenery again, another view from the hostel, James, Sin and I on a random street; Row 4: Origami flowers that Shumin and Sin love, more of Menaggio, a duck and her drake, Shumin, Sin and I at a restaurant by the lake]We had an easy first day. Drinks (I had champagne!), lunch (at a Lonely Planet Guidebook recommended pizzeria), check-in, gelato (also recommended, 3 whole scoops!!), a leisurely ramble from street to street and shop to shop, lazing on the hostel terrace in admiration of the scenery then dinner then Monopoly (which by the way I won). Ah the simple life!  [From left to right – Row 1: Sin and I toasting by the lake, Lumpy and my champagne, the bad little elephant-scout, views of the Pizzeria; Row 2: the interior of the Pizzeria, very soft and tender calamari, all-meat pizza, seafood pizza; Row 3: Tiramisu, Tartufo semi-freddo, the Gelaria, my 3 scoops: strawberry, hazelnut and chocolate!; Row 4: Dinner’s restaurant, Occo Buco (pork shank) with semolina, lemon sorbet gelato, us at dinner]Saturday, Day 2 Because I was adventurous and also because Menaggio was that small and because the brochure promised us a market, we went to the town of Como, the largest in the Como Lake district. Alas! Como was a con. Full of tourists, touristically priced yet without touristic charm to redeem it. And the market was… well I’ve seen better pasar malams. To make matters worst, lunch was not good. Although we did have excellent chocolate gelato there. And I did buy a pretty pink pashmina. So I was reasonably happy. Actually I think I’m easy to please. All I need is good food and something pretty. Anyway:  [From left to right – Row 1: Tourist trap restaurant, Church directly opposite restaurant in whose shade we ate, a food shop I went to and a whole shelf of pesto!; Row 2: Bad Fritto Miso, a hideously adorable dog we saw at the market, pasta so sub-standard I can honestly say I can make better pasta than that; Row 3: Little chocolate snacks from an upscale teashop, the patriotic table settings of the tourist-trap restaurant, my gelato—chocolate and orange]Bellagio (yet another little lakeside town) however redeemed the day. It was enchantingly pretty and very Palm Beach in feel. Plus it had many shops with darling little knick-knacks:  [From left to right – Row 1: Bellagio Harbour, one of the many quaint Bellagio streets, a snowman at a Christmas shop (selling only Christmas decorations), the view from the top of the staircase of the Christmas shop]AND I bought Lumpy a friend (from a shop which sold the most precious little porcelain figures)! I had to. He was smiling at me from the window with laughing eyes and so I smiled in return and had to get him. Presenting:   Dinner back in Menaggio at a lakeside hotel. It was the best meal of the trip. Good but not great. France has spoilt me. Sunday, Day 3 An excellent breakfast. The hot chocolate tasted like rich, melted and heated ice cream and the iced brioche I had was delightful.  Following which we took a ferry to Veranna (yes, another lakeside town. For the less aware, lakes are usually surrounded by many little towns, a large town not being possible since you can’t build across water and you shouldn’t build uphill). There was a flea market!!  Lake Como and its little towns are lovely places, but after 2 days of being surrounded by mountain ranges seeing only a misty lake I was beginning to feel suffocated. I make a terrible Chalet School girl (the original setting of the Chalet School by the way, is the Archensee mountain range, in Austria, Tyrol). The shame. Possibly if the lake had been blue and clear and lit by sun I would have forgiven it, but it was not so we should not dwell on what could have been. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I abandoned the rest and made a trip to Milan!!  [From left to right – Row 1: The Duomo Cathedral (gorgeous stained glass windows!), buildings, shopping street, Lumpy under a baby archway; Row 2: tablet of a cute old man, Lumpy at the top of the Duomo (I climbed all the steps up!), the view from above, the Galleria (a huge shopping arcade); Row 3: Fascist balconies from which Mussolini made his speeches (I stood on the balconies!!), statute of Da Vinci, outside view of the Galleria, a car with anti-Berlusconi posters all over it; Row 4: good bread at my dinner restaurant, ultra-creamy carbonara—with not cream apparently, it’s all egg!, my tartufo gelato, view of the restaurant (recommended also in the Lonely Planet Guidebook)]Much better. I felt alive again. One can only take that much tranquillity. I suppose I will regret saying that when I am old but youth must be allowed to commit its own mistakes so it may learn from them. Oh yes, while wandering around the lively streets of Milan a random fellow came up and began to talk to me. I simply stared at him and remained mute and he had the cheek to tell me not to be afraid. Eventually though I figured what could he do to me in broad daylight so I decided to use him to get directions. Anyhow after a certain strain of conversation he walked away. The point is seriously, what on earth have the PRCs been doing here. It was quite the adventure. I like adventures. To sum up, peace and quiet are good to have, but give me life and action any day!! Oh and just because:  [Clockwise from bottom left: Woollen pashminas, cloth paintings I found at the flea market and got for a song, little chocolates I got from Como and Semi-Freddo!]
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