VIVA ITALIA!

Our second day in Como, I woke up and went for a run.  It was really hot but it felt wonderful after not having run for a while.  There's a bike path near the house where we stayed, so I found that, and at one point it looked like it was ending. Fortunately there was some sort of running group coming behind me so I followed them for a bit, and even tried to say hello at one point.  It definitely was a mix of French, Spanish, Italian, and all of us being out of breath.  Either way I made it five miles and survived the heat.

House made cappuccino 

Enza fed us an amazing breakfast.  There was fresh bread, cheese, ham, nutella and jam, croissants, and fresh made cappuccinos.  After we could not eat any more, she drove us towards downtown so we could ask the tourist information desk which boat tours would be best for today.  Since we are in Europe, it was closed this Sunday, but we managed.  We could a smaller boat trip that made about 5 stops in little towns nearby to Como.  And it's hop-on-hop-off, so we could stay as long or as little as we liked in each place.  All the towns were super cute, some more appealing to walk around in than others (we avoided the super steep hills since it was about 93 out...).  We checked out Cernobbio, Moltraiso, and Torno.  They were all pretty different, and we had a blast exploring the downtown areas.  Cernobbio is where George Clooney has a house.  We definitely kept our eyes peeled.  

Downtown Cernobbio

Moltraiso was much hillier than the others, but we wandered a bit, saw a really nice pool through a fence and were super tempted to try to sneak in.  It was incredibly tempting to be by a lake, but a lake with no beaches on it, and a lake that many people don't swim in because of the supposed pollution.  We were bummed about that.  

Downtown Moltraiso and the wonderful looking pool

Apparently they surf on the lake?

Our last stop was Torno.  I think this was our favorite stop of the three.  It was a super tiny town, but lots of boats and greenery.  We stopped for a late lunch.  We ordered some good white wine, a panino (singular of panini) , and a caprese salad.  We shared both and it was the perfect stop.  

 The yummy panino

The place where we ate lunch was at this little restaurant, and we got seats right under all the little trees.  The shade was wonderful and refreshing, and it made for perfect people watching :)

 The bar/café where we ate

 Downtown Torno

We took the boat back to Como, window shopped around town (literally since all the stores were closed on Sunday), and then got a ride back to Enza's house with her.  For dinner we again went back to the little town restaurant sine our food was so delicious last time.  We both tried their pizza just to compare, and it lived up to their reputation.  

Tonight the Eurocup soccer game was the quarterfinal match Italy vs. England.  We made our way across the street to the same gelateria.  The place was packed, and the nice bartender pulled up extra seats for the two of us.  At first no one really noticed us, and then all the younger guys started asking us which team we were for.  Of course we're for Italy, not like we would admit to anything else anyways.  It was pretty funny because one of the guys was unintentionally wearing a shirt with a British flag on it. I called him out, and I think after that they knew we were for Italy.  None of them could believe his hilarious shirt choice.  

 

For those of you who don't follow soccer, the match was super tense and close.  The first 90 minutes ended in a 0-0 tie, even though Italy was dominating.  The 30 minute overtime also ended in a 0-0 tie.  So the game went to shoot outs.  The atmosphere was excited but nervous too.  Lots of nervous smokers sitting on the patio... Italy won by 1 goal in shoot outs and we all went absolutely crazy.  I couldn't imagine how muhc energy there was in this tiny bar in this itty-bitty town.  I was lifted up by some strong guy, everyone was dancing and screaming and sadly steeping on Kristin's feet :(  But it was a really great time, something that Kristin and I wouldn't trade for seeing the game in Rome! VIVA ITALIA!

The next morning I again went for a run, had a delicious breakfast, and then Enza drove us to the train station.  We were all sad to be leaving, but promised to come back soon.  We took the train in Milan to meet up with the two Carls: my dad and brother.