Bergamo and Lake Como (June 30 - July 5)
We set off on the 30th to Bergamo, saving a few Euro on accident by booking a bus for the final leg from Brescia to Bergamo rather than a more comfortable train. At the bus station in Bergamo, we met my friend Federico, a student in Milan who was an exchange student at Garfield last year. He hung out with us in the afternoon and told us a little about the region. We had a traditional lunch--polenta--at his recommendation. By itself, polenta is bland, but cooked with two cheeses it was really good. We visited the fortress at the top of the hill in Bergamo and walked a few minutes down the hill to a vista at the walls that surround the upper city. We also visited two large churches in the main square which were really ornate and beautiful. Federico gave me some insight into a few aspects of the churches, including a side room displaying artifacts worn by Pope John Paul II as he was carried to his canonization. We watched the World Cup game at a park where it was projected on a large screen. Federico headed home and we headed to dinner, which included some more polenta as a side.
We took it easy on the 1st of July, eventually making our way to the lower city via the funiculare that rides on steep tracks connecting the two main areas of the city of Bergamo. After finding lunch and hanging out in a park for a little while feeding our bread crumbs to little birds, we rode the funiculare back up to the Citta Alta (upper city) and walked to another funiculare that goes up a hill behind the main city. I walked down instead of buying a new ticket for the second funiculare, and based on my experience I can confirm that this funiculare was also very steep. And then, the moment we had been waiting for...the US v. Belgium game! After finding some polenta-to-go (which unfortunately did not meet our expectations) we headed to watch the game. In a fairly unexciting game, the US ended its World Cup run with a 2-1 loss in extra time. Disappointed, we headed to bed knowing that we would be watching the US no longer.
On the 2nd, the three of us took the train from Bergamo to Varenna, a town on Lake Como, then took a ferry to Bellagio. In Bellagio, our airbnb host graciously picked us up and gave us a ride to our apartment a few kilometers away. Our apartment was just up the hill from a small town named San Giovanni. After getting our bearings for a couple hours and admiring the beautiful lake view, our host picked us up and gave us a ride to the grocery store, where we acquired our food for the next few days. I served as cook during our stay in on Lake Como, while Seth and Greg alternated as dishwashers. This arrangement was very agreeable for all three of us. For dinner, I made some tomato sauce which was accompanied by pasta and salad. The lack of a World Cup game was a blessing, as it allowed us to go to bed early (the US game ended at 1am the previous night).
I got up "early" at around 9:30 the morning of the 3rd to make pancakes while Seth and Greg slept in. We did not have any baking powder, which made finding a recipe online difficult, but eventually I found one sans baking powder. This recipe called for sugar, which we also didn´t have. It instructs to whip the egg whites and sugar until they form stiff peaks. If you have never tried this, be forewarned that egg whites do not form "stiff peaks" when whipped on their own. I can attest to this after vigorously stirring the egg whites for twenty minutes with a fork on the balcony, my final product some bubbly fluff. The pancakes tasted good, but were not fluffy. I made another batch, this time adding some Nutella to the egg whites before whipping them, hoping the sugar would help in the whipping process. After about 10 minutes I gave up, having made no progress, and made crepe-like Nutella pancakes. I attributed my failure to using too much Nutella, but I researched later and apparently egg whites don´t whip if there is they are in contact with any oil (such as the oil in Nutella)--who knew?
Seth and I sat outside in the sun on lawn chairs for almost an hour before we left for Bellagio. The chairs had convenient adjustable face shades. We laughed at the possibility of getting a tan line that included a straight line across the middle of the chest. More on this later. We took the ferry to Menaggio, the third of the main towns near the center of lake Como. Attempting to find a short hiking trail, we missed our turn, walked past some rock climbers, and ended up walking around on a trail in the woods that had not hiking signs and was not too well-maintained; I think it was the remnant of a backyard trail. We had pre-dinner (or post-hike, as you like) gelato before hopping back on the ferry. I cooked some ground beef and added it to the leftover tomato sauce along with some fresh basil we picked up at the market earlier in the day. I also made bruscetta using my dad´s recipe that he learned in Italy at a cooking class a few years ago. The fresh pomodoro tomatoes made it delicious. Getting ready for bed, I made a commet to the effect of "at least I didn´t get sunburnt today" just as I took off my shirt. My cheeks turned as red as my stomach out of surprise and embarassment. I had indeed received a distinguishable burn line across my chest.
To begin the 4th of July, Seth and I hiked up Mount Novulone, a mountain next to our apartment while Greg slept in. Seth used this as an opportunity to train for his upcoming trail run, so he walked with me for about five minute then ran ahead while I walked up. The trail was incredibly steep at times, but luckily most of it was well-shaded. It was about an 800 HM (height meter) climb. I missed Seth at the top, as he took a slightly different trail down from the summit than I took up. I met him down at our apartment, where I found him again sunbathing on the lawn chair. I made french toast for brunch. This turned out much better than the pancakes. We hung out at our place in the afternoon, then I headed into town to watch the Germany v. France game. I found a spot at a packed cafe and sat with a German couple. The wife was very engrossed in the game and thrilled with the victory while the husband was less interested and complained to me that it was a "poor" match. For dinner, I cooked burgers to celebrate America´s independence, accompanied by more pasta. Per usual, we watched the Brazil v. Colombia game before heading to bed.
For our last full day on Lake Como (7/5), we took the ferry to Menaggio and hiked to Sass Corbee. The sun was pounding down, making the first steep part of the hike through residential neighborhoods a slow slog. Once we cleared this portion, the hike became a nice walk through forested area. Sass Corbee was a really cool canyon that had lots of great rocks to climb on and a nice stream. Upon our return, we had a mega-salad (eating all the leftover olives, tomatoes, lettuce, and cheese) as an appetizer for dinner. We planned to eat seafood at a nice restaurant in San Giovanni recommended by our host, but we ran into a huge street festival right by the restaurant so we opted for that instead. I had a healthy portion of assorted fish from the lake, all fried to deliciousness. This was accompanied by polenta and the best french fries I have had in a long time. We eventually headed back up to our place to watch the Netherlands defeat Costa Rica in penalty kicks. The surprise festival made our last night on Lake Como a great one. Back to Zurich on the 6th!
I am currently in Barcelona, but am retroactively writing about my trip in chronological order. Hopefully I will have time to write about Zurich and Rome before I leave Barcelona on the 18th...
We took it easy on the 1st of July, eventually making our way to the lower city via the funiculare that rides on steep tracks connecting the two main areas of the city of Bergamo. After finding lunch and hanging out in a park for a little while feeding our bread crumbs to little birds, we rode the funiculare back up to the Citta Alta (upper city) and walked to another funiculare that goes up a hill behind the main city. I walked down instead of buying a new ticket for the second funiculare, and based on my experience I can confirm that this funiculare was also very steep. And then, the moment we had been waiting for...the US v. Belgium game! After finding some polenta-to-go (which unfortunately did not meet our expectations) we headed to watch the game. In a fairly unexciting game, the US ended its World Cup run with a 2-1 loss in extra time. Disappointed, we headed to bed knowing that we would be watching the US no longer.
On the 2nd, the three of us took the train from Bergamo to Varenna, a town on Lake Como, then took a ferry to Bellagio. In Bellagio, our airbnb host graciously picked us up and gave us a ride to our apartment a few kilometers away. Our apartment was just up the hill from a small town named San Giovanni. After getting our bearings for a couple hours and admiring the beautiful lake view, our host picked us up and gave us a ride to the grocery store, where we acquired our food for the next few days. I served as cook during our stay in on Lake Como, while Seth and Greg alternated as dishwashers. This arrangement was very agreeable for all three of us. For dinner, I made some tomato sauce which was accompanied by pasta and salad. The lack of a World Cup game was a blessing, as it allowed us to go to bed early (the US game ended at 1am the previous night).
I got up "early" at around 9:30 the morning of the 3rd to make pancakes while Seth and Greg slept in. We did not have any baking powder, which made finding a recipe online difficult, but eventually I found one sans baking powder. This recipe called for sugar, which we also didn´t have. It instructs to whip the egg whites and sugar until they form stiff peaks. If you have never tried this, be forewarned that egg whites do not form "stiff peaks" when whipped on their own. I can attest to this after vigorously stirring the egg whites for twenty minutes with a fork on the balcony, my final product some bubbly fluff. The pancakes tasted good, but were not fluffy. I made another batch, this time adding some Nutella to the egg whites before whipping them, hoping the sugar would help in the whipping process. After about 10 minutes I gave up, having made no progress, and made crepe-like Nutella pancakes. I attributed my failure to using too much Nutella, but I researched later and apparently egg whites don´t whip if there is they are in contact with any oil (such as the oil in Nutella)--who knew?
Seth and I sat outside in the sun on lawn chairs for almost an hour before we left for Bellagio. The chairs had convenient adjustable face shades. We laughed at the possibility of getting a tan line that included a straight line across the middle of the chest. More on this later. We took the ferry to Menaggio, the third of the main towns near the center of lake Como. Attempting to find a short hiking trail, we missed our turn, walked past some rock climbers, and ended up walking around on a trail in the woods that had not hiking signs and was not too well-maintained; I think it was the remnant of a backyard trail. We had pre-dinner (or post-hike, as you like) gelato before hopping back on the ferry. I cooked some ground beef and added it to the leftover tomato sauce along with some fresh basil we picked up at the market earlier in the day. I also made bruscetta using my dad´s recipe that he learned in Italy at a cooking class a few years ago. The fresh pomodoro tomatoes made it delicious. Getting ready for bed, I made a commet to the effect of "at least I didn´t get sunburnt today" just as I took off my shirt. My cheeks turned as red as my stomach out of surprise and embarassment. I had indeed received a distinguishable burn line across my chest.
To begin the 4th of July, Seth and I hiked up Mount Novulone, a mountain next to our apartment while Greg slept in. Seth used this as an opportunity to train for his upcoming trail run, so he walked with me for about five minute then ran ahead while I walked up. The trail was incredibly steep at times, but luckily most of it was well-shaded. It was about an 800 HM (height meter) climb. I missed Seth at the top, as he took a slightly different trail down from the summit than I took up. I met him down at our apartment, where I found him again sunbathing on the lawn chair. I made french toast for brunch. This turned out much better than the pancakes. We hung out at our place in the afternoon, then I headed into town to watch the Germany v. France game. I found a spot at a packed cafe and sat with a German couple. The wife was very engrossed in the game and thrilled with the victory while the husband was less interested and complained to me that it was a "poor" match. For dinner, I cooked burgers to celebrate America´s independence, accompanied by more pasta. Per usual, we watched the Brazil v. Colombia game before heading to bed.
For our last full day on Lake Como (7/5), we took the ferry to Menaggio and hiked to Sass Corbee. The sun was pounding down, making the first steep part of the hike through residential neighborhoods a slow slog. Once we cleared this portion, the hike became a nice walk through forested area. Sass Corbee was a really cool canyon that had lots of great rocks to climb on and a nice stream. Upon our return, we had a mega-salad (eating all the leftover olives, tomatoes, lettuce, and cheese) as an appetizer for dinner. We planned to eat seafood at a nice restaurant in San Giovanni recommended by our host, but we ran into a huge street festival right by the restaurant so we opted for that instead. I had a healthy portion of assorted fish from the lake, all fried to deliciousness. This was accompanied by polenta and the best french fries I have had in a long time. We eventually headed back up to our place to watch the Netherlands defeat Costa Rica in penalty kicks. The surprise festival made our last night on Lake Como a great one. Back to Zurich on the 6th!
I am currently in Barcelona, but am retroactively writing about my trip in chronological order. Hopefully I will have time to write about Zurich and Rome before I leave Barcelona on the 18th...
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