Hotel Villa San Francesco Orta San Giulio

... is that? I'm naming my next dog that, no offense to him, he's a great guy, but I think as an American I could get away with naming a dog that, but not a child) had to work, so they dropped Meghan and I off at a little town called Orta on their way to work. Orta is on Orta Lake, a tiny lake in comparison to the others (Luisa didn't even know it existed), and is also freakin adorable. We got there early-ish, and as we were walking to the center I decided I needed to ...

... 7 lakes in the region!

If anyone is planning a trip to Stresa I highly recommend eating at Pappagallo's restaurant. They had the best atmosphere (singing waiters no less!), best wood oven pizza and most important the best desserts! Need to add some photos to this one to give you the full picture!

My friend had the fabulous idea of going to Lugano this weekend and I am not one to turn down great ideas. I still had my Canadian friend staying with me as well and he was ready to move on, but I convinced him to wait until he sees Lugano before he moves on to the next country on his list.

So we made a three-day weekend out of it and had a fabulous time. Lugano is so beautiful! The winding streets, steep hills, charming shopping ...

So we traveled to many cities in one day. We went on a train ride from Chur to St. Moritz. Love it. Switzerland is so beautiful. I still remembered that one second of the shot of the train with a backdrop of snow and lovely houses :D So what we saw were mountains, village ...

... been driving around, it was a bit like a super plague wiping out the city and we saw no one. (JENN - it was bizarre, not a sole, no one anywhere, no kids playing in their yards, no one walking around, I have no idea where they all went, but it sure wasn't were we were!) After examining the sign, using our phase book judiciously we find out that the 15th of August its closed, a public holiday, consumption day apparently. Can you imagine Tesco or Woolworths closing just because it's a ...

... about these mountains but Lorenzo
didn't know. We toured around his house and had lunch. His mom
prepared gnocchi with spinach, a local dessert named Bonar, and some caffe.
There were two big rabbits in the garden. The two cats passed away in Nov
and January. We took some pictures outside the house. Lorenzo
exchanged 300 euros each for ...

... of minutes found ourselves in the town’s central piazza. It was a fairly uninspiring place surrounded by quite ugly mid-twentieth century buildings, but a buzzing crowd of a few thousand people was gathering to fill it. A giant screen was set up in one corner of the square in front of the municipal chambers, with the building’s frontage covered in its entirety by a large hoarding with the words “Grazie Schumi!”

We thought coming to Maranello for ...

... smoked shellfish. In actuallity it was sheets of lasagne topped with large prawns in a rich tomatoe sauce (chopped fresh tomatoes in a sauce like reduced stock (prawn shells and maybe that's where the smoked shellfish were-pureed). A good portion thankfully, because my pan fried perch fillets wouldn't have touched the sides. Ches had taglionini with spiny lobster, and lamb encased in bread (crumbed cutlets) with the best roasted potatoes she has ever ...

... sheet. It was fitted into a screen (as in a room divider or dressing screen), but could be fitted as a window or just hung on a wall for that matter. A wonderful Erte style design. A 20's woman with flowing fluid lines, bobbed hair, one exposed breast and nipple, a clinging gown, and a feather boa. All in burgundy and gold and framed in turquoise and blue. Just stunning. Next stop a gift shop in the piazza for a model car for Luke (a 1992 Bugati), a straw hat ...

... We bought biscotti from our favourite Il Fornaio, and returned home briefly for lunch (Procuito Cotto and Tomato on foccaccia). On the way back down the lane, stopped for Gelato : Malaga (rum and raisin) and Melone Aperitif of C******ay Spumanti with Cassis. For dinner, I cooked braised fennel, tomatoes, salami and parmegiano, and a risotto of C******ay, fennel and asparagus stock, topped with ...