Hello fellow travelers, family members and any other followers out there. What a horrible little blogger I have been. I have a backlog of things to talk about, but I wanted my stories to be told in order... and the longer I wait to start relating them, the more things I have to tell in order to catch up to the present, and consequently, the more burdensome the task becomes (in my mind, anyway). But no more! This week, I will give you all the pertinent information and you will soon know about my life in Spain in the here and now. Not to be a tease, but there are SO many exciting things happening that I can't wait to divulge. But first... let's finish up what has become the most drawn out story ever, that of my puente adventure back in the early part of December...
[imagine blurring images and flashback sound effect, a là Wayne's World, as we go back to that long lost time...]
Como and Lago Maggiore! (December 7th-8th 2012)
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| First lake view as we began our trip. |
After a lovely time in Milano, one of my new friends and I traveled north by train to the lovely town of Como where we met up with L who I mentioned in
part 1.5. After spending a very fun night there, the three of us spent the day (my birthday!) driving around the beautiful Lago Maggiore through a slew of quaint little towns. Among them were: Lugano, Bellinzona, Brissago, Cannobio, Verbania and Stresa. We even passed through Switzerland! All in all, a whirlwind couple of days, and while I generally prefer to stay and soak up a place before I move on, I can't say that I didn't have a good time. Not a bad way to turn 24. :)
Because my memory of those days has faded, I will let the pictures do the talking.
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| What a lovely place this would be to live! Wake up to the snowy Alps! |
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| Oh, hello Castle! You know, no big deal. |
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| Why drive over or around the Swiss and Italian Alps when you can drive THROUGH them. This tunnel was something like 10 miles long! |
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| An absolutely beautiful day for a drive through Italian Lake Country. Just wish we could have stopped longer to smell the flowers |
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| Just sigh. Lovely paradise. |
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| A little too chilly for a dip, although there are stairs going right into the water :) |
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| The travelers. In silhouette. |
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| There were houses UNDERneath the road. Crazy. |
Our awesome rental: The Yellow Panda (thank you, Fiat, for the perfect name)
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| That's an island. I wonder how they get to work? |
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| Last shot of pretty lake country before driving back to Como to return the Yellow Panda. |
After returning the car, L. and I sent my new friend from Milano on his way and then headed for Bergamo, aka the actual location of RyanAir's "Milan" airport, where Liz would be staying for a bit and from where I would be embarking upon the next leg of my epically long adventure the following day. We arrived very late and very hungry... and desperate for a good wifi connection so that I could talk to family on my birthday (because yes, it was still December 8th!).
The next morning (and I use that term very graciously as I don't consider it to be morning if it's still dark out), I caught the bus to the airport, went through the same RyanAir stress-fest, and made it on my flight A-OK. Now, while I don't know if I would choose the dawn flight if I had other options, but flying before the sun comes up does have its absolutely breathtaking advantage: Getting to see the sun rise from the sky!
It was a whirlwind of a week in Italy, and I probably should have caught a catnap on the plane ride, but I was excited and then some as I flew to my next destination, Thessaloniki, Greece, for a weekend of a different alphabet, feta, gyros, but most importantly, Lindy Hop! To be continued... :)
