Italian Food, Ut Oh...

When we woke up the next morning we had wonderful views of the lake from our room's balcony. It was so impressive to look out and see what seemed like a picture. I have admired Lake Como for some time and have always wanted to travel there. Now that I was there I wanted to explore as much as we could before we had to head off to another town again.

The first days agenda was Menaggio. We were a mile from town and we wanted to see, taste and swim our way through the town. Well, we did exactly that. We walked into town along the narrow road that follows the lake (kind of like the road around Tahoe). All over were amazing Villa's and towering mountains. Across the lake was Bellagio (which we planned to explore the next day). We decided to shop around a little bit, sit by the water, enjoy some real Italian gelato (BTW... it is the best thing on this earth), then have some lunch. Nik was so excited about the lasagna we had the night before he was determined to have it for every meal except breakfast while we were there. So, he had it for lunch.

We then decided to walk the town a little more and discovered a locals beach, off the main drag. We laid in the sun and swam in the lake. It was much more warm than I expected, but it felt great to cool off from the hot sun. Nik had fun skipping rocks with some kid and I swam out to a buoy out in the distance.

On our way back to the hotel, we decided to stop at the grocery store for some apps and of course just to check it out. Unfortunately it was closed. We completely forgot that Italy has siestas (or whatever the Italians call it) so everything closes from about 2-4 everyday. Instead we stopped at a restaurant for some refreshing drinks then headed back to the store when it finally was open. We spent sometime checking out the Italian wines, cheeses and other Italian specialties, then headed back to the hotel for some mid evening apps on our balcony overlooking Bellagio across the water.

That night we decided to eat dinner at our hotel. It was so good the night before, plus we could tell it was a great locals favorite (it was packed). We both had to order the lasagna again (this time I couldn't resist). We had a fantastic time together, sitting outside in the moon light enjoying our favorite meal thus far. As our dinner was coming to a close a gigantic thunderstorm erupted upon us. All the other guests ran inside, but we were under an awning, so we just sat back and enjoyed the show. I can't remember the last time I saw lightening like that. It was a great way to end the night.

While sleeping that night I woke up to a terrible stomach ache. I was completely sick. It must have been something I ate, because I felt terrible the next morning and throughout the next day. Probably some moldy cheese or prosciutto. I was a wreck. I couldn't get out of bed and poor Nik chose to deal with me. The entire next day, instead of going to Bellagio, I slept and Nik took care of me. I kept trying to get him to go and explore, but he insisted upon staying and looking after me. I'm a lucky gal to have such a great man!

Our quick stop in Lake Como, didn't turn out to be exactly as planned and it was quite the effort to get out there. We had so much fun the day we spent there and we already had to leave the next morning. It was off to Innsbruck, Austria. I still was not up to par, so Nik carried the large bags and I did my best to hurry along and be ready to move at the drop of a dime on our next adventure day of travel.