Day 23: PHASE 3...Italy, no Kids :( and :)

At 5:37 am we were on the road driving Ben to the Como train station...where he had confirmed a ticket to get himself to Malpensa Airport in Milan, since it was 1 1/2 hours from Linate Airport in Milan...(how does that work since Milan's not that big?)....then we drove to Linate Airport with Dan, since he had all his college bags/books and needed a bit more curb side support than Ben.  We needed to beat the rush hour traffic, which we did, and he was dropped off by 7:30...only 3 hours ahead of his scheduled departure.  Peg and I then drove the 1 1/2 hours back to our B and B on Lake Como...had breakfast...since it was only 9am, and immediately went back to bed.  Thinking I slept for 3 or 4 hours, Peggy woke me up to say...let's go hiking...it's a beautiful day out (the clearest we have ever seen it...due in large part to the thunderstorms last night)...I was not really up for it when I found out I only had about 30 minutes of shut eye.  Being as effective as any man in negotiating his will with his wife...you know how it turned out...I jumped up and got ready for hiking:)))  We had no way of hearing back from Ben or Dan, to see if they made it on the flight or had any glitches...and rather than ineffective worry...effective hiking would keep our hearts and minds positive and prayerful....(It's now 6pm and we still have seen no postings from the men saying they landed at one of the interim airports)....but that will come...
Hiking we did!!!  to our favorite Rifugio Menaggio....straight up for about an hour, then it flattens out for 5 minutes and then up again for 10 minutes and then you arrive....On our drive to get as high on the mountain as is physically reachable by car, we had a photo op of the Casino Royal final scene's estate...which is tiny and in the middle of all the leaves (Ben won't let me use Digital Zoom any longer on my camera without ridicule, because he says the pixels get all fuzzy when you enlarge the photo..he's so technical)..

 The start of the hike is in forest, as you go straight uphill...but eventually breaks out and provides excellent views of Lake Como and the villages, like Bellagio, situated on the tip of the peninsula...

 In the middle of this photo (again, no Digital Zoom), you can see a tiny white building which happens to be our goal...the Rifugio Mennagio.

 Peggy is in great spirits in large part due to the colors and clarity all around....and that I let her hold my super duper walking sticks...just for the photo...

 We arrived at our destination, and for the first time had some extra energy to go 15 minutes further to the next peak, from where we could see into Switzerland.  (don't worry folks, my hat, which I wear every second to protect the chrome dome, is in my hands and went right back on after the photo).

 Peggy even went a bit further to the little peak a few hundred yards away, and before she came back, I guess it was time to practice some Polish balancing techniques again...which I caught from a distance...

 The Rifugio provides full meals...and since it was lunch time when we arrived, offered Peggy a polenta and cheese plate.  (seems like they needed to get rid of a few tons of cheese)

 and I had their vegetable soup...which was delicious... until somehow I found a large number of cheese chunks floating...hmmmmm....how special....

 Reflection time....it was too beautiful to start back down..we had to stop, pray, praise and smell the roses...

 Screeching to a halt on a steep downhill curve, I asked Peggy, "What did you say stop now for?" She said "look, there it is!"  So here you all go...another photo of the Casino Royale final scene's estate...anybody recognize it???  anybody care???

We made it back to our B and B ready for a swim in Lake Como...we just walked across the street, down these stairs... which are right outside our balcony window...and were refreshed instantly (the water is only 68 degrees)...

Dinner time soon and I will add perhaps a photo or two after we eat....perhaps more than 1 or 2...and the first would be a sun drenched picture of Bellagio....across the lake from our B and B

 I also took this opportunity to try my first 30 second video...let's see if this works:))  If it does, it's dedicated to Elva Burlingham!!!

As I was just sitting there taking the random photo or two...the wonderful staff brought me an aperitivo...Prosecco and this amazing soft, fresh, local, covered in pure olive oil and fresh cracked pepper cheese...how was I supposed to know that there was one slice for each of us?  Just because there were 2 toothpicks...Peggy hadn't even arrived yet, and so I assumed these were for me.

 What Peggy saw when she arrived, and I'm sure it's something she loves to see....my finger swipes confirming that I had secured every drop of olive oil and fresh cracked pepper that was put originally on the plate....nice artistic design huh?  She didn't think so...they did bring her a slice for herself when they realized their mistake:)

 Well, we both got to have our own appetizer from this 4 course..."Garden" menu.  This is the roquefort cream filled celery with its fresh tomato grilled off with oil and garlic...uh...uh...uhmazing!!!

 Ty called this a timbale of eggplant stuffed with black rice, ricotta and other goodies, baked in the oven with fresh tomato sauce

 While it looked great on the outside...the inside tasted even better!

 The "main" course was a zucchini tart that was paired with olive oil and lemon juiced carrots...seriously flaky and delicious...

 Of course, after 3 years of being at the lake, George felt compelled to swing by in his heli, to wave hello...we politely waved back but were too excited about dessert coming to give him too much attention....I'll call him later to make sure he understood!

 And here's why...a 7 layer coffee tarte smothered in melted, warm, home made dark chocolate.  Honestly, it was so good that neither of us could finish it....

There was a warm breeze that picked up once in a while during dinner, and the lake was sometimes calm and sometimes a bit wavy...but the air, the evening, the food and mostly the loving companionship made this an unexpectedly blessed evening...and that's hard to do when you're missing your kids so much!  We love you Ben and Dan..write to us once in a while.....just don't ask for too much money:))))  Ciao Bella!