July 27, 2023 - Monza, Italy

Another fantastic day. The weather was absolutely amazing today, sunny and mild. We were up early and caught an 8 AM train from the Monza station to Como. We also bought tickets for the boat at Lake Como at the train station. The station a stop after Monza was the one nearest where Rose's cousin, Elena, lived and she boarded there, met us on the train, and became our guide for the day. The train station is Como is on a hill and there was an enormous flight of steps in front of it down the hill toward the lake front and it crossed my mindd that those steps were going to be murder at the end of the day... Lake Como is nestled in the Italian alps and the region is absolutely stunning. The lake itself is enormous (third largest in Italy) and there are several small towns around the lake, of which Como is just one. The surrounding mountains are dotted with, I am sure very expensive, vacation homes (George Clooney has a place on Lake Como). Because we aleady bought tickets, we were able to skip the queue and get right on te boat. The boat service on Lake Como serves two purposes. First, it is a great way to appreciate the beautiful environs and secondly it serves as public transportation between the various towns on the lake.

Aperol spritz

We got off the boat at Cernobbio. At a cafe with outdoor seating (did I mention the weather was splendid?) not far from the waterfront we tried Aperol spritzes. This is the summer drink of northern Italy. People were drinking them everywhere we went at all times of the day. Aperol is an Italian bitter apertif made from gentian root, rhubarb, and cinchona (also the source of quinine). The spritz is made combining the Aperol with Prosseco (an Italian bubbly wine) and club soda. It is poured over ice, garnished with a slice of orange (did I mention that Italy was citrus heaven?), and served with salty snacks (they brougt us complimentary chips and delicious complimentary olives). Not my favourite cocktail, but enjoyable and well-suited to the warm and sunny weather. We all tried one, except Rose who was afraid she wouldn't like the Aperol (she probably wouldn't have) and decided to get an afogato (espresso poured over gelato) instead.

Elena wanted to take us to a botanical garden in Cernobbio, but we walked there only to find it closed.  We returned to the waterfront and sat in benches that were shaded by trees but afforded a great view of the lake while we waited for the boat back to Como.  I could have sat there all day watching the boats, the waterfowl, and even the fish in the shallows at the water's edge. Glorious.

 

Elena (back left), Me (back right), Rose (middle left),
Lisa (middle right) and Maria (front) at Cernobbio

Once back in Como, we walked to the other side of town where there is a funicular that ascends the mountain and offers fantastic panoramic views of the lake.  I think initially we planned to eat at one of the restaurants at the top of the funicular, but the line for the funicular was so long, we decided to have lunch before ascending - well except for Elena, who has boundless energy, and who stood in line for funicular tickets while we went to the restaurant nearby called Ox Grill and Pizza.  I was hoping to find some local fish (trout, pike, and perch are all caught in Lake Como) on the menu and concerned we might have another Bruge (Belgium) experience (a disappointing and overpriced meal at a tourist trap).  Neither turned out to be true.  While they did not have any local fish, the food was quite good.  Lisa had a pork cutlet sandwich, which she thought was OK.  Maria's pizza looked great (and Elena had some of that when she joined us after securing funicular tickets) and I had an entree salad with romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and smoked salmon that was wonderful.  Rose ordered a stuffed zucchini appetizer that, unfortnately, was not quite what she thought it was when she ordered it.  Basically, it was pieces of zucchini, stuffed with cheese, then breaded and deep fried.  I don't think she liked the cheese that it was stuffed with, but I tried one and thought it was tasty.  Oddly there was no wine on the menu, but they had imported craft beers. I had the Maisel Weisse, a wheat beer from Bavaria.  Very nice.  I did not expect to a have a German beer in Italy...

The funicular was fun (pun intended) and the views were amazing.  Beyond words to describe, really, so I'll just share a picture:

View of Como and lake from top of the funicular

After coming down the funicular, we walked back across town to the train station.  Yes, those steps were brutal at the end of a long day with lots of walking, but one step at a time we made it.  When we got off the train in Monza, we decided to take the opportunity find a restaurant in Monza city center for dinner rather than try to find a place by the hotel (we had already eaten at the one restaurant twice and the hotel restaurant menu was not appealing to Lisa or Rose).  We decided on a Neopolitan restaurant that was supposedly a short walk from the train station.  The area around the train station was a little sketchy, but it quickly got nicer the closer we got to city center.  We had to stop at a department store for Maria to buy a replacement purse as the strap on hers broke while we were walking.  According to the GPS on my phone, the restaurant was only a few blocks from the store but when we got to that location, it wasn't there.  Maria was able to find it on her phone and it was a bit farther than we anticipated and tucked on a side street that was hard to find.  Tired and hungry, we nearly gave up looking for it, but we found it at last.  Nice place.  I capped dinner off there with meloncello - like limoncello only made with cantaloupe instead of lemons.  Where has that been all my life?

After dinner we were faced with the challenge of getting back to the hotel.  None of us wanted to walk back to the train station now that it was dark to catch a cab or get the bus from there.  We did pass a taxi stand on the way to dinner.  We found it again and waited, but no cabs seemed to be coming. We tried Uber again but it could not find a driver (I am not sure it's a thing in Italy) and finally, faced with the choice of walking, I called the cab company (the number was on the taxi stand sign) and they were able to send us a car.  It was from this driver that we learned that the lone cab company in Monza didn't have enough drivers....