Europe 2006

Hello, blog fans! We have actually left Milan and the next city too, and are having a grand old time in Menaggio, which is a little north-west of the famous Bellagio, namesake of the casino in Las Vegas that was featured in Oceans Eleven. We had a good time in Milan, spending part of the time feeding ducks with whatever bread products we could find, and sometimes sight-seeing and actually learning something. We strolled through the Sforzesco Castle, which is a fortress steeped in history, rife with intrigue and stories of betrayal and deception. Much to the boys' disgust we took a guided tour, which they consider to be the height of tackiness, but in our defense this tour took us to passageways and ramparts that are closed to the general public. As well, the tour guide told us all sorts of stories about the history of the fortress, which, as I mentioned above, is dripping with the intrigue and the deception, etc. I would love to type it all out, but in this youth hostel the stereo speaker is right beside this computer, and in the spirit of democracy, anyone can put on whatever CD they like, and some pink-shirted teenager with bum-showing pants and blond highlights has put on some funky disco-type techno merde which is mind-numbing and is methodically wiping out my brain cells. You used to be my Romeo, ya ya... ooh ooh *bleep bloop bleep*...

Anyway, the highlight of this trip was my return to Lecco, which is a small city on Lake Lecco, one of the lakes in the Como region. For those of you who are unaware, I was in Lecco in November 2004, when my mother fell ill with pneumonia in that city and needed to be brought home. I met a wonderful Muslim man there, Noor, and we had been emailing each other for the last year and a half. Finally, we would be reunited. Well, the experience in Lecco did not disappoint. Noor met us on the first day, and amidst many hugs and kisses (and that was just for Martin... *heh heh*) he first took us out for coffee, then home to meet his incredibly wonderful and kind wife Irum (they married in February 05), thn we all went out for dinner. The next day, Noor drove us to Bellagio where we noodled around for awhile, enjoying the scenery, weather, and the solid wall of Americans. Then on to a mountain-top village named Bellabio (and I do mean mountain-top), where we had a panoramic view of all the Como Lakes region from about a billion feet up. Then over to his home for what he promised as a "traditional Pakistani meal" which took poor Irum hours and hours to prepare... incredible rice, a chicken dish, lamb meatballs which reminded me of kibbeh, salad, and Pakistani rice pudding. Then, in the Italian fashion, we had fruit and tea. Well, perhaps the tea was more Pakistani. It was one of those meals that was so good and so filling that you wished you could simply roll into a front-end loader and be shovelled home into bed. But of course there was more socializing to do, until Martin fell asleep during Noor and Irum's wedding video, and it was time to go back to the hotel. Tearful farewells. Promises to visit Canada. Assumptions that we'll be back in Lecco next summer, this time for two weeks. Noor must think that we grow our own money like a Chia pet. Not that I don't wish we couldn't come back.

Yesterday we took a morning trip to Bergamo from Lecco, to look at the medieval old city. Beautiful. Piazzas, churches, another fortress, views galore. Cobblestone streets. Many less Americans. Then we trained it to Verenna, and ferried it across Lake Como to Menaggio, where we had reservations in the coolest youth hostel in the world. We're all hanging together in one room, sleeping in bunk beds, which is always a lot of fun with my particular family. The dinners, which aren't cheap but there you are, are created by a chef who used to run a rather chi-chi restaurant in Milan and is here in the youth hostel because... I actually have no idea. But here he is. And the meals are wonderful.

Today we simply walked around Menaggio, soaked it all in, played some soccer then ping-pong with the soccer ball and our hands as we had no proper equipment (it was hilarious), then watched as the sky turned completely black and thunder began to clap in a deafening manner. Just as we made it back to the verandah of the (closed until 4:00pm) hostel, the skies opened up, and the most torrential rainstorm in the history of precipitation let loose for hours. Lightning, thunder, and huge fat droplets coming down a billion at a time. It was quite a show.

My brain is pretty much oatmeal now from this music, so more later. Veep veep zing zing... picola picola picola... I'm ready for the loony bin.