Jet lag is not my friend. We woke up to the bells of the church down the hill tolling the time to discover we slept till noon. Such sloths we are. We jumped out of bed, ran to make sure the beautiful view was still there, and decided maybe tomorrow an alarm clock was needed.
We quickly showered and, after much thought the previous night regarding this process, I am happy to announce it was a better experience. Almost delightful, but we won’t go that far yet. Maybe in a few days time once I have mastered it I can say that.
We ferried across the lake to Bellaggio where I was promised lots of shopping. Breakfast/lunch was at a beautiful outdoor restaurant on the lake. While sitting there we realized how relaxed most Italians are. You just walk up to a table, sit down, and are served with no pressure to hurry through your meal, no cell phones are ringing, and you are encouraged to drink espresso after your eat. Most Italians sit for at least 1.5 hours, unlike Americans who probably average 45 minutes a meal. You never leave a tip on the table and are always served with a smile. This could be because they are laughing at our horrible Italian. Either way, we have enjoyed every meal here.
I have been coaxed into purchasing a few items and I understand now how much the Euro and Dollar are in comparison to each other and I don’t like what I see. Being the very frugal one, its hard to spend money on an afternoon shopping trip. Although, every time Greg sees my hesitation I am met with “When are you going to be in Italy again,” and somehow I am digging for my money. Its very easy to be persuaded in this beautiful environment and I am not sure I like it.
After shopping, we stopped at a cafe on one of the many cobblestone streets and had tea, people-watched, and listened to the radio playing Lady Gaga and Prince. Sometimes when I close my eyes I am not sure where I am. But once they are open again I know I am not anywhere close to home.
Every spot in this beautiful town has an amazing view. The view in front of our cafe was an old stone church nestled on top of a beautiful cobblestone piazza situated next to a rolling hill dotted with palm, pine, and maple trees. There are children, women, and old men strolling down the streets licking ice cream cones and not worrying about a thing. Can you ask if we are relaxed? You might have to pry our bodies out of our plane seats at BWI when we come back home.
A small bird perched himself on the chair in front of me. Probably to see what pathetic words I was using to describe his beautiful Italian habitat. Or, he was just trying to sneak a bite of my afternoon croissant. I thought the latter and guarded it very closely.
We made it back to the supermarket in Menaggio for a few necessities including fresh bread and cheese before it started thundering and raining. We are so relaxed and I think Greg is really enjoying the silence from me. He has had more quiet time in the past three days than he has had in the past six months we have been married. I only hope he doesn’t get used to it. We all know I love to talk.
Hopefully its bed early and maybe a fun hike to the top of some old castle tomorrow. Who knows, thats the best part.
Well, the bells are tolling once again telling me it’s dinnertime and reminding me these days are not long enough.
