Getting Our Feet Wet in Lake Como

Time for a writing pivot! I still care about the same things- family, adoption, helping unhoused pregnant women, transformational projects - but we have embarked on a new path and adventure and I’d like to live in the moment and write about life on Lake Como. I hope you’ll join me!

For the past couple of years, hubby and I have been planning a series of “immersive” trips to commence upon his retirement. We decided, God willing, we’d like to see what it’s actually like to live in, rather than visit, a place we’ve longed to go. So here we are, in Lake Como, one of the most beautiful places in the world. A place I’ve seen only in the movies and on TV . . . a place I’ve felt pulled to for a long time.

Our first glimpse of our view, right at dusk, was one of awe at the astounding beauty, and we couldn’t take our eyes off the lake. We opened the bottle of Prosecco left by the thoughtful owner of the villa, and stared out as the stars and twinkling lights on the opposite shore became brighter and brighter. Then exhaustion took us off to bed.

Day One dawned, and after a sleep like a baby who didn’t get his nap, we were unpacked and ready to start exploring. We went out to get our bearings in our new home- Nesso, Italy. Just to get to the driveway we climbed 90 steps. OK, no problem. Then we hit the winding stony path; more climbing. Made it to the church and decided to pop in and catch our breath.

More about the churches later but suffice to say, the tiniest villages, including ours, have magnificent churches.

Onward, in search of a grocery store, and hopefully a nice place for lunch. This first trip told us the food situation was limited- a teeny market where no English is spoken, and one restaurant. Gulp. We somehow managed to purchase food from Demitri, but it was wasn't easy.

Our discovery that six months of Duolingo did not prepare us was disconcerting. We found that when faced with a fast-speaking Italian, we both froze like gelato and opened Google Translate as fast as we could. But we were pretty amazed that right across the market was an ancient shrine! This village was fascinating!

I will admit to a moment of panic wondering how we would get food to feed all the company we were expecting. This couldn’t be the extent of the supplies. We bought what we could from the market, and continued up- you guessed it- more steps. We were thrilled to find the restaurant, overlooking the stunning vista, was fantastic. We wouldn’t starve!

On the way home, as I clambered over the cobblestones and rocky paths, I wondered what we’d gotten ourselves into. Our pathetic attempts at Italian were discouraging, my joints complained the whole way home from the never-ending up and down, and my mind was full of worse case scenarios. But once we descended our 90 steps to the lake, the view greeted us and the simple meal we made for dinner was astonishingly delicious. The market was miniscule, but everything was organic and fresh - old school farm-to-table. I went to bed inspired and slept like one of the rocks on the path. We can do this!