drove most of the day to get to our villa in Lake Como.  Along the way, we encountered a downpour with hail!  Thank goodness it wasn’t TEXAS sized….breaking our car window…finally stopped and the sun came out and we traveled on.  We had GPS that was doing a fabulous job of getting us to our villa when  we got to a road block.  Ahead, we could see what appeared to be a tanker overturned, completely blocking the street we needed to go down.  But Elizabetta Maria…Betty for short…as we are calling our GPS girl….guided us around the wreck to north of the closed section of the road.  Our hostess, Laura met us and got us settled in the Villa.  We had to climb dozens of OLD stairs to our door.  The first floor has three bedrooms each with its own bath and a laundry room with washer.  Bill & Suzy have a queen bed room.  I have a queen bed room and Suzanne and Andy have a queen bed and bunk beds. All have TV’s.   The second floor has the living room with big screen tv and DVD player and a dining room table seating 8.  There is a breakfast room three steps up and a small sitting room and the fully equipped kitchen.  Off the breakfast room is a huge patio with three tables with umbrellas and this overlooks Lake Como.  Just heavenly!  We went to a store down the road and bought yogurt, cheese and crackers and wine and water to tide us over.  Then we went to dinner at a nice place down the road.  Made reservations for a lovely place for tonight.  The restaurant looks like they have a glassed-in gazebo room overlooking the water.  Laura told us her family lives above us…and they completely renovated our space 4 years ago.  She said the building is over 1000 years old.  We intend to just chill here today.  Will go to the real grocery in town before lunch and pick up essentials, have lunch and come back to sit on the patio and watch the activity on the lake.  Will start exploring the area tomorrow.  It’s Sunday…so a day of rest!

I know I’ve been quiet for awhile.  When we got home from Romania, a friend from Dallas was waiting at the apartment.  We started sightseeing in Rome the next day…all day and then went to Sorrento.  Our hotel was one I had stayed at a few years ago, Il Nido…meaning The Nest.  It is way up above Sorrento and overlooks the Bay of Naples and Mt. Vesuvius.  The food at this hotel is wonderful, too.  After a good night sleep, we took a bus to Amalfi along the wingding Amalfi Coast road… hairpin turns and a LONG drop off, but some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.  We spent the day exploring Amalfi.  There was a wedding at the Duomo, and we waited for the bride and groom and wedding party.  The bride was delivered to the church in an Excalibur car.  Every man in Amalifi with a camera took a picture of it during the TWO hours the couple was in the church.  I sent one to Evan and he loved it!  Later, we took a bus home to the hotel.  Now, all day long, they were doing controlled burns and the smoke hung over the bay.  I’m allergic to smoke…so spent the next day in bed…the girls went to Capri while I slept. The train the next day home to Rome and I spent the next day sleeping too.  Just bummed around Rome with friend Diane until it was time to go to Lake Como.  One day, we met a friend at the Jewish Ghetto and had a terrible meal because our favorite place was closed on Tuesdays.  We went back the next day for the better meal.  The next day went to my very favorite place by the Forum…and had a fabulous meal.  Andy and I are going there to celebrate our birthdays.

We left our apartment Friday morning.  Andy’s friend, Suzanne had arrived the day before as did Andy’s sister, Suzy and her husband Bill.  We decided to change the rental car that was a stick shift for an automatic.  Went to the Avis place not too far away and spent two hours waiting for the other car to arrive from Fiumicino airport.  We were first told the car would be an additional 500 euros.  That was acceptable.  The. The price went to 1000 additional euros….that was borderline acceptable…but when the second car arrived it was now an additional 1500 euros…so double the price of the first car.  We kept the first car.  It was supposed to be a car for 7 people.  There are two tiny fold down seats for two in the very back…if you don’t have luggage.  Of course, we have enough luggage for three months for this one week trip.  So, with this several hour delay, we head to Arezzo.  On the way, we decide to stop for lunch at an old Monastery outside of Orvieto.  La Badia is the name of the hotel and restaurant.  Beautiful setting with an ancient church where a wedding was being set up for the next day.  The lunch was great also.  Think Andy and I might go there also to celebrate our birthdays…hers in November and mine in December.  Then a couple of days in Orvieto proper where it is more affordable!  After lunch, we headed on to Arezzzo.  Checked into our Hotel Minerva…down the street from the hotel we stayed in in June.  Would have stayed at Hotel La Toscana again, except no air conditioning there.  After we got settled, we went to the old town for dinner.  Suzy collects plates from restaurants that participate in a plate club.  So this one was Buca dei San Francesco.  A wonderful old basement place with gray artwork and very good food.  I had a fresh pasta dish with anchovy cream and capers.  Very subtle anchovy taste.  Andy had a great plate of grilled asparagus with Parmesan and butter.  Suzanne had a beautiful grilled chicken dish.  Returned to hotel well fed and slept well with rain all night.  More to come….