we had barolo in Barolo, so we must have barbaresco in Barbaresco. it was a really cute, small town on top of the hill and very quiet. there wasn't much going on in the town - there was a church, a closed but prestigious-sticker-covered restaurant, a wine store selling bottles and offering tastes from all the local wineries and a huge steel gate to Gaja.
we sat at Buffa tasting three different types of wine served by the owner Carlo Buffa - Barbaresco, Barbaresco Casot and mum stuck with her Dolcetto - and enjoyed the warm sun while looking out over the Langhe hills. the location of the place had an impressive view.
Back in the car again, we drove through Piemonte to Lombardy towards the finale of our trip. mum and dad have never been to the lake region of Italy before and had heard good things from friends. Lake Como is huge and has so many different towns around it, i have no idea how i chose the place i did. maybe the promising proximity to George Clooney's house. lost, well, following weird directions provided by the guest house, i don't know if it's considered lost if there's just one narrow road following the shore of the lake and just going too far in the wrong direction past it. so a half hour too far, we got to see a lot of the lake and the little towns situated on the edge of it. there didn't seem to be much to the towns besides the road the divided the buildings on the shore and the ones above nestled into the looming mountains.
we finally found our guest house Relais Regina Teolinda, and were greeted by a friendly woman, her husband and gorgeous views of the lake. it's an old restored house, maybe some rich family from Milan used to summer there, and the rooms maintain an old, refined character to them. the trees outside lit up with white christmas lights. enchanting. we sat at the edge of the lake drinking paolo monti's complimentary bottle of wine before dinner.
inside, looking out onto the lake.
Grazie a Paolo and Tom Sandberg
Cheers to a great trip with John & Sheelagh. xoxo
we weren't that impressed with Lake Como, I'm not exactly sure why. maybe it was the lack of a town feel. maybe we were tired from all the eating and drinking from the last week. maybe it didn't have the same charm we found in the little villages in the piemonte hills. but i was determined to show them that the Italian lakes are quite nice. so we drove to Garda Lake where I had been once to Solo and another time to Desenzano del Garda - both with cute, walkable little towns. i was right. they changed their minds about the Italian lake regions and decided they would come back to see more of Garda Lake.
mum making freshly squeeze oj in the morning. squirt. ahaha.
aperativo time at lago di garda.
(espresso for dad, the most patient, enduring driver. his new fav. good thing i bought him a moka for his bday)
we drove to Lecco on our way back per recommendation of jess' friend. it was a nice town on the other side of the lake, not very touristy and filled with good looking, dressed up Italians. we had lunch outside at Azzeccagarbugli and artisinal gelato with curious flavours like avocado and chocolate-pear. back to Colorno, we finished the trip perfectly with pizza and fizzy red wine, which despite all the food we ate throughout the week, dad was still craving. mission completed. i had the best time with them - showing them some of my favourite spots as well as exploring new areas with them, sharing and teaching them all the knowledge i've acquired since living in italy, talking about internship possibilities and realities, being woken up to roosters, snoring, church bells, construction, and barking dogs, generally being spoiled, having them rely on me to communicate with the Italians even though i speak English just as well as they do, and getting them to drink coffee like italians do! i was sad to say goodbye. i think they want me to stay abroad so that they can come visit me. and i hope that they do.
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