Villa Balbianello

On Sunday some friends had organized a private tour of Villa Balbianello at Lenno on Lake Como. We decided to join them since there was no way we'd be organized enough to arrange such a tour ourselves. And we're sure glad we did.

It was a beautiful afternoon. On our way there, Dario took a little detour to show us the lake's famous resident, Clooney's home. Then it was off to meet the rest of the gang for the tour. Our tour guide was really friendly and kept it interesting as we explored the inside of the villa. I understood some of it but not everything. There was even a cool secret passageway that the cardinal had built connecting his bedroom with the guest bedroom. Ah-hem!

After the tour we checked out the beautiful gardens and then decided to hire a boat for a ride around the lake. It was when we were sitting at the dock waiting that we spotted Clooney himself on a boat passing by. Our boat ride around the lake was nice. The weather was perfect. What a day.

Val de Aosta

All my American friends were having Memorial Day bbq galores and I had been lamenting about the lack of bbq culture here in Italia. Luckily Leo and family came to the rescue by inviting us to their mountain home in Val de Aosta for a bbq. Yay!

It was a 1 hour drive from Milan and it didn't take very long before the city was long forgotten and we were driving up a quiet country road to the house. It was the cutest house with a warm and cozy interior. I could only imagine holing up inside on a snowy winter day. The bbq outside was a whole structure by itself. Little G busied herself immediately doing what sweet little girls do, picking flowers from the meadow outside. :-)

We had a variety of meats, sausages and vegetables on the grill. Everything smelled and tasted good!

After lunch we decided we take a walk. We found more beautiful views and lots more flowers to be picked. The rest of the afternoon we relaxed, played frisbee and just enjoyed the beautiful countryside.

Then we decided to visit Leo's hometown, Pont Saint-Martin. It is a cute little town with an impressive Roman bridge. The annual festival was going on and they were setting up stands selling food, drink, and a bungee jump off the bridge. Too bad none of us were brave enough to attempt it.

We had a really fun day in Val de Aosta. Thanks to our hosts, Leo, Nadia and Ginevra!

An Italian Wedding

Summer is here and our weekends have been incredibly busy. This past weekend we were at our friend's wedding near Crema about an hour away from Milan. Honestly, the church ceremony with all the Catholic rituals was really boring. Things started to pick up when we got to throw rice outside the church doors.



The reception site was a beautiful villa set seemingly in the middle of nowhere. The weather was perfect and there weren't too many bugs out. The food was good, especially the appetizer buffet at the beginning. The night ended with and outdoor dessert buffet - tons of delicious goodies - by candlelight with a string quartet playing. It was nice.

Auguri, gli sposi!