Holy tornado, Lake Como.

When we woke up following our first day in Milan, my mom and I had to decide whether we wanted to go up and see the Lake Como area, or if we would prefer to just stay in Milan.  Since the weather forecast for both was not so great, we decieded why not go to Lake Como, while we were here!?

After another quick train ride, we arrived in Varenna, right on the east side of the lake.  At first, it was just chilly and drizzling, with a slight wind….but as we walked from the train station toward the center of town, things picked up.

It dropped 20 degrees (to like 40), the wind picked up to 20+ mph, and the rain drops started coming 20 per second.  Our umbrellas were doing that thing where they whip inside out!  Despite the hurricane-like weather conditions, my mom and I trudged on.  (I mean, I just walked, but she was not a happy camper, plodding along kindly because I wanted to explore.  You have to remember that she has about -5% body fat, so she becomes hypothermic and unhappy at any temperature below 80 haha.)

Finally, we had looped through town and gotten enough pictures for me to be content with, so I let her choose a warm little restaurant for lunch.  While she warmed her hands over the candle at the table, shivering, we ordered bruschetta (yet again), pesto pasta (for me—again!), and lasagna for her.  Growing up, lasagna was always one of my mom’s favorite foods and one of the yummiest dishes she made, so I was excited when she ordered it.

After loitering there, still trying to warm up enough to feel our toes and dry a bit, we headed back up toward the train station.  I made her take a few more pics of me at one area I had really liked, which of course gave us a big fit of the giggles again.  Since she was so cold and her hands were shivering so much, while she was also trying to hold her umbrella steady against the gale-force winds, my mom literally just held the camera up in the general direction of me and started clicking….like 75 times!  I suppose it was a good technique since a few of the photos came out fairly well, all factors considering.

Soon we were back on the warm (humid) train and in Milan.  By the time we had cleaned up in our hotel, the rain had stopped and it had warmed up a bit.  We headed out for dinner at another restaurant that Firas’s girlfriend had recommended, Osteria del Corso, and enjoyed more yummy food!  It was a great way to end our time in Italy.