Zurers in Italy 2024
Thursday, May 2: Day 4: Como
The sun is shining this morning in spite of the forecast, though the streets are wet. I go to the bar next door to get our breakfast cornetti and they turn out to be the best so far. After breakfast, I take advantage of the sun to look for the laundromat that is supposedly in the center. However, it's not....but I do see some beautiful wrought iron gates and gardens, a statue framed in an arched entrance, and a very narrow street.
Rain is threatening, so after a short walk to the lakefront with Diana, we retrieve the car and drive along the old lake road which runs directly along the shore and goes through the center of a few small villages. We pass many beautiful gardens and elaborate mansions along the way but the most unusual thing we see is a large pyramid in a cemetery in Laglio.
Photo from Visit Laglio
It is the grave of a 19th century doctor and good friend of Alexander Volta, Joseph Frank. He lived in a villa in Laglio and had wanted the pyramid in Como but the city fathers refused the request.
We get to the end of the lower lake road and turn around. The rain is coming down harder now and it's time for lunch. I remember a place a few miles back and we stop there. Da Luciano turns out to be a butcher shop that serves meals based mainly on their meats and we are happy to stop. They are very friendly and have built an enclosed, heated glass porch across from their shop. (The picture is obviously from a sunny day.)
From the da Luciano web site.
We decide to share a simple plate of salumi and cheese. The other table of two men are devouring their steaks and schmoozing animatedly with the owners. It's very serendipitous that we found this spot just when it was needed.
The rain continues for most of the afternoon and we hang out in the apartment. We are watching a four-part Hulu series about the rock band, Bon Jovi. Though not knowing anything about their music, we are hooked from the first episode. It is very skilfully put-together--lots of archival material and interviews with the principals--and the band members who are interviewed are quite appealing and very reflective, especially the leader Jon Bon Jovi.
The rain lets up so I decide to try and find the next laundromat candidate, which is located just outside the "citta murata" or walled city. I make it a point to make the trip on streets where I have not yet walked. Since we are in Italy, there has to be a statue of the national hero of the unification - Giuseppe Garibaldi - and here is Como's entry.
We eat dinner at another neighborhood place, the Latteria San Fedele. I have avoided going there up to now because the menu seemed pretentious and overly complicated, but we don't want to go too far afield because of the weather. Once we conquer the menu and order, dinner is quite good. We split a plate of sciatt--a local dish of buckwheat flour and cheese fritters--which are very tasty. Diana has the tagliata and she says that the steak is excellent. My pizzocheri--a local thick pasta served with a (too) rich cheese sauce was not as successful. We had several glasses of excellent red wine and Diana really enjoys her dessert, a beautifully done fruit tart. There was very nice, quiet jazz playing and the staff are extremely pleasant. We belatedly struck up a conversation with the single man sitting next to us. It turns out he is from Finland and is in Como for a big textile show.
There is a lot of artwork in the restaurant and throughout dinner, I have been looking at this very dark painting hung over our table.
As we are about to leave, I realize that the painting is "A Last Supper"...the figures in the piece have become more distinct as I concentrated on it. I am quite tickled since I can add this "Supper" to my "collection". I want to find out more about the artist so I plan to come back tomorrow to ask the owners.
Back at the apartment, we finish the last episode of the Bon Jovi documentary and call it a night.
We are hoping for no rain tomorrow.
Jim and Diana
