Lake Como

Shopping in Como

Only an hour and a half from home we find ourselves in Italy by Lake Como, what a fantastic region; it’s been a while since we came to this area, we have been to Milan a few times, which is about 2 1/2 to 3 hours from home, this is our first visit to the city of Como.

I really liked this city, great shops, quaint little bars, and coffee shops everywhere. The Cathedrale was absolutely amazing! I was stunned walking in there, almost a bit ostentatious, but absolutely incredible workmanship.

The weekend market

was about a 3/4 mile long, double-laned, with an astoundingly choice of merchandise.

It seemed like all the locals were shopping for food and supplies for the week, and I can understand why since the prices were a fraction of what we pay in Switzerland. I had two Cappuccinos in one of the side street little cafes, and when asked for the bill the waitress told me “2.50 please” I said  “Excuse me?” she replied, “Two fifty Signore”, two fifty for two Cappuccino? Wow, in Switzerland we pay 4.80 for one!

My friend Franco wanted to buy some shoes for his wife, the shoe store owner told us to look out for Mel Gibson, who was strolling around Como, and George Clooney, who owns now two houses on Lake Como.

I cannot comment on the food, as we only eat some chicken skewers at the market, which were delicious, and then I had a slab of cold pizza in a food court market, they couldn’t heat it for me because another large pizza dominated the oven, so instead of waiting I eat it cold while walking. We then had dinner over the border in Switzerland, on the way back, in the Tessin region, our friend Franco said he knew a little place somewhere above Airolo, very rustic, traditional Ticinese food served, but he hadn’t been back for a couple of years, so we decided to give it a try. It was dark when we arrived in the area, we drove to a small village with very narrow streets to reach this little restaurant, as we walked in we realized it didn’t look anything like rustic anymore, with white table cloths, burgundy glasses on the tables, the place was painted over, it looked brand new. We then were told that a new owner had taken over about two months ago. Therefore the food was not as good as we all expected.

Anyways, we shall go back to Como for further exploration of the surrounding areas, and visit that market again.

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