I have been a knitting machine the last month or so and I am clearing through my stash like nobody’s business. In the last month I have knitted five hats and a pair of slippers. I blame Ravelry. I also have a couple of secret projects that are coming along nicely too. But the project that I am most excited about is the pair of slippers that I just finished. This is because we have tile flooring and it’s cold. Really cold. Like two pairs of thick socks cold and this is coming from a girl who grew up in Minnesota. I know from cold. These slippers are amazingly warm and comfy. I love putting them on. Take that tile flooring!
A few weeks ago we took a little trip to Laggo Iseo about 30 minutes from Bergamo in Brescia. It was an unexpectedly warm day. One of the last if the year. We took the ferry over from Iseo to Monte Isola. There are no cars on the island only scooters , small tractors and Ape’s-which are kind of like three wheel scooter with a cab and a flat-bed back. We walked a little and then decided to rent bikes. The woman who rented us the bikes said that is was a quick easy ride around the island. I think this woman would have given Lance Armstrong a run for his money. Ten minutes into the ride we came to the little hill that she mentioned. Um… no it was straight up for about 3 miles. I ended up pushing my bike most of the way up. I was worth it though, the view was amazing and the rest of the way around was a nice downward ride. We made the last ferry from the island just in time for a very well deserved aperitivo.
I remember as a child sitting in the carpeted bathtub in the Hopkins library with a stack of books. This book was always in the pile. I can’t wait to see it come to life.
It is rainy and dreary here which seems like the perfect time to post something warm and sunny. Earlier this summer we were able to get away for a few days to hit the beach. We drove over to Liguria which is about a two and half hour drive if you take the Autostrada or 4 hours if you take the winding back roads in the mountains like we did. It was a very scenic and lovely drive but after 4 hours on the mountain roads I started to feel like a scrambled egg.
Liguria providence is on the northwestern coast of Italy on the Mediterranean. It’s major city is Genova the home of one my favorite things pesto! You can smell the basil in the air. Another town that Liguria is known for is Portofino.
Portofino is the one of the many European playgrounds for the super rich. In the harbor you can see many yachts and all the hotels there are four star and five star. We weren’t staying there, obviously, but I still wanted to see the namesake of so many American Italian restaurants. We drove over and I was really hoping to take a stroll and see for myself what the hype was all about. When we got there the parking ramp was full and even if we wanted to park we would have had to pay 6 euros per hour( this is high for Italy standards) and you need to have a reservation. So we had to settle for a drive by. I was able to get some nice photos from the car. It was really amazing but I am not sure that it is worth the 500 euros a night for a single and the 25 euros per day for the beach pass considering we stayed just minutes away for a fraction of the price.
Portofino
Yacht in the bay
Drive by beach
We spent most of our time in SestraLivante and Comogli. Sestra had sandy beaches while Comogli had rock beaches. I prefer the rocky beaches. Just as nice to lay down on but with out all the annoying sand everywhere problem. We ate a lot of the local fococcia which is really amazing, it’s more like pizza than bread, and strolled the narrow streets. It was a very relaxing few days.
