Love COMO!!

Friday, Sally and I went for Apertivo in Como with another teacher (who is Italian) who teaches Italian at school. I've been to Como a few times before, but it's definitely been awhile. It's also funny considering that since August I've probably driven or been on the train passing Como about 20 times, but haven't had the time to stop. Mara, the other teacher, lives in Como and has offered her apartment to me for a few days in June. She felt like it would be helpful to give me a little tour before I am staying there. It's so Italian. It's part of this huge Palazzo where Alessandro Volta, the man that invented the battery, lived in the 1800s. She lives in the part that she said used to be the servants' quarters. Of course it has such character. The ceiling are really low and she had to show me all the ways to turn the power back on in case there is a short. Right next store is an office similar to a musuem. She gave us a private tour since it is not open to the public often. One of the rooms looked like a mini Sistine Chapel. A mural covered the ceiling and a balcony circled the room. Supposedly, the balcony area was where the orchestra played from in the 18th century. Amazing of course! It's Italy!
After our little tour we went to a great wine bar and enjoyed prosecco, crostini, and some great cheeses. Mara had to leave, but Sally and I ended up having dinner at a Pizzeria nearby, and of course we had to have a bottle of wine. It helped with the 30 min train ride back. The best part was trying to buy a ticket at the inoperative machines. Luckily, my italian gets better the more wine I've had. I managed to explain to the conductor on the ghetto italian train that the machine was broken. From the border at Chiasso, we hopped on a Swiss train, much cleaner and much less graffiti. We arrived back in Lugano early enough to still get a good night sleep!