Going to the Beach!

On our way home from Bellagio we stopped at Faggeto Lario to go to the beach! It's a pretty cute town. The bus stop is up on the high road, so you have to tromp down to the lake side. The lake side part of the town is quite pretty actually.



There are a few tiny beaches in the town. To get to the uncrowded, free one, we walked down this little stream-let.



The beach itself was rocky (they all are unless they have dumped sand), but still rather pretty. Here's Kal on one side of the tiny beach, with the public park on the right.



And here's the bulk of the beach! Seriously tiny.



We had a great swim, the water was actually a perfect temperature for me, even though Anteneh thought it was too cold. Apparently this year is the cleanest in 10 years on the lake, too. And truly, the only bits of flotsam I saw in the lake were leaves and lake grass.

We headed home after an hour and a half. The bus on the way back was insane. Here's a picture of the bus on our way from Bellagio to Faggeto Lario. Barely anyone, right?



I don't have a picture from our way back because I was literally pressed up against the bus windshield holding on for my life. On Sundays they have very limited bus service, and this one left Bellagio around five-ish, right when lots of people would be heading out... so it was packed. I would think that during the summer when they have special non-stop trains from Milan to Como, they would have adequate bus service! Ah well, at least we made it home in one piece!

Visiting in California

I had a great time at home, though my trip was mostly packed.

Sarah and Fergus's wedding was a lot of fun. Ross and Dad bonded a lot.



I rocked my Elena Miro outfit.



I got to see the whole crew, including my Uncle O, here on the left of the groom, and Rada, in from Maui.



We spent a few of our day hours at the Bowers Museum, where they were having a Faberge exhibit.



In San Francisco, I helped Mom at her garden a bit. I can't believe how the potatoes just surface when they are ready to eat!



We also hit the Gaultier exhibit at the De Young. It was one of the best single designer fashion exhibits I've ever seen. OK, probably the best.



We spent the 4th relaxing at the new home. Unca Marty came for some veggie dogs and card games!



Speaking of which, the new house is less than half a block from the ocean. Some days were clear, some super grey!



But all that's back in the States... Tomorrow look for pictures of Italy!

Riccione Souvenir

OK, I got a pair of cute flea market earrings too, but this is my little real Riccione souvenir. It's a tiny shell I picked up from the beach... It's not a lot, but I just liked it.

Riccione Saturday aka Lemoncello

Saturday was a good day! In the morning I went with the ladies to the pool, where they were practicing. I got to watch the older group routines, some of which were pretty cool. The costumes are always fun! After the ladies got in their afternoon rest, we headed out to the beach. But, I would have to say that our day was really about dinner and lemoncello. We saw some cool souvenir bottles in the touristy shops.



We had dinner at La Fattoria del Mare, right on the beach. We were there so early that the place seemed pretty deserted, but we were lucky to get a table since they were booked up full for the night! We basically came in for the pre-dinner shift. I had a yummy pizza with eggplant, parmesan, and asparagus. But apparently we were done with plenty early because they brought over a complementary bottle of lemoncello to our table! Chris and Linda were not so familiar with it, but Gerri knew what we were getting into.



No, Linda didn't drink it all down! We actually didn't come close to finishing it!

Riccione, Friday

I arrived in Riccione Friday night. The ladies picked me up at the train station, and we headed back to the hotel to get me checked in! We were staying at Hotel Pigalle. I give it high marks! It's a few blocks back from the beach, so it's a little more quiet. There's parking and free bike rental. The included breakfast had a big selection, too. We had dinner at the hotel as soon as I got in, and it was pretty good! The cream of asparagus soup was great.

After, we took a walk on the beach. The sunset was just gorgeous!



Linda, Gerri, and I took off our sandals to enjoy the water and sand barefoot. The water felt pretty warm at night, and the sand on that beach is really fine and soft.



And of course I made the ladies pose for some group pictures!