Four pastas, three fires, someone will wait - Candert Trip Report
Oct 15th, 2004, 03:40 AM
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Four pastas, three fires, someone will wait - Candert Trip Report
This is my first official trip report. Two years ago I had never been to Europe let alone heard of Fodors. Now I'm hooked on both. My first trip to Europe was with my wife on our honeymoon. My mother-in-law (a long time fodorite) planned the entire thing top to bottom. When we left she handed us a pack of stuff about three inches thick. I laughed to myself at what I thought was an extreme amount of "over planning."
This trip was the wife and mine forth together in the past two years. I started planning for it March, and used this site for picking towns, hotels, routes and restaurants. When we left I had a three ring binder that I put together that included town reports, maps, itineraries, etc. To this I say thanks; to all that helped by directly responding to my questions, or indirectly with their trip reports. It wouldn't have been possible without this site (or my mother-in-law).
The itinerary for this trip was to start in lake country just north of Milan, travel through the Dolomites, the Istrian peninsula, and finally Venice.
September 30/October 1
We flew from Minneapolis to Milan via NWA thanks to a nice collection of miles. It was a very pleasant flight over. The most excitement we had was a phone call from a friend that we got in the WorldClub saying that she was expecting a son.
We arrived Milan-Malpensa on Friday afternoon. The place was pleasantly empty. Thanks to emigrating into the EU in Amsterdam we breezed through the airport. I set up a prepaid car rental with Auto Europe. Normally, prepaying makes me a little wary, but everything was inline so no worries.
We left the airport in our nice little VW Polo and headed north to Menaggio. It took me a few kilometers to figure out where 1st gear was. I kept starting in 3rd, but the car never stalled and since Liz is afraid of manual transmissions she was just impressed I could drive the thing.
Liz had been to Lake Como in her younger years but this was my first trip. I was quite impressed by the views as we drove north along the westside of the lake. My excitement level was nicely countering the affects of 17 hours of travel.
We choose the Hotel Bellavista as our first residence. A nice hotel right on the shore. We requested a lakeview room because well, why wouldn't you, its Lake Como. The few phrases of Italian I had mastered thanks to the Pimsleur tapes weren't needed. Their English was better than my Italian. All the rooms have a little balcony with two charis and a table. My only displeasure was to find two twin beds instead of one double. I poked my head in other rooms while there and all are furnished as such.
We unpacked, cleaned up, and headed out for a quick exploraton of the town. Menaggio is a pleasant city, nothing too overwhelming. I think the towns biggest advantage is that its an easy travel point for the rest of Lake Como and good access to Lake Lugano. We stopped at the town square for a glass of vino and a birra to toast our successful arrival, and watch the sun set behind the peaks.
The hours started to catch up with us so we decided on having dinner at the hotel. The place was packed, but they had a table reserved for us. The meal was OK but nothing I'll remember for years to come. Our best find was a good bottle of Gavi for 10E. Since were starting to fancy ourselves as "savy" travelers we thought it would be fun to keep a journal of restaurant ratings. We set up three categories; Food, Service and Ambience - 5 points for each. The Bellavista got a 7.25 combined rating from us. Look out Zagats! Time to retire for the night. Tomorrow is Varenna and Bellagio.
This trip was the wife and mine forth together in the past two years. I started planning for it March, and used this site for picking towns, hotels, routes and restaurants. When we left I had a three ring binder that I put together that included town reports, maps, itineraries, etc. To this I say thanks; to all that helped by directly responding to my questions, or indirectly with their trip reports. It wouldn't have been possible without this site (or my mother-in-law).
The itinerary for this trip was to start in lake country just north of Milan, travel through the Dolomites, the Istrian peninsula, and finally Venice.
September 30/October 1
We flew from Minneapolis to Milan via NWA thanks to a nice collection of miles. It was a very pleasant flight over. The most excitement we had was a phone call from a friend that we got in the WorldClub saying that she was expecting a son.
We arrived Milan-Malpensa on Friday afternoon. The place was pleasantly empty. Thanks to emigrating into the EU in Amsterdam we breezed through the airport. I set up a prepaid car rental with Auto Europe. Normally, prepaying makes me a little wary, but everything was inline so no worries.
We left the airport in our nice little VW Polo and headed north to Menaggio. It took me a few kilometers to figure out where 1st gear was. I kept starting in 3rd, but the car never stalled and since Liz is afraid of manual transmissions she was just impressed I could drive the thing.
Liz had been to Lake Como in her younger years but this was my first trip. I was quite impressed by the views as we drove north along the westside of the lake. My excitement level was nicely countering the affects of 17 hours of travel.
We choose the Hotel Bellavista as our first residence. A nice hotel right on the shore. We requested a lakeview room because well, why wouldn't you, its Lake Como. The few phrases of Italian I had mastered thanks to the Pimsleur tapes weren't needed. Their English was better than my Italian. All the rooms have a little balcony with two charis and a table. My only displeasure was to find two twin beds instead of one double. I poked my head in other rooms while there and all are furnished as such.
We unpacked, cleaned up, and headed out for a quick exploraton of the town. Menaggio is a pleasant city, nothing too overwhelming. I think the towns biggest advantage is that its an easy travel point for the rest of Lake Como and good access to Lake Lugano. We stopped at the town square for a glass of vino and a birra to toast our successful arrival, and watch the sun set behind the peaks.
The hours started to catch up with us so we decided on having dinner at the hotel. The place was packed, but they had a table reserved for us. The meal was OK but nothing I'll remember for years to come. Our best find was a good bottle of Gavi for 10E. Since were starting to fancy ourselves as "savy" travelers we thought it would be fun to keep a journal of restaurant ratings. We set up three categories; Food, Service and Ambience - 5 points for each. The Bellavista got a 7.25 combined rating from us. Look out Zagats! Time to retire for the night. Tomorrow is Varenna and Bellagio.
Oct 15th, 2004, 05:14 AM
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October 2
We were awoken by an angry sounding mass of seagulls. The first ferry to Menaggio was arriving and its waves were disturbing all. We got ourselves together and headed down stairs for breakfast. The Hotel spread was very nice - fruits, all sorts of jams, cheeses, ham, bread, cereal, croissants, café and juices. Our same table from the night before was still reserved for us.
We decided to start out at Varenna. The ferry dock was just down the street adjacent to the Grand Hotel Menaggio. The morning airs was a little foggy, but still warm enough for comfort. We shared the boat with a group of teenage boys that were singing aloud the latest Italian hit pop song. It was quite amusing.
The ferry docks near the Hotel Olivedo. We heard good recommendations about its menu, but it was way too early to be thinking about stops. From the dock you walk along a promenade towards the city center. We explored the town and the Villas Monastero and Cipressi. Monastero had many lush tropical plants and beautiful tall cypress trees. Cipressi was kind of nothing in comparison.
Last year I started a dangerous tradition of collecting a tile in each city we visit. The goal is to build a table with all of the different tiles we collected inlayed as its surface. So every town we go to I feel the need to find a tile. We climbed Varennas hills for about 30 minutes in a fruitless search. Liz's patience was starting to get tested and a decision was reached that we really only needed one tile from Lake Como. Back to the ferry dock and off to Bellagio.
We were awoken by an angry sounding mass of seagulls. The first ferry to Menaggio was arriving and its waves were disturbing all. We got ourselves together and headed down stairs for breakfast. The Hotel spread was very nice - fruits, all sorts of jams, cheeses, ham, bread, cereal, croissants, café and juices. Our same table from the night before was still reserved for us.
We decided to start out at Varenna. The ferry dock was just down the street adjacent to the Grand Hotel Menaggio. The morning airs was a little foggy, but still warm enough for comfort. We shared the boat with a group of teenage boys that were singing aloud the latest Italian hit pop song. It was quite amusing.
The ferry docks near the Hotel Olivedo. We heard good recommendations about its menu, but it was way too early to be thinking about stops. From the dock you walk along a promenade towards the city center. We explored the town and the Villas Monastero and Cipressi. Monastero had many lush tropical plants and beautiful tall cypress trees. Cipressi was kind of nothing in comparison.
Last year I started a dangerous tradition of collecting a tile in each city we visit. The goal is to build a table with all of the different tiles we collected inlayed as its surface. So every town we go to I feel the need to find a tile. We climbed Varennas hills for about 30 minutes in a fruitless search. Liz's patience was starting to get tested and a decision was reached that we really only needed one tile from Lake Como. Back to the ferry dock and off to Bellagio.
Oct 15th, 2004, 06:07 AM
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We both instantly liked Bellagio. We could tell before getting off the boat. Liz and I are fans of "stuff," and you could tell Bellagio had a lot more stuff than Varenna and Menaggio combined. Lot's of shopping in Bellagio. Liz found a small murano glass pendant, and I satisfied me need for a tile. We also a found a small little wooden fishing boat that could be made into a xmas ornament (Liz's crazy obsession).
We stopped into the Bar Florence for a drink. A family favorite location. They wouldn't make a Bellini so we settled for Prosecco. The bar was a little built up before our arrival, we found it nice enough, but decided its value probably came from someone's past experience.
Liz put us back on the shopping trip. She found a jewelry store that carries Nomination charms, and apparently there is a charm for Lake Como that can only be bought in Lake Como. They were sold out. Oh no. For those that haven't heard of Nominations it's an Italian company that makes charm bracelets that link together instead of dangle. You buy the initial charmless bracelet for $20 and then can buy a single charm for $20 to replace one of the 20 or so links. Its one of those ideas you wish you would thought of first because you know that guy is rolling in Euros. So now the mission is on, we have to find someone that still had the Lake Como charm.
While hunting for the charm we found a delightful distraction. It was a wine shop called Enoteca Principessa on Salita Serbelloni. Wine is Liz's true passion and this place has something we had never seen before. They had automated wine tasting. What you do is purchase a prepaid wine card and then insert into a bank above a collection of wine bottles. Each bottle has an automated spigot that allows for a two-finger taste for a price, according to the price of the bottle. There were at least 30 different wines set up. We tried a local Bardalino, a Dolcetto, a Barberesco, and a Barolo. All decent, none extremely memorable but the experience itself was. Liz was already formulating the business plan in her head to take back to the states.
After our prosecco and wine tasting we thought it best to get some food in us. I heard good things about Silvios, but upon realizing its distance from the main town we didn't want to risk getting hit by a car on that winding road. Liz found a place called Far Out. It sounded a little trendy and American, but the menu looked good and we were hungary. The food turned out to be quite good, though we may have been a little jaded from last nights nondescript meal. Liz had a minestrone and very good salade tropicale - Avocado, tomatoes, tuna, apple and ham. I had a very good seafood antipasto - octopus, clams and mussels, and then a seafood spaghetti. Both of us though the quality of the food was superb and good value (46E w/tip). A great little find. We gave the restaurant a 9.75, food carried the rating with a 4.
Back to Menaggio. Instant success. We found a Lake Como charm at the very first store we entered! We decided to celebrate with a drink at the Grand Hotel. We enjoyed a couple of Bellinis on their patio and recapped the day. We thought we should retire to the Bellavista for a break. We had big dinner plans coming. We were booked into the Locanda dell'Isola Comacina.
We stopped into the Bar Florence for a drink. A family favorite location. They wouldn't make a Bellini so we settled for Prosecco. The bar was a little built up before our arrival, we found it nice enough, but decided its value probably came from someone's past experience.
Liz put us back on the shopping trip. She found a jewelry store that carries Nomination charms, and apparently there is a charm for Lake Como that can only be bought in Lake Como. They were sold out. Oh no. For those that haven't heard of Nominations it's an Italian company that makes charm bracelets that link together instead of dangle. You buy the initial charmless bracelet for $20 and then can buy a single charm for $20 to replace one of the 20 or so links. Its one of those ideas you wish you would thought of first because you know that guy is rolling in Euros. So now the mission is on, we have to find someone that still had the Lake Como charm.
While hunting for the charm we found a delightful distraction. It was a wine shop called Enoteca Principessa on Salita Serbelloni. Wine is Liz's true passion and this place has something we had never seen before. They had automated wine tasting. What you do is purchase a prepaid wine card and then insert into a bank above a collection of wine bottles. Each bottle has an automated spigot that allows for a two-finger taste for a price, according to the price of the bottle. There were at least 30 different wines set up. We tried a local Bardalino, a Dolcetto, a Barberesco, and a Barolo. All decent, none extremely memorable but the experience itself was. Liz was already formulating the business plan in her head to take back to the states.
After our prosecco and wine tasting we thought it best to get some food in us. I heard good things about Silvios, but upon realizing its distance from the main town we didn't want to risk getting hit by a car on that winding road. Liz found a place called Far Out. It sounded a little trendy and American, but the menu looked good and we were hungary. The food turned out to be quite good, though we may have been a little jaded from last nights nondescript meal. Liz had a minestrone and very good salade tropicale - Avocado, tomatoes, tuna, apple and ham. I had a very good seafood antipasto - octopus, clams and mussels, and then a seafood spaghetti. Both of us though the quality of the food was superb and good value (46E w/tip). A great little find. We gave the restaurant a 9.75, food carried the rating with a 4.
Back to Menaggio. Instant success. We found a Lake Como charm at the very first store we entered! We decided to celebrate with a drink at the Grand Hotel. We enjoyed a couple of Bellinis on their patio and recapped the day. We thought we should retire to the Bellavista for a break. We had big dinner plans coming. We were booked into the Locanda dell'Isola Comacina.
Oct 15th, 2004, 06:58 AM
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Enjoying your trip report, candert. We stayed at the Bellavista a little over two years ago and our experience was very similar to yours. Wonderful location -- I could sit on that terrace forever and stare across the lake at Bellagio and Varenna. Dinners were pretty non-descript, but they always had a reserved table for us right on the water and the price was pretty good (at the time).
I'm looking forward to your account of the Locanda dell'Isola Comacina. We ran all over the island one morning and had a blast, but I've always regretted not doing the meal there.
I'm looking forward to your account of the Locanda dell'Isola Comacina. We ran all over the island one morning and had a blast, but I've always regretted not doing the meal there.
Oct 15th, 2004, 09:34 AM
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Locanda dell'Isola Comacina was my first flag of our trip. I'm far from a foodie, but I'm increasingly enjoying the eating experience, and from what I've heard this was going to be a good one. I was definitely looking forward to it. We had a little difficulty getting to the right boat stop for crossing over to the island. It led to a minor disagreement, but nothing that would tarnish the evening.
We found the correct boat dock, and sitting there was a little vaporetto fishing boat, like the toy one we bought today. Things are looking up! It was 5E a piece for the ride across. It includs a return after dinner. The sun was just setting as we came over. We had 7pm reservations. Kind of early for Italy, but we didn't want to book too late with it only being our second night. We walked from the dock up to the restaurant. We were greeted by our host and the owner Benvenuto Puricelli. He was quite the character all dressed up in a plaid vest wearing a matching ski hat.
Upon seating we were given a couple copies of the menu. It's actually more of program than a menu. They have served the same meal since 1947, and I don't think there are plans to change it anytime soon. It's 55E per person for the food and wine.
We were the second table to be seated that night. After being greeted came a bottle of white wine and the antipasto. It was huge. If this was a sign of things to come they were going to have to roll us out of there. The antipasto was an array of eight large plates; celery, carrots, baked onions, sweet peppers, courgettes beans, broccoli and french beans. Then came separate plates for each of us with a slab of prosciutto, some kind of salted beef with cucumbers and melon. All very tasty. More people rolled in.
The second course was local grilled lake trout. It was dressed at the table adding lemon, salt and olive oil. After that came fried chicken which was actually quite tasty, even Liz ate it. Between courses we tried "secure" a menu that we could abscond with to bring home and frame. Every time we got a hold of one and sort of tucked it away they would come back to the table and find it immediately. They must get a lot of that. By this time the restaurant is packed.
After our two meat courses they rolled out a huge round of parmigiano reggiano cheese. They scoped out blocks of it and deposited them into our hands. Great, gritty texture and very rich. Dessert was peaches in a banana liqueur served with vanilla gelato. They kept bringing us extra gelato so the other customers who arrived later could finish up their meal. The goal is for everyone to finish at once so Bienvenuto can have his big finale.
The lights darken and at the sound of a bell Bienvenuto enters the room and starts to burn brandy in a large black pot. He goes through the history of the island while performing the fire ceremony with the brandy. We actually almost left before this all began. The fire ceremony didn't start until 10pm, three hours after we arrived. It was taking all our strength to hang on, but it was certainly worth it.
We quickly exited after the production to head back to Menaggio and get some rest. We rated the place a 12.5 on our 15 point scale. Bascially 4's across the board, a great experience! Tomorrows plans are to head west to Lake Lugano. It will be last day of their Autumn Festival, sort of the Swiss answer to Oktoberfest.
We found the correct boat dock, and sitting there was a little vaporetto fishing boat, like the toy one we bought today. Things are looking up! It was 5E a piece for the ride across. It includs a return after dinner. The sun was just setting as we came over. We had 7pm reservations. Kind of early for Italy, but we didn't want to book too late with it only being our second night. We walked from the dock up to the restaurant. We were greeted by our host and the owner Benvenuto Puricelli. He was quite the character all dressed up in a plaid vest wearing a matching ski hat.
Upon seating we were given a couple copies of the menu. It's actually more of program than a menu. They have served the same meal since 1947, and I don't think there are plans to change it anytime soon. It's 55E per person for the food and wine.
We were the second table to be seated that night. After being greeted came a bottle of white wine and the antipasto. It was huge. If this was a sign of things to come they were going to have to roll us out of there. The antipasto was an array of eight large plates; celery, carrots, baked onions, sweet peppers, courgettes beans, broccoli and french beans. Then came separate plates for each of us with a slab of prosciutto, some kind of salted beef with cucumbers and melon. All very tasty. More people rolled in.
The second course was local grilled lake trout. It was dressed at the table adding lemon, salt and olive oil. After that came fried chicken which was actually quite tasty, even Liz ate it. Between courses we tried "secure" a menu that we could abscond with to bring home and frame. Every time we got a hold of one and sort of tucked it away they would come back to the table and find it immediately. They must get a lot of that. By this time the restaurant is packed.
After our two meat courses they rolled out a huge round of parmigiano reggiano cheese. They scoped out blocks of it and deposited them into our hands. Great, gritty texture and very rich. Dessert was peaches in a banana liqueur served with vanilla gelato. They kept bringing us extra gelato so the other customers who arrived later could finish up their meal. The goal is for everyone to finish at once so Bienvenuto can have his big finale.
The lights darken and at the sound of a bell Bienvenuto enters the room and starts to burn brandy in a large black pot. He goes through the history of the island while performing the fire ceremony with the brandy. We actually almost left before this all began. The fire ceremony didn't start until 10pm, three hours after we arrived. It was taking all our strength to hang on, but it was certainly worth it.
We quickly exited after the production to head back to Menaggio and get some rest. We rated the place a 12.5 on our 15 point scale. Bascially 4's across the board, a great experience! Tomorrows plans are to head west to Lake Lugano. It will be last day of their Autumn Festival, sort of the Swiss answer to Oktoberfest.
Oct 15th, 2004, 12:27 PM
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Thanks for the kind encouragement. I hope I'm not getting too wordy.
October 3
We headed out after breakfast west towards Lugano. SS340 was a narrow road with many hairpin turns. I enjoyed it Liz did not (we?ll later find out on our way to Castlerotto that this road is kids play). We thought we?d get to Lugano early so we could be back into Menaggio for dinner. Crossing an International border after some dinner vino didn?t seem like the best plan.
We found our way to the city center. Every road had signs that directed us in. Traveling in Europe by car seems so difficult before you get there. Every street is numbered the same, but once you?re there they are so good at posting signs for how to get places. Even when you miss that main turn they still have signs getting you back to where you belong. I digress?
Lugano was quiet when we arrived. We didn?t think much about it before leaving, but it was Sunday morning and almost everything was closed. After parking the car we strolled down to the waterfront, found a city park. It was nice enough ? fragrant magnolias and swans drifting along the lakeshore. We reached the main lake drive and started to see signs for La Festa d?Autunno. Soon the quiet streets were filled with vendors in tented carts. There were all sorts of beer tents. Each sponsored by a particular brand. We reached the Piazza della Riforma to hear the sounds of an orchestra warming up. Ah what a treat! The Lugano Philharmonic was warming up for a concert to mark the end of the festival. We grabbed one of the few remaining café tables to set up for the performance. As we just finished ordering I realized we had no Swiss Francs. I went out in search of a cash machine while Liz enjoyed the show.
We set off to see the sights of the festival after enjoying a few pieces. It seemed to be dominated by food and beer. Interestingly enough the food of choice appeared to be polenta. Large men were standing over these huge black kettles trying to locate the secret consistency of corn meal and liquid.
We were so taken by the production we decided that lunch was to be festival fare. Liz got Minestrone and wine. I was dead set to have the ultimate festival experience that I ordered the most expensive thing from this tents menu, Polenta Cazzola (15 SF), since I couldn?t read the menu. Trying to get your meal was a delicate walk through mob justice. You needed to have some sort of connection to the family that was running this tent for immediate service. Strike one. The people that fared the next best were able to cuss proficiently in Italian. Strike two. The last group to get served was little old, white haired ladies. Strike three. So here I am standing at the front and center of this mob line, smiling, holding my 15 SF ?Polenta Cazzola? ticket wondering if I?d ever see a return on its investment. I stood there for over a half an hour trying to maintain my smile. I kept having visions of Clark Grizwald in the movie European Vacation where he starts a riot at an Oktoberfest event and ends up being chased out of town by locals with pitchforks. I knew Liz could run fast if I lost my cool and started a ?scene? but we needed our car for tomorrow so I maintained my smile. Finally, success! I don?t know if the ticket woman decided to take mercy on a poor dumb American or what, but I had my meal.
It was one of the worst things I?ve ever eaten. The polenta was the best thing there, and polenta is not the good. The Cazzola came from another large kettle. In it they stirred numerous meats and cabbages. It looked fine from distance, something you?d later term ?an experience.? Upon closer inspection, not so good. The meats were mystery at best. Nestled within were bone fragments. These weren?t your usual ribs and leg bones. I think I encountered a humerus. To top it off they poured in more of the raw mystery meat mixture from where they served it complete. Thoughts of E Coli danced with in my head.
Now I still enjoyed the festival but I think I learned a little life lesson with that meal. After that experience we both needed a good glass of wine. No more of this festival fare! We found a nice wine bar back on the Piazza Riforma where we sat and enjoyed the sun.
On are way out of town I made Liz stop in a couple of souvenir shops for tiles (you couldn?t classify this as Como anymore). We found one immediately. Hopefully things are looking up. I actually really enjoyed Lugano. I wish we would have been there on a Saturday because the town is full of great shops, but I suppose my wallet is thankful that Liz wasn?t fully let loose. We even talked about if were to do this part of the trip again we might want to stay in Lugano and day trip Lake Como. Not positive about that, but we are glad we came.
October 3
We headed out after breakfast west towards Lugano. SS340 was a narrow road with many hairpin turns. I enjoyed it Liz did not (we?ll later find out on our way to Castlerotto that this road is kids play). We thought we?d get to Lugano early so we could be back into Menaggio for dinner. Crossing an International border after some dinner vino didn?t seem like the best plan.
We found our way to the city center. Every road had signs that directed us in. Traveling in Europe by car seems so difficult before you get there. Every street is numbered the same, but once you?re there they are so good at posting signs for how to get places. Even when you miss that main turn they still have signs getting you back to where you belong. I digress?
Lugano was quiet when we arrived. We didn?t think much about it before leaving, but it was Sunday morning and almost everything was closed. After parking the car we strolled down to the waterfront, found a city park. It was nice enough ? fragrant magnolias and swans drifting along the lakeshore. We reached the main lake drive and started to see signs for La Festa d?Autunno. Soon the quiet streets were filled with vendors in tented carts. There were all sorts of beer tents. Each sponsored by a particular brand. We reached the Piazza della Riforma to hear the sounds of an orchestra warming up. Ah what a treat! The Lugano Philharmonic was warming up for a concert to mark the end of the festival. We grabbed one of the few remaining café tables to set up for the performance. As we just finished ordering I realized we had no Swiss Francs. I went out in search of a cash machine while Liz enjoyed the show.
We set off to see the sights of the festival after enjoying a few pieces. It seemed to be dominated by food and beer. Interestingly enough the food of choice appeared to be polenta. Large men were standing over these huge black kettles trying to locate the secret consistency of corn meal and liquid.
We were so taken by the production we decided that lunch was to be festival fare. Liz got Minestrone and wine. I was dead set to have the ultimate festival experience that I ordered the most expensive thing from this tents menu, Polenta Cazzola (15 SF), since I couldn?t read the menu. Trying to get your meal was a delicate walk through mob justice. You needed to have some sort of connection to the family that was running this tent for immediate service. Strike one. The people that fared the next best were able to cuss proficiently in Italian. Strike two. The last group to get served was little old, white haired ladies. Strike three. So here I am standing at the front and center of this mob line, smiling, holding my 15 SF ?Polenta Cazzola? ticket wondering if I?d ever see a return on its investment. I stood there for over a half an hour trying to maintain my smile. I kept having visions of Clark Grizwald in the movie European Vacation where he starts a riot at an Oktoberfest event and ends up being chased out of town by locals with pitchforks. I knew Liz could run fast if I lost my cool and started a ?scene? but we needed our car for tomorrow so I maintained my smile. Finally, success! I don?t know if the ticket woman decided to take mercy on a poor dumb American or what, but I had my meal.
It was one of the worst things I?ve ever eaten. The polenta was the best thing there, and polenta is not the good. The Cazzola came from another large kettle. In it they stirred numerous meats and cabbages. It looked fine from distance, something you?d later term ?an experience.? Upon closer inspection, not so good. The meats were mystery at best. Nestled within were bone fragments. These weren?t your usual ribs and leg bones. I think I encountered a humerus. To top it off they poured in more of the raw mystery meat mixture from where they served it complete. Thoughts of E Coli danced with in my head.
Now I still enjoyed the festival but I think I learned a little life lesson with that meal. After that experience we both needed a good glass of wine. No more of this festival fare! We found a nice wine bar back on the Piazza Riforma where we sat and enjoyed the sun.
On are way out of town I made Liz stop in a couple of souvenir shops for tiles (you couldn?t classify this as Como anymore). We found one immediately. Hopefully things are looking up. I actually really enjoyed Lugano. I wish we would have been there on a Saturday because the town is full of great shops, but I suppose my wallet is thankful that Liz wasn?t fully let loose. We even talked about if were to do this part of the trip again we might want to stay in Lugano and day trip Lake Como. Not positive about that, but we are glad we came.
Oct 18th, 2004, 12:52 PM
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We arrived back in Menaggio mid-afternoon. It had really turned into a nice day. We decided to unwind from our fair/fare experience back at the hotel by taking advantage of the Bellavista's beautiful lakeside patio, and the 10E bottle of Gavi. After last nights dinner extravaganza and today's frivolity we decided it would be best to "dumb down" our dinner experience.
We wandered around town in search of our dumb dinner and ended up at a pizza joint called Pizzeria Bar Lugano. The place was just a block or so up the hill from our hotel on the main road. I didn't recall at the time, but I had seen a few recommendations for this place, I just forgot to transfer them into the 3-ring binder.
The Pizzeria was not fancy, but exactly what we both had in mind for dinner. The place was one large room for kitchen and dining. Locals were continually coming through for takeout. The place was doing some real business for a Sunday night. The only downside to the place was some random fruit flies that wanted to enjoy our dinner, but that wasn't a reflection on the establishment. We rated the restaurant a 9. Quite high for a pizza joint. I had the curve busting rank of 4 on food, but what can I say they served the exact meal I was craving.
We retired early this evening. Tomorrow we have a lot of driving ahead as we go west towards the Dolomites and Castlerotto.
October 4
We had some real together time with VW Polo today. Our drive from Menaggio to Castlerotto was a little over 5 hours. I enjoyed the drive a great deal more than Liz. She was borderline car sick a few times, and it didn't help when I'm passing semis climbing up a pass coming out of a hairpin turn. I tried to convince her I was in complete control, but she was still a little suspicious. The highlight for me was Passo del Tonale. My trusty navigator thought it was a tunnel, but it turned out be our highest climb of the day. We were above the tree line between two large snowcapped peaks. I should have pulled over for a few photos. Oh well.
Our other good discovery today was the quality of the Italian rest stops. We stopped at the AutoGrill on the autostrada just south of Bolzano. The place had a surplus of food options from fresh salads, to made-to-order pasta, to a rather respectable deli. They even had self-serve Heineken taps (I stuck to mineral water). It was decided that the AutoGrill would be our rest stop of choice for the remainder of our vacation.
Next - Castlerotto (I'm short on time today).
We wandered around town in search of our dumb dinner and ended up at a pizza joint called Pizzeria Bar Lugano. The place was just a block or so up the hill from our hotel on the main road. I didn't recall at the time, but I had seen a few recommendations for this place, I just forgot to transfer them into the 3-ring binder.
The Pizzeria was not fancy, but exactly what we both had in mind for dinner. The place was one large room for kitchen and dining. Locals were continually coming through for takeout. The place was doing some real business for a Sunday night. The only downside to the place was some random fruit flies that wanted to enjoy our dinner, but that wasn't a reflection on the establishment. We rated the restaurant a 9. Quite high for a pizza joint. I had the curve busting rank of 4 on food, but what can I say they served the exact meal I was craving.
We retired early this evening. Tomorrow we have a lot of driving ahead as we go west towards the Dolomites and Castlerotto.
October 4
We had some real together time with VW Polo today. Our drive from Menaggio to Castlerotto was a little over 5 hours. I enjoyed the drive a great deal more than Liz. She was borderline car sick a few times, and it didn't help when I'm passing semis climbing up a pass coming out of a hairpin turn. I tried to convince her I was in complete control, but she was still a little suspicious. The highlight for me was Passo del Tonale. My trusty navigator thought it was a tunnel, but it turned out be our highest climb of the day. We were above the tree line between two large snowcapped peaks. I should have pulled over for a few photos. Oh well.
Our other good discovery today was the quality of the Italian rest stops. We stopped at the AutoGrill on the autostrada just south of Bolzano. The place had a surplus of food options from fresh salads, to made-to-order pasta, to a rather respectable deli. They even had self-serve Heineken taps (I stuck to mineral water). It was decided that the AutoGrill would be our rest stop of choice for the remainder of our vacation.
Next - Castlerotto (I'm short on time today).
Oct 19th, 2004, 01:28 PM
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Castlerotto is quite a charming little town. German is much more ubiquitous here. In fact, all road signs are listed in German with the Italian translation below. Entering the town you can't help but have a Julie Andrews song in your head, or flashback to the childhood tale of Heidi. Every building had multiple flowered terraces. I was so taken by them that I made the claim to Liz that we'd have the same thing next year at our home, and she gave me the customary "Okay Dear."
We stayed in the Cavallino d'Oro. It's a wonderful little lodge located right on the main square. The hotel has a great rustic feel yet it has such nice amenities as flat screen TVs in every room. The only drawback is that you're within a few yards of the town's bell tower.
Our time is Kastelruth (Castlerotto) was short so we didn't dawdle too long before heading out. We immediately found the requisite tile and ornament to denote our stay. To celebrate we decided to stop at café next door for a beer and wine. This was the theme for the rest of our afternoon; explore and then celebrate. We enjoyed the town's sights, sounds and suds. I think our path was different than most. Kastelruth has an abundance of outdoor activities. There are signs everywhere to direct you to the next trail or chairlift. We decided to go on a good long hike tomorrow morning.
One of our highlights was a wine bar named Rubin. It's attached to a cool modern hotel that I can't remember the name of. The wine bar and restaurant stayed true to form on maintaining the Alp ski lodge feel, but had an interesting modern twist to it. Hard to describe. The bar had a helpful hostess/bartender who was excited to show us some local wine. She came back with unopened bottles to pour us a glass out of. The wine was bottled by students at the Bolzano Agricultural Institute. It's label is Happacherhof. Fabualous! We bought a bottle to bring home.
Dinner is at the hotel. Our reviews from Fodorites before traveling insisted this was the best place to eat, but given our minimal afternoon stroll I'm sure we could find several other options for additional evenings. The Cavallino d'Oro reserves a table for you during your stay for all meals, regardless of whether you decided to eat there or not. We were seated in a room that had three other tables of Americans. I thought it was odd, but a women near by told us that Rick Steves has let the word out about Castlerotto, and the town was becoming overrun. Tonight was their last night of an eight day stay there. They still couldn't help but rave about the town.
We settled in for a rather pleasant meal. My highlights came at the beginning and the end. I started with a marvelous bowl of cream of mushroom and potato soup, and finished with hot raspberries in syrup over vanilla ice cream. I mistakenly ordered the wiener schnitzel as my main course. Nothing wrong with it, but I should have been more adventurous. We rated the restaurant an 11.63 - Service and Ambiance carried the rating. We both were fond of our experience.
After dinner we settled in for the evening. The accommodations were such that you didn't mind, or think you were missing anything else in Castlerotto. That evening I was struck by the beginnings of a nasty cold and didn't sleep too well. It would work its way through Liz eventually as well. This was the only real drawback to our trip. We leave tomorrow for Piran, Slovenia. We both said that we wished we had another full day in town. Castlerotto was out of the way for us, but a pleasurable diversion.
We stayed in the Cavallino d'Oro. It's a wonderful little lodge located right on the main square. The hotel has a great rustic feel yet it has such nice amenities as flat screen TVs in every room. The only drawback is that you're within a few yards of the town's bell tower.
Our time is Kastelruth (Castlerotto) was short so we didn't dawdle too long before heading out. We immediately found the requisite tile and ornament to denote our stay. To celebrate we decided to stop at café next door for a beer and wine. This was the theme for the rest of our afternoon; explore and then celebrate. We enjoyed the town's sights, sounds and suds. I think our path was different than most. Kastelruth has an abundance of outdoor activities. There are signs everywhere to direct you to the next trail or chairlift. We decided to go on a good long hike tomorrow morning.
One of our highlights was a wine bar named Rubin. It's attached to a cool modern hotel that I can't remember the name of. The wine bar and restaurant stayed true to form on maintaining the Alp ski lodge feel, but had an interesting modern twist to it. Hard to describe. The bar had a helpful hostess/bartender who was excited to show us some local wine. She came back with unopened bottles to pour us a glass out of. The wine was bottled by students at the Bolzano Agricultural Institute. It's label is Happacherhof. Fabualous! We bought a bottle to bring home.
Dinner is at the hotel. Our reviews from Fodorites before traveling insisted this was the best place to eat, but given our minimal afternoon stroll I'm sure we could find several other options for additional evenings. The Cavallino d'Oro reserves a table for you during your stay for all meals, regardless of whether you decided to eat there or not. We were seated in a room that had three other tables of Americans. I thought it was odd, but a women near by told us that Rick Steves has let the word out about Castlerotto, and the town was becoming overrun. Tonight was their last night of an eight day stay there. They still couldn't help but rave about the town.
We settled in for a rather pleasant meal. My highlights came at the beginning and the end. I started with a marvelous bowl of cream of mushroom and potato soup, and finished with hot raspberries in syrup over vanilla ice cream. I mistakenly ordered the wiener schnitzel as my main course. Nothing wrong with it, but I should have been more adventurous. We rated the restaurant an 11.63 - Service and Ambiance carried the rating. We both were fond of our experience.
After dinner we settled in for the evening. The accommodations were such that you didn't mind, or think you were missing anything else in Castlerotto. That evening I was struck by the beginnings of a nasty cold and didn't sleep too well. It would work its way through Liz eventually as well. This was the only real drawback to our trip. We leave tomorrow for Piran, Slovenia. We both said that we wished we had another full day in town. Castlerotto was out of the way for us, but a pleasurable diversion.
Oct 20th, 2004, 11:00 AM
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October 5
Another long day of driving ahead. We altered our itinerary from the original strategy. The initial plan was to travel through the heart of the Dolomites on the way to Piran, but after yesterdays drive we had our fill of mountain driving. Michelin had the route timed out to 5-1/2 hours, but we were skeptical. A few trucks and a couple of construction projects and were looking at an eight hour trip. No, were traveling via the Autostrada.
We took the A22 south from Bolzano to Verona, and then the A4 east to Trieste. We made great time until Trieste. We got from Bolzano to Venice in just shy of two hours. Lunch was again at the AutoGrill. Same quality of food as yesterday, no complaints.
Our ride came to a screeching halt when we reached Slovenia. We had special documentation to take our rental car across the border, but the Border Police didn't ask to see it. I did upset the Italian Police when I thought they were waving us through, but actually wasn't. I got a quick lecture in Italian, but had no clue what he was saying. I just smiled and handed him my passport. We concluded that the he was just having a long day. The real fun came after the border. We were no more than a 100 yds into Slovenia when we stopped for road construction. We sat in this construction mess for an hour (maybe 2km worth of work). To assist our sanity we joked that they must be working with wheelbarrows, because how else could this be so disorganized. Well sure as s--- they were using wheelbarrows! Couldn't believe it!
The roads in Slovenia are horrible compared to Italy, but it appeared they are working at a frantic pace to improve them to EU standards. I think if you were to visit the area next summer you'd find a completely redone roadway infrastructure. Once passed the traffic mess it was an easy drive to Piran. Just follow the signs. Piran is a nice little fishing village on the Adriatic. The town is gated. You are able to get a ticket to drive your car in, but for stays of any length there are parking lots outside the town near the beach.
Our little tour group of two was to grow to six in Piran. We were meeting Liz's parents and their friends. They were coming from Vienna, Budapest, Ljubljana and Lake Bled, and would be with us through Venice. We were the first to arrive in town. We found our lodging at the Hotel Giuseppe Tartini quite easily. It's located on the towns main square. We unloaded the bags, got are bearings and checked in. Liz unpacked the bags and I tried to figure out what to do with the car. I know zero phrases of Slovenian so thankfully the host at the hotel had some English, but he did have to use a lot of hand gestures.
Piran is quite cheap. Our room was about $60 a day. By far the cheapest place we stayed on our trip. They still use their currency the SIT, but most places would convert and take Euros. I didn't find that out until after I took out about 20,000 SIT (about $125). It seemed like Monopoly money to me, but now I had to make sure I spent it all in our 3 days there.
Another long day of driving ahead. We altered our itinerary from the original strategy. The initial plan was to travel through the heart of the Dolomites on the way to Piran, but after yesterdays drive we had our fill of mountain driving. Michelin had the route timed out to 5-1/2 hours, but we were skeptical. A few trucks and a couple of construction projects and were looking at an eight hour trip. No, were traveling via the Autostrada.
We took the A22 south from Bolzano to Verona, and then the A4 east to Trieste. We made great time until Trieste. We got from Bolzano to Venice in just shy of two hours. Lunch was again at the AutoGrill. Same quality of food as yesterday, no complaints.
Our ride came to a screeching halt when we reached Slovenia. We had special documentation to take our rental car across the border, but the Border Police didn't ask to see it. I did upset the Italian Police when I thought they were waving us through, but actually wasn't. I got a quick lecture in Italian, but had no clue what he was saying. I just smiled and handed him my passport. We concluded that the he was just having a long day. The real fun came after the border. We were no more than a 100 yds into Slovenia when we stopped for road construction. We sat in this construction mess for an hour (maybe 2km worth of work). To assist our sanity we joked that they must be working with wheelbarrows, because how else could this be so disorganized. Well sure as s--- they were using wheelbarrows! Couldn't believe it!
The roads in Slovenia are horrible compared to Italy, but it appeared they are working at a frantic pace to improve them to EU standards. I think if you were to visit the area next summer you'd find a completely redone roadway infrastructure. Once passed the traffic mess it was an easy drive to Piran. Just follow the signs. Piran is a nice little fishing village on the Adriatic. The town is gated. You are able to get a ticket to drive your car in, but for stays of any length there are parking lots outside the town near the beach.
Our little tour group of two was to grow to six in Piran. We were meeting Liz's parents and their friends. They were coming from Vienna, Budapest, Ljubljana and Lake Bled, and would be with us through Venice. We were the first to arrive in town. We found our lodging at the Hotel Giuseppe Tartini quite easily. It's located on the towns main square. We unloaded the bags, got are bearings and checked in. Liz unpacked the bags and I tried to figure out what to do with the car. I know zero phrases of Slovenian so thankfully the host at the hotel had some English, but he did have to use a lot of hand gestures.
Piran is quite cheap. Our room was about $60 a day. By far the cheapest place we stayed on our trip. They still use their currency the SIT, but most places would convert and take Euros. I didn't find that out until after I took out about 20,000 SIT (about $125). It seemed like Monopoly money to me, but now I had to make sure I spent it all in our 3 days there.
Oct 20th, 2004, 12:28 PM
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Our friends arrived not to long after us. We were sitting out at the hotels café enjoying beverages as we saw them stroll in to town. They went through the same operations that we had just finished until eventually we all gathered at the café together to tales of each others vacations thus far. My illness hadn?t subsided and Liz was a little worn out from traveling so yarns were being more spun from their side then ours.
After some vino and pivo (beer) it was time for dinner. Originally the plan had been to eat at the hotel, but upon review of the menu we decided we could do better. The town of Piran is a long point. On one side is the remains of a fort wall and large church. The other side faces south to Croatia and its shore is packed with seaside restaurants. We walked up and down the row. The women carefully reviewed the menus to select the best place. They choose a restaurant named Pavel which curiously enough had a restaurant next door named Pavel 2. I guess the provisions that Pavel provides to Piran produces prosperity per Pavel. Or is it Pavel 2..?
Despite the condition of my head I was determined to enjoy some fresh seafood, and perhaps went a little over board. I ordered Fish soup, a plate of steam mussels, and then seafood risotto which I was quite happy with. Liz wasn?t as successful with her ordering. One of the items she ordered, seafood cocktail, was covered in mayo sauce. I think she suspected it might come that way, but still took the chance. She was able to sucker her mother into trading her seafood salad for the mayo cocktail. Aren?t mom?s nice. We rated Pavel an 8.9. Liz was a little more critical in her marks than mine. Scorned by mayo I guess.
We retired back to our hotel café for some after dinner beverages, and mapped out tomorrow. The plan is to explore the remainder of Piran, and then go Portoroz to secure a boat for rental.
October 6
We met early for breakfast. The Hotel Tartini had a very extensive breakfast spread. I was reeling from another night of little sleep, but determined to march on.
We photographed our way through Piran. The main plaza is dedicated to Giuseppe Tartini. It?s a large circular plaza with a slight convex surface of polished marble. You?d almost think you could ice skate on it so smooth. Instead it holds court to local school children and their soccer dreams. The town has a very impressive campanile as part of the large old church above town. Bells every quarter hour. Most of the old structures boast the Venetian lion in predominant places. The town also is a little run down in spots, but when it?s a hot tourist destination in the next five or ten years I?ll be to look back and say we were here when? We joked that we should pool some money and purchase some of the towns? buildings. Probably no joke.
We drove to Portoroz in search of a boat to rent. No dice. Only three day or one week rentals at the minimum. Plus, there was a large regatta taking place in Trieste that has consumed most of the local sailors. We decided to stroll around instead. Portoroz is an enjoyable place, lot?s of stuff to see, but I wouldn?t want to stay there. Liz made the best analogy. Portoroz is the equivalent of Cannes ? Nice beach and hotels, but nothing else. Piran is the equivalent of Nice ? A lot more structure and character. I found a nice tile of Piran (in Portoroz) while Liz stuck her nose into windows peering at dresses and such.
The ?group? consensus was that we needed to eat lunch with a sea view, otherwise why are we here. We choose a place called Ondine Trattoria Café Bar that?s right on the beach. I wanted nothing to do with food, but was taken by the décor. The restaurant is open air; a series of wood terraces with white linen draping. The tables and chairs were all teak. I told Liz we should do something like this, but instead of the ?okay dear? she pointed out that we?d need to buy a second house to cover the number of motifs I want add into our home.
After some vino and pivo (beer) it was time for dinner. Originally the plan had been to eat at the hotel, but upon review of the menu we decided we could do better. The town of Piran is a long point. On one side is the remains of a fort wall and large church. The other side faces south to Croatia and its shore is packed with seaside restaurants. We walked up and down the row. The women carefully reviewed the menus to select the best place. They choose a restaurant named Pavel which curiously enough had a restaurant next door named Pavel 2. I guess the provisions that Pavel provides to Piran produces prosperity per Pavel. Or is it Pavel 2..?
Despite the condition of my head I was determined to enjoy some fresh seafood, and perhaps went a little over board. I ordered Fish soup, a plate of steam mussels, and then seafood risotto which I was quite happy with. Liz wasn?t as successful with her ordering. One of the items she ordered, seafood cocktail, was covered in mayo sauce. I think she suspected it might come that way, but still took the chance. She was able to sucker her mother into trading her seafood salad for the mayo cocktail. Aren?t mom?s nice. We rated Pavel an 8.9. Liz was a little more critical in her marks than mine. Scorned by mayo I guess.
We retired back to our hotel café for some after dinner beverages, and mapped out tomorrow. The plan is to explore the remainder of Piran, and then go Portoroz to secure a boat for rental.
October 6
We met early for breakfast. The Hotel Tartini had a very extensive breakfast spread. I was reeling from another night of little sleep, but determined to march on.
We photographed our way through Piran. The main plaza is dedicated to Giuseppe Tartini. It?s a large circular plaza with a slight convex surface of polished marble. You?d almost think you could ice skate on it so smooth. Instead it holds court to local school children and their soccer dreams. The town has a very impressive campanile as part of the large old church above town. Bells every quarter hour. Most of the old structures boast the Venetian lion in predominant places. The town also is a little run down in spots, but when it?s a hot tourist destination in the next five or ten years I?ll be to look back and say we were here when? We joked that we should pool some money and purchase some of the towns? buildings. Probably no joke.
We drove to Portoroz in search of a boat to rent. No dice. Only three day or one week rentals at the minimum. Plus, there was a large regatta taking place in Trieste that has consumed most of the local sailors. We decided to stroll around instead. Portoroz is an enjoyable place, lot?s of stuff to see, but I wouldn?t want to stay there. Liz made the best analogy. Portoroz is the equivalent of Cannes ? Nice beach and hotels, but nothing else. Piran is the equivalent of Nice ? A lot more structure and character. I found a nice tile of Piran (in Portoroz) while Liz stuck her nose into windows peering at dresses and such.
The ?group? consensus was that we needed to eat lunch with a sea view, otherwise why are we here. We choose a place called Ondine Trattoria Café Bar that?s right on the beach. I wanted nothing to do with food, but was taken by the décor. The restaurant is open air; a series of wood terraces with white linen draping. The tables and chairs were all teak. I told Liz we should do something like this, but instead of the ?okay dear? she pointed out that we?d need to buy a second house to cover the number of motifs I want add into our home.
Oct 26th, 2004, 06:33 PM
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After lunch it was decided that we tour other towns on the Istrian peninsula since we had pretty much seen all that Portoroz had to offer. We were only a couple of kilometers north of the Croatian border. Luckily, I had brought our passports with us. I normally leave them locked up in the room.
The first stop was Umag. We parked the cars and headed towards the marina as we so often do. That was about the highlight of the town. It was pretty bleak for a costal town. It still a little "Soviet" feel to it. There were some cafes and small tourist shops open, but nothing of a real interest, and certainly nothing Liz and I would term as "stuff."
The afternoon was getting later, and the group wasn't too enthused to tour more of Croatia after such a slow start. So we packed up back into the cars to head north back into Slovenia. Heck, by this time I'm getting pretty good at crossing borders. Pull up to the post. Windows down. Sunglasses off. Have all passports in your hand and out the window. Most of the time they just wave you by, at worst they open it up long enough to see the picture.
Our next stop was Izola. It's the first main town north of Piran. Better than Umag, but still only worth a few café stops. My interest was a little more peaked because there is a sizable marina here. We tried to again to secure passage on a sailboat for tomorrow. We found someone offering a crewed 10 meter McGregor for a rather reasonable price (about 200E). They warned us that the forecast called for light winds and a chance of afternoon showers. The group put it to a vote. Only one of really made an official vote. It was to go out on the boat. The rest of us sort of group-thinked our way into traveling back to Croatia to tour the rest of the peninsula. As is often the case with those types of decisions, it would be one that we'd regret.
Back to Piran to again enjoy Giuseppe's Plaza and clean up for dinner. We all met up at café down front and sampled some of Slovenia's sparkling wines. A big truck rolled onto the plaza and started to pull equipment for a hot air balloon. Were they really going to launch a balloon at sunset? No one knew, but it certainly was a prime opportunity to shoot photos. It was a quite a show as they inflated this balloon that took up almost the entire Plaza. Flames so bright it would light up the area, kids running around shouting for glee and jumping into the inflating balloon.
The balloon of course never took off. One of our more astute members noticed the gas line running from the truck to the balloon. Rats, but still a good show. With that out of our system it was time for dinner. We went out a limb tonight. The choice was Pavel 2. Exact same menu as Pavel. The odd thing was that last night One was full and Two was empty. Well tonight it was reversed with Two leading the charge. Liz and I ordered the mixed seafood grill for two, so did Liz's parents. We also both got the seafood salad. The seafood grill was enormous but good; three kinds of fish, langoustines, squid, shrimp, spinach and potatoes. We both hurt after over indulging. The good folks at Pavel 2 admired our eating prowess and brought complimentary after drinks; grappa for the men, and blueberries in brandy for the ladies. Liz stuck me with both. Our combined rating for Pavel 2 was an 11.25. Pretty good for touristy seafood joint, and substantially better than our 8.87 for Pavel 1. I suspect we were wiser in our dinner selections on the second try.
It was still fairly early after dinner, but Liz was a little warn out and starting to show the signs of my cold. I basically hadn't slept in two nights and wanted to make sure I was good and tired when I retired so I stayed out with the "grown-ups" for more sparkling wine and stories. The balloon was still latched to the Plaza just as we left it.
The first stop was Umag. We parked the cars and headed towards the marina as we so often do. That was about the highlight of the town. It was pretty bleak for a costal town. It still a little "Soviet" feel to it. There were some cafes and small tourist shops open, but nothing of a real interest, and certainly nothing Liz and I would term as "stuff."
The afternoon was getting later, and the group wasn't too enthused to tour more of Croatia after such a slow start. So we packed up back into the cars to head north back into Slovenia. Heck, by this time I'm getting pretty good at crossing borders. Pull up to the post. Windows down. Sunglasses off. Have all passports in your hand and out the window. Most of the time they just wave you by, at worst they open it up long enough to see the picture.
Our next stop was Izola. It's the first main town north of Piran. Better than Umag, but still only worth a few café stops. My interest was a little more peaked because there is a sizable marina here. We tried to again to secure passage on a sailboat for tomorrow. We found someone offering a crewed 10 meter McGregor for a rather reasonable price (about 200E). They warned us that the forecast called for light winds and a chance of afternoon showers. The group put it to a vote. Only one of really made an official vote. It was to go out on the boat. The rest of us sort of group-thinked our way into traveling back to Croatia to tour the rest of the peninsula. As is often the case with those types of decisions, it would be one that we'd regret.
Back to Piran to again enjoy Giuseppe's Plaza and clean up for dinner. We all met up at café down front and sampled some of Slovenia's sparkling wines. A big truck rolled onto the plaza and started to pull equipment for a hot air balloon. Were they really going to launch a balloon at sunset? No one knew, but it certainly was a prime opportunity to shoot photos. It was a quite a show as they inflated this balloon that took up almost the entire Plaza. Flames so bright it would light up the area, kids running around shouting for glee and jumping into the inflating balloon.
The balloon of course never took off. One of our more astute members noticed the gas line running from the truck to the balloon. Rats, but still a good show. With that out of our system it was time for dinner. We went out a limb tonight. The choice was Pavel 2. Exact same menu as Pavel. The odd thing was that last night One was full and Two was empty. Well tonight it was reversed with Two leading the charge. Liz and I ordered the mixed seafood grill for two, so did Liz's parents. We also both got the seafood salad. The seafood grill was enormous but good; three kinds of fish, langoustines, squid, shrimp, spinach and potatoes. We both hurt after over indulging. The good folks at Pavel 2 admired our eating prowess and brought complimentary after drinks; grappa for the men, and blueberries in brandy for the ladies. Liz stuck me with both. Our combined rating for Pavel 2 was an 11.25. Pretty good for touristy seafood joint, and substantially better than our 8.87 for Pavel 1. I suspect we were wiser in our dinner selections on the second try.
It was still fairly early after dinner, but Liz was a little warn out and starting to show the signs of my cold. I basically hadn't slept in two nights and wanted to make sure I was good and tired when I retired so I stayed out with the "grown-ups" for more sparkling wine and stories. The balloon was still latched to the Plaza just as we left it.
