Fun on the funicular
(View down the funicular railway tracks: Lake Como, Italy)
I’m back on old blighty and in Glasgow once again, so I’m back to the usual daily updates. It felt like a very brief trip now that I’m back, but as usual, Ying and I packed a lot in, managing to visit lake Como, walk partway along the shore, go up the mountain on the funicular railway, eat outdoor barbequed delicacies, trot round a monumental cemetery in Milan, have an apperativo, eat takeaway pizza, sit in a sauna, go to a couple of exhibitions, wander through a funfair, lunch in a mozzarella bar and probably lots more I’ve already neglected to mention. We did not badly for a forty-eight hour trip!
Whilst we were there, the Milan Fashion Week was in full swing, our hotel breakfast was peppered with tall, slender, grouchy girls talking loudly and surviving on a diet of coffee biscuits and nutella. The popular areas of the city were completely crammed with visitors queuing for various exhibits and shows. We avoided most of the fracas as we saw most of the tourist sights last summer when I visited. On Saturday evening as we lounged in our hotel room eating pizza we had procured from a nearby take away establishment, I suggested we catch a train to Lake Como early the following morning. Perhaps it was the gin, but Ying readily agreed that it was a sterling plan; while we awaited our pizza, we treated ourselves to a gin and tonic in the takeaway bistro – unfortunately there was some confusion regarding the tonic aspect and it never arrived. A healthy pour of straight gin was our stiff alternative. Well, it wasn’t quite straight – the waiter did add ice.
Sunday turned out to be rather overcast and foggy, but we made it to Como and embarked on the funicular up one of the surrounding hilltops – as you can see, the view down was vertigo inducing to say the least. You might be able to make out a muted yellow rail car coming up towards the top of the misty slope. I bet Como is stunning in the summer and on any clear day, but our views were somewhat stifled by the weather. Luckily the diversions on the hilltop were worth the trip; our lunch consisted of locally produced wine, grilled lamb and prawns, chased down with home-made cake, and the little town at the peak was quaint and quiet. Except for the four or five times we were startled by lone dogs barking over fences at us, it was all very peaceful. One large dog waited, concealed by shrubs until we were right next to him before revealing his huge jaws with a massive bark. Ying flinched and I stepped away in surprise. We ended up having to pass the same dog again, but we were prepared this time – however, the couple coming the other way was not. We cruelly waited, looking over our shoulders for the scene to unfold. Their frenzied reaction was worth waiting for and we scuttled away, laughing into our scarves.
– Today Rosie is catching up with work in Glasgow, Scotland –
This image is messing with my mind! “There is the ground but… ooop, it’s gone! Instead: train-tracks going off into the distance”. For the love of God, Rosie! Do something!