Staufen

Staufen is a quaint little town at the base of the black forest in southern Germany.  As I drove to it, I expected it to be heavily wooded, but the road coming in was across a very fertile and flat farming land that came up to heavily wooded hills.  It reminded me of the Skagit Valley up near Anacortes in Washington.  When I arrived at Staufen, I thought it is a very nice little city.  I had to walk around it twice to get enough steps on by fit bit.   When I reached the hotel, I was pleasantly surprised with a castle on the hill in the distance.  Not as tough as the one in Varenna, but a good short hike before dinner.  The hotel is the orange building under the tree on the left.

 

After my hike, I had a beer at the café across the street

and caught something you only see in Europe, daily bread delivery.

 

 

 

A shot of the castle and a view of the city from the hill. The

entire hillside around the castle was planted with wine grapes. 

 

 

The road less traveled....

A I prepared to leave Lake Como and cross Switzerland to Staufen in southern Germany, I had two choices.  Google and my GPS were telling me to take the ferry across the lake and go up through Lucerne on the main highway.  Projected time, 4.5 hours.  The alternate route Google game me was up through a national forest, near St. Moritz and then through Zurich.  Projected time, 5 hours.  I figured what the heck, I am going to take the secondary road and stay off the main highway.  It was a great decision, but did cost me some time.  I was not aware the bypass tunnel around Zurich was closed for some reason.  I am so glad I bought the European map chip for my gps, or I would still be in Zurich.  I digress from the trip, it did take me almost 7 hours, but it was great.  I am glad the weather was good, as it had many very steep roads and switchback.  That does come with great views though.  Here are a few.

Finally the meal I was waiting for...

When I come to Italy, I can pretty much tell you the majority of my meals.  Caprese salad and the fresh pasta of the day.  I had dinner at the hotel last night and it was good, but they didn't have Caprese (what?) and the pasta was good, but had squash in it, which is not my favorite.  In an effort to counter that, I went to Yelp and found the top rated place in the city.  One of the best things about Italy is, even the best places are not really more expensive than the others. 

On Yelp, they noted that you will never get in for dinner without a reservation days in advance, but if you go at lunch, it should be OK.  I went and was able to get in.  Small place, just 2 people (a cook and a waiter) and 8 tables. 

The chef was very busy and was the only one cooking.  The food was wonderful and they had half bottles of wine.  Only downside, I still have my hike today and would have preferred my big meal after, but that's the price you pay for good food. 

The group at the table next to me was interesting.  Two couples from New Jersey.  I don't want to say they fit the Housewives of New Jersey stereotype, but they kept referring to their husbands as Goombah's and when it came to pay, they only had 500 euro bills.  Draw your own conclusions.

Their version of a de-constructed Caprese.  Not the traditional version, but it was very good.

 

Ravioli.  I wasn't sure when I saw the green sauce, but it was very good.  This will prepare me for the meat and potatoes I will face in Germany starting tomorrow.

Varenna

Varenna is the town I am staying in on Lake Como.  This is a better shot I took on my walk today.  The castle I posted earlier is the top the peak behind he city. 

 

 

There is also a nice walkway that connects some of the small towns

 

 

I giadini di Villa Melzi

This is a villa in Bellagio built around 1801 by the Vice President of the Republic of Italy that was put in place by Napoleon.  It runs along the water with beautiful gardens and was very nice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bellagio (the city not the casino)

I took a ferry this morning across the lake to Bellagio.  Yes, the namesake of the casino.  After walking around and figuring out there were not any poker tables, I decided to explore more.  If you look at the city, you notice the bell tower, this the Basilica di San Giacomo. 

 

It is a small but nice Basilica in the heart of Bellagio.

 

Like the other cities, all roads were up, but there were some very nice looking staircases lined with businesses.

 

 



 

A "Ride About"?

OK, I was feeling my nearly 5 week trip across Europe was somewhat adventurous until I ran into this guy on the ferry.  He is riding his bike from Holland to Rome.  That's 2,400 kilometers or about 1,500 miles.  He is doing it in 3 weeks, so that's about 60 miles per day.  Hard to say, but he must be at least 60.  Everything with him is on the bike behind him.  He had just come over the Alps, which is quite an accomplishment, so he was feeling good and now only has a few more days to Rome.  Think about that next time you go for a bike ride.