We arrived in Lake Como yesterday, during an unusually heavy summer rainstorm. We are staying in the tiny hamlet of Sala Comacina, on the western edge of the storied lake. Sala Comacina is a spiderweb of small streets that all somehow lead to the water’s edge. We wanted to stay in a quiet spot, away from the more famous Bellagio. When we got here, our Airbnb host stood in the rain, braving the torrential downpour to tell us that the street down to the house was a bit tricky to find. After shuttling our luggage in, Josh had to reverse all the way backdown the narrow, cobbled street. Extra driving points for him.
When we woke up this morning, all that was left of the deluge were wisps of clouds clinging to the steep hillsides surrounding the lake. It looked a bit like Hawaii to me. Today is very similar to any day of our vacation. We have little itinerary. Josh makes breakfast (a tradition we carry on from our far-away life in Los Angeles). This morning the menu was egg burritos with fresh raspberries and strawberries. After breakfast, we started a load of laundry (it seems that we are always doing laundry!) and headed out to explore Sala Comacina in the sunshine. The kids found a playground and bounced happily on a see-saw. It is clear that Noah is now the heavier side of the scale, when they sat motionless, the plank plunked down heavily in his favor. We scouted out a beautiful restaurant on the water for lunch, right next to the ferry stop to the tiny island, Isola Comacina, in our view.
After our walk, we popped home and changed into our suits. There is a rectangular piece of sand right in front of our house, with steps leading into the lake. Noah was gamely the first one in the lake. The water is not nearly as warm as the magical Mediterranean, but not nearly as cold as the frigid Pacific. We all took a swim. The church bells chimed merrily every half hour, reminding us that lunchtime was approaching.
I know that some of this may seem mundane. But, I want to remember what it felt like when our whole family’s pace had officially slowed down. When we didn’t mind hanging our laundry out on a line, or when our biggest decision of the day was choosing where to go for lunch. We have been together nonstop, as a tight knit unit, for over six weeks. I haven’t had this much time with my kids since maternity leave. I haven’t had this much time with my husband since business school.
We have a few more days to spend at this magical lake and then we move on to the Dolomites. A mountain range in northeastern Italy, Josh and I made a trip to the Dolomites when Sylvie was only 14 months old. We went rock climbing then and hiked in the mountains with her in a baby pack. This time we have hiking-ready kids. After the Dolomites, we head back to Torino to start our “real life” there. We move into our apartment on September 1st and the kids start school soon thereafter.
In the meantime, our evening agenda consists of finding the neighborhood cat and luring him to our porch with a bowl of milk, then deciding where to have dinner. I look forward to falling asleep with the sounds of the lake lapping outside my open window. I will pull the laundry off of the line tomorrow–tonight is feeling a too busy. Yes, I am person reveling in my extended vacation.