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Special Guest Blog by Captain Jacob

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 17:50:34 +0100

Jaap's adventures on Lake Como:

Now that we finally finished the restauration of Casa3dici, we can start using it in the way it was ment to be: as a shelter (the spanish call this Parador and created a chain of lovely hotels in the most beautifull places all around Spain) to be used when escaping from work and other less thrilling business in and around the place we live.

To enlargen our possibilities to "live" the lake we thought it a good idea to get ourselves a little boat, a RIO 500 40HP outboard, which can carry easily 5 persons. We are probably the only Dutch that have no boating experience at all, so it was also some kind of adventure. The boat is harboured at Mostes boating, just right down below Sormazzana, so one can get there in 5 minutes by foot.

Mostes is a company that builds luxury yaughts and....offshore racing monsters. We are speaking about 1000HP Lamborghini engines that generate speeds around 200km/h on the water. The Lake Region gives of permits for just 4 hours a year because of the tremendous noise produced. One mile up north is the Molinari dock: same stile but exclusively using Ferrari engines. Lovely tales about professional hatred, similar to the old stories about Ferrari and Lamborghini ( who were originally tractor builders, making racing vehicles for fun, did you know that?) circle in the air.

Our first trip with the RIO (no water licence needed) was lovely: since Stefano told me in winter it had a 70 ltr fuel tank that guarantees more than one day of autonomy we confidently took off.

We navigated up to Bellagio, which is spectaculour seen from the water, and then bended down in the direction of Lecco. Lunch on the boat in a quiet place (just let it flow!) and off to Bellano. In hte meantime the boys had taken over the ship. Officially you have to be sixteen years old but our son of ten can handle it without problems. Crossing the lake back to Bellagio we started hear strange sounds, but holding back just a bit the speed everything continued to go smooth. Just to be sure I asked Vincent to check the level of the fuel: "no problem, I still see liquid floating in the tank". Just when I started saying to the rest of the crew that I didn't hope to fall still the engine stopped. A quick look around showed us that we chose the worst place to drift helplessly around: just in the middle of the in- and outgoing route of the ferries, 100 m out of the coast. We didn't make friends among the professional captains for sure! You know the chamber orchestra only for horns by captain Hook? It must sound more or less like what we heard.

A friendly co-boater teared us off to quieter waters and so safed us from being abissed by those pirats. Phone call to Mostes: laughing orchestra! He kindly brought us a jerrycan with fuel, that after dearing acrobacy by Vincent, jumping from our little to his very much higher boat, jiggling on the waves, was poured in the tank. "Have a nice day, bye ,bye". We just crossed the lake again when the phone went: Stefano: "no matter where you are, PUT OFF the engine NOW. I gave you the wrong type of fuel." Shouting orchestra! His dad came over with a very speedy speedboat to bring the oil to mix with the gasoline. After this very hot, panoramic and musically inspired tour we turned back to harbour, where we immediately made us explain where to refurnish fuel next time we go out.

If someone reading this gets inspiration to go for a boat trip: it is for hire, just let us know. I will inform Mostes you are coming and let him check if there is sufficient fuel in the tank. Posted by Jakob

Pittoresco Lezzeno

Tue, 18 May 2010 20:26:12 +0100

We just spent a long weekend painting in Lezzeno with 12 friends from Holland. This time we did not paint the walls. This was ART weekend. We used casa3dici and my sister's house Fitzcarraldo just around the corner. Weather was much better than predicted. One of the friends is an art teacher and did a wonderful job providing useful feedback. First day we painted in the frazione itself. Next day in Villa Melzi (way too many flowers and leaves....). Day 3 we painted in San Giovanni. Here is my 'artist impression of the church. Not entirely architecturally correct as you can see. In the evening we went to Agriturismo La Morena, painted some more scenery and livestock ("puppi" the pig), had a fantastic meal, lots of wine, limoncello, stumbled down the mountain and had more limoncello at home. Not a bad weekend at all..

TomTom Italian

Sun, 02 May 2010 12:16:26 +0100

If you have a navigator in the car, here's another easy way to learn some directional Italian. Switch language and ... "andiamo".
Destra, sinistra, lascire autostrada tra otto chilometri, entri in la rotonda ed prendi la terza uscita, arrivato a destinazione. If you get lost, don't worry, Francesca (my patient navigator) will do a recalculo percorso. Unfortunately, you don't learn to spell it right.....

Once for Jaap, twice for Cees

Sun, 04 Apr 2010 14:28:45 +0100

During your stay in casa3dici you may notice this small sign in the kitchen. Way back in the 80ies, Jaap and I studied in Utrecht and shared a house. I think this sign was Jaap's very first "dentist drilling" assignment. We had the sign on the door (Ring once for Jaap, twice for Cees). I can assure you Jaap has continued to practice his drilling skills after the door sign and his patients are in very safe hands.....

A weekend in Lezzeno

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 12:25:54 +0100

Last week my wife and I spent a long weekend in Lezzeno to do some work on the house and garden. Jaap came along for 3 days. Apparently the week before there was still snow, but during our stay the weather was fantastic. We had lunch in the garden everyday.
We sawed the remaining wood in the garden and now have enough wood to burn the barbie for the next years. Barbecue to come soon after the gardiniere will have leveled the garden and put grass on which will happen in the coming weeks. With the terrace and gazeebo it will be the place to be in Lezzeno in summer!

Jaap also constructed a beautiful cast-iron fencing around the stairwell preventing kids from falling down. We painted the roof terrace walls a warm terra-cotta/salmon color. Roof terrace will be another place to spend a great time and sip a white wine at sunset.
We had dinner one night at Trattoria La Busciona near Bellagio. Well worth a visit.

A morbid bite

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:01:26 +0100

Some time ago, when staying in Casa3dici the shops were closed so we did not manage to get panini. However, we still had some pre-packaged sweet dough-ie things. The wrapper shouted these were Più Morbido!

Just to make sure, we checked the dictionary to find this did not mean More Deadly but merely that they were now Even Softer. Oh, well, better safe than sorry; we learn every day.

Give us our daily bread

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 15:52:19 +0100

Closest place to do major grocery shopping is in Bellagio. However, for fresh panini, milk, odds-and-ends you might as well support the local smaller stores. There's a tiny store that sells just enough to survive. Walk down to the main street, turn left and go past Restaurant Crotto. It is somewhere in the block on your right hand side.

Hard to explain how to get to this hidden place from there. I suggest you wait and follow a hungry-looking local person. My sister had told us you just enter the front door and walk through the house into the shop situated at the back. After a year we found out there's actually a regular entry round the back which explained why other locals always looked at us when we popped in the shop via the living-room. The bread is fresh but usually hollow. Because it is priced by weight, there is no financial rip-off. A larger assortment of grocery items (and panini that even have bread inside them) can be found next to Restaurant Helvetia. If you start to get fed up with white bread or bowel obstruction becomes unbearable, ask for integrale which is wheat bread.

Trattoria with a View

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 19:26:58 +0100

You can enjoy a nice view virtually everywhere around Como Lake. But it is hard to find a better view than the one at Trattoria Baita Belvedere in Chevrio where you seem to hang over the mountain edge overlooking Bellagio and the three branches of the lake. As is the case in most agriturismi type restaurants, the food is fantastic too. If you want to work up an appetite, you should park the car at the Tabbaccharia that is on your right just before getting to Bellagio. From the parking you can either go straight ahead up the steps or turn right. We thought it would be the path straight ahead but after heavy climbs straight up the mountain and through the bush, we had too much of an appetite when we - exhausted - finally found the place. If you take the path right, it is a very pleasant hike which takes approximately 1.5 hours. Going back, you just loiter back down on a well-filled stomach.
From May through September Belvedere is open every day, except Tuesdays. Outside the season, you should check their website

Oysters with Prosseco - the perfect Xmas breakfast

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 15:57:15 +0100

Last Christmas we stayed at casa3dici. My sister and her family were also in Lezzeno. We got snowed in the first couple of days but, mama mia, did it look nice outside!
Best memory: Christmas morning 11:00 o'clock: Washing down fresh oysters (from Zeeland of course) with a good Prosecco with family and Italian neighbors. What more can you wish for?

By the way, Christmas and New Years weeks are still available for 2010 and beyond!

Salve!

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 12:45:53 +0100

Jaap and family, having been in Italy for so long, speak better Italian than most Italians. We, however, did not speak a word beyond pizza. I was determined to at least be able to exchange some information with my neighbors while staying among the Italians. We soon learned to that besides ciao, a salve! works well, especially when you don't know people. I bought some teach-yourself-Italian books with incredibly boring CDs but was really pleased (mi piace molto!) to find My Daily Phrase Italian on the Internet. If you don't know any Italian this is an extremely nice way to get to learn some of the basics. From the website you get free access to 100 audio podcast lessons that only last about 4-5 minutes a piece. The great thing about it is that is educational, not boring and taught by a professore from Glasgow who must have some Italian heritage: When he speaks English he has a beautiful Scottish accent but his Italian is authentic. You can download all of the podcasts and listen to them while driving to Lezzeno. By the time you'll get there, you'll be able to say: Siamo arrivati, ora vorrei bere.