Top ten photos from Mantova

Today I took a trip it Mantova (Mantua). It's historic center is nestled in the nook of a boomerang-shaped lake. It is also famous for pumpkin/amaretto filled pasta (which may or may not be the primary reason for my visit). Fog prevented any photos of the city from across the lake until the afternoon. Here are the top ten photos from Mantova. Also, here are the bottom thirty-nine photos from Mantova.

disclaimer: the statement "top ten" is not meant to in any way imply order or legitimacy of said claim

Quick trip to Como

Christine is taking a trip back to the other side of the ocean this week. Her flight left from Milan unseemingly early on Sunday so we decided to spend Saturday in Como before crashing at a Novotel Hotel adjacent to the airport. We arrived in Como at lunchtime so we wandered toward the city center until we located an acceptable restaurant (the main criteria, according to the shortest half of our group, was the presence of pizza on the menu). The place we found was fine. Cora has decided that wurstel pizza (essentially cheese pizza with cut up hotdogs...don't judge) is the bee's knees. It is basically the hotdog with cheese and ketchup of Italy. They also had cotoletta alla milanese with different combinations of meats and cheeses, essentially wiener schnitzel pizza. The inside of the restaurant was nicer/cooler than you would imagine and the food was less interesting than it sounds. 

The city of Como was nice. It wasn't fantastic, but we got the feeling it was a summertime kinda place. One of the top attractions is a funicular (a sort of electric tram that goes uphill) that affords nice views over both Lake Como and the city Como. It was a pretty overcast day and it was already mid afternoon (it gets dark here about 5 this time of year), so we decided to skip  this. There are also lots of scenic trails in the hills above the city and plenty of opportunities to hire boats. We had a nice time, but it is pretty likely more time and more sunshine would have helped.

We visited a couple churches: the Duomo (the 75 meter tall Como Cathedral was started in 1396 and completed in 1770) and the Basilica of Sant'Abbondio (the newest version was consecrated by Pope Urban II in 1095). We gazed at the lake. We wandered around town. We randomly past Count Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta's (of inventing the battery fame) old place. We had some pastries. I took some photos. Then we headed to the hotel, had dinner, then went to sleep.