This is getting to be fun!

I'll start this post out by apologizing for not getting more scenery pictures from my rides. Today I climbed up an extremely long, but gradual (for the most part) climb. About a quarter of the way up, before I got really into the clouds, the view over the town of Varenna and Lago di Como was nothing short of breathtaking. But, when you're on a climb that you know is going to go on for 16km, the last thing you want to do is stop and break your rhythm and then have to start again. So no photo, sorry. Some memories are for me only. Plus getting any real quality shot of this amazing place is hard enough on a clear day with a good camera, none-the-less on a more-than-foggy one with an iPhone. And no, I'm not lugging my camera with me up and own mountain pass roads in the Alps.

The other thing with traveling alone out into these remote places it getting photos of yourself. I met a lovely older couple from California who wanted to take my photo and send it to me. Hopefully when they have some time and internet, I'll get those photos and share them with you. Bad self portraits (yes, now I have that Lake Street Dive song stuck in my head) an arms length away are far from ideal.
Ok, enough about the photography or lack thereof. Today, I had a lot of fun! My plan for the day was to ride down to the lake, take the ferry across, ride up the Passo di Esino, descend down another road back to the lake, ride along the lake (though some cool tunnels) back to Varenna, to take the boat to Bellagio and up the Madonna del Ghisallo climb for the first time. I did all of that, but with a lot of socializing and some pizza and gelato eating mixed in. Today was the day that I spent a lot time talking to older English-speaking couples. I must attract them as much as Lago di Como attracts them. There aren't many younger people here so I must stick out like a sore thumb! (sorry if any of you folks are reading, don't mean to offend, it's just that it's been pointed out to me that I'm a young-in around here at this time of year).

The first couple were British, and I was able to help them get the right boat over to Varenna. They seemed thoroughly confused (I don't quite know why) and they had passed back and forth across the lake several times already. The were very nice, knew a little about cycling, well, they were British, they knew about Bradley Wiggins. I ended up running into them again after my giro on the mountain. Throughly nice people!
The second couple(s) were the most interesting ones. I was taking a cool artsy photo of my bike and as I was walking away, I overheard one of them say something about my frame being alloy. I turned around and said, Nope, it's carbon. We got to talking a bit, and the man's wife said, Tell him your story. He was hesitant, seeming to think I wouldn't really care. But she coaxed it out of him. I was expecting some random story about his friend who cycles or something. What he tells me is mind-blowing. He's says, our last name is Bianchi, Edoardo Bianchi was my great-grandfather. WTF?!! Are you kidding?! So, yeah, I met a true Bianchi. His branch of the family must have moved to Australia at some point, and he was the head of Bianchi Australia and the Pacific Rim for a long time, but has since gotten out of the industry after Bianchi was sold to other companies. He said he got to spend about 12 months as a kid at the Bianchi estate in Varese. He also told me, and I don't know if this is some type of family secret, but I have to share it... the celeste color was not the color of the Milan sky, it was not the color that came about from mixed up Italian army surplus paint, nor was it the color of Queen Margherita's eyes... it was... the color... of.... her underwear! That has some implications, huh?! So that whole half hour conversation was incredible! Made my day!

Varenna- quieter than Bellagio and very picturesque

I then spent some time talking with a couple who were from, of all places, New Jersey! They go to New Hope quite often so they know my area. The husband worked in a bike shop as a kid and was completely captivated with my bike. The wife was Italian-American and her family was from not far from where my family was from. After I ate some lunch, we met again walking back to the boat, and again on the boat. We exchanged info and maybe sometime soon I'll meet up with them in New Hope.
The other couple, the ones who took my photo, were very interested to hear about my journey. She said that she'd email me the photos and I'd send her a link to the blog. They knew quite a bit about cycling, he rode from time to time, and they followed the Amgen ToC around quite a bit. The said I needed to come out to California to ride and offered that I stay with them if I came out there! People are so nice. With all the crap that goes on in the world, it's so nice to meet genuinely nice people, especially after spending time in "solidarity" up here on the mountain. Many of these people couldn't believe me that the hotel I am staying in is practically deserted, that they are letting me use the restaurant kitchen as my own, and that I even have a key to the front door to let myself in and out. It's a whole 'nother world up here but it's nice to go down into civilization and socialize a bit.

I rode up that big one in the middle. You can't see the top due to the clouds.

By the time I got back on the boat and started heading up the Madonna del Ghisallo, it was getting on sun set. With the mountains, the sun sets fast here because it has a lot more to hide behind. I have a blinky light, and the traffic is so light that I knew I'd be fine riding at dusk. By the time I got to the top of the challenging 40 min climb, I was riding to the light of the street lamps. It was remarkable taking those iconic switchback in the darkness, and as the fog lifted a bit today, I could see the lights of the lakeside towns far down below. It was beautiful and certainly a perspective that few cyclists get on this heavily cycled road.

Leaving Bellagio behind. The bigger mountain is Madonna del Ghisallo, where I'm staying.

Tonight, I got to get into the kitchen. It's a full scale restaurant kitchen and I had it all to myself. At first, I wasn't sure how they were going to react to my making pasta, but they were completely unphased when I asked for a pot to boil some water. I wasn't cooking anything fancy, just pasta with oil and garlic with some grape tomatoes thrown in and a salad, but it was so cool to cook in there. They had the giant exhaust fan running (probably because cooking garlic in olive oil tends to smell up a place). As my dad knows, I'm always wishing for a restaurant stove in our house. I want one even more now. The burners are so hot. Everything cooks that much faster. The water boils without a lid in half the time, and when you add the salt, then the pasta, the water doesn't stop boiling, it keeps right on going. That is why food tastes so much better. It's the heat. If you get the timing right, which luckily I did, for fear of making a fool of myself, the food is so much more flavorful when cooked like that. Everything, even the texture of the pasta is effected.
So that was a cool experience. Today was a day filled with cool experiences, and that is what traveling is all about. It really brings out the best in people. If only I had skipped on college, took the money I spent and continue to spend on it (college loans) and traveled instead. I had many great experiences at college, don't get me wrong, but if you want to learn about the world, about people, about yourself, you must travel. I know, even on a budget, it's a luxury, and I am fortunate, but have also worked hard, to have, and if you have that opportunity I strongly encourage you to do it. You must. It will shape your life.