I know it’s three four five weeks into January, I really do.
It’s just I’m not caught up yet. Bear with me.
Better than waiting til next Christmas, I thought I’d share this great day we had in Como, Italy this holiday season so you can plan to be here next year. Mark your calendars now.
It was the Sunday after Christmas, the 27th of December. In Lugano almost everything is closed on Sundays, but you get luckier in Como. Big grocery stores, cafes, a lot more things are open across the border than here. I can’t explain why. Take my word for it.
We went in search of a turkey because I hadn’t had a turkey dinner in five years. Mom was here to cook with me and after another turkey-less Thanksgiving and Christmas I wanted a turkey. I’d seen an ad in a flyer for a big Italian grocery store… some sale on whole turkeys… so off we went. By the way, they eat salmon on Christmas in Italy and Germany, as far as I can tell. From hotels to family homes that is what I’ve been served on Christmas Eve for five years straight. Great for the Perricone Diet, not at all what I want on Christmas. So we went looking in Italy for a turkey.
None of us had ever explored the historic center of Como, so we headed there first. We parked on the street near the cathedral, just outside the old city walls, and started wandering. It was late in the afternoon and we couldn’t find open lunch places. So what did we do? A trick we learned from a cop friend in the U.S. Ask the police for good, local lunch spots. They always know.
The place they told us was closed, too, though… so we walked into Il Vecchio Borgo right on the lake, thinking it would be a tourist trap. It was not! It was full of locals and this fabulous tiramisu.
Then we were thrilled to discover a tiny Christmas market still going on right in the heart of town…
All these cookies? I’d eat ‘em.
Pig’s feet? Would not eat them.
This poor guy doesn’t realize the sign right next to him indicates the sausage is made of the rest of him…
Should you find yourself in Lugano on a Sunday and there’s nothing to do, consider Como. Lovely cathedral, good food, handsome people, la dolce vita. Enjoy!
Oh! And we made that turkey dinner, yes we did:
