Lovely Como

Lake Como on a cloudy day


Full moon on Lake Como



"Downtown" Como in the morning
Friday Nov 11
The sun finally came out on Wednesday! The landscape here is so beautiful with the lake and mountains and the colors of autumn of the trees and the crisp cool air. It's in the 60's during the day so it's perfect for me. My italian colleagues are helping me plan a weekend in florence. Booked train tickets and hotel. Federico is going home to germany for the weekend and martin is staying in como to rest. Rest?! I can rest when I get home, meanwhile there's the whole of italy to explore! I didn't want to miss the opportunity to travel around italy while I can so I am striking out on my own. Simone is helping me get tickets for one of the museum in florence since it's the most popular and you can wait in line for hours. I am not a big fan of museums but would not pass on the chance to see the works of leonardo da vinci, michaelangelo, titian, raphael, rembrandt, boticello, etc. They say that in florence you will see a renaissance masterpiece every 6 steps, can't wait to explore!
Yesterday simone got ambitious for me by trying to plan a quick side trip to pisa (as in the leaning tower of pisa) while I was in florence. As it was, I am in florence for only 2 days! He showed me the train schedule and insisted that I could rush through florence on saturday and then take a train and spend 3+ hours in pisa before heading back to florence to catch my train to como. I told him thanks but I didn't want to rush through florence like that and wanted some strolling time for photos. Besides, I don't know the italian railway system and didn't know how easy it was to use.That and I didn't speak the local language. Already they planned my next weekend while we are in milan. Alfredo and simone convinced me that I can take a quick train to verona (as in romeo and juliet) for a day trip next weekend. So excited. I'm staying up past midnight during the week to get the work done and to ensure I have the weekend free. It's my last audit so I have to make it count!

OMG, wish I will need my fat pants soon

Cold appetizer of tuna, lake como fish, otopus


Hot appetizers of squid, mussels, scallops, shrimps etc


Homemade pasta in light cream with seafood

..and finally, the main course of stingray fish

Chocolate mousse with fried carrots on top

Thurs, Nov 10

Last night our italian colleagues took us out to a local restaurant near the plant in lomazzo. When the waiter handed out menus to the group I looked to Alfredo who took us out the night before and asked him to order for us. So ofcourse he made a show to throw down his menu and say yes, menus are for tourists. So, a lot of italian ensued with the restaurant manager and all was taken care of. The night was endless with dish after dish. First comes the aperitif of campari with oj and sec along with a dish each of warm hordeurves to enjoy with our drink, then the wine, then the cold appetizers, then the hot appetizers, then the pasta as the primi dish, then the fish as the secondi, then dessert, then coffee and their homemade cookies and chocolates. I remembered when they brought out the cold appetizers I was confused because I thought the hordeurves were the appetizers. That's when salvatore explained that the hordeurves were for the aperitifs. THEN when the hot appetizers came out I was confused because I thought we already had our appetizers so salvatore explained that we had the cold appetizers and now this is the hot appetizers. After that I just shut up and just eat whatever they bring me. Have to admit that by the time they brought the stingray which was a specialty of the restaurant and which I have never tried, I was too full to enjoy it. Didn't think I had room for dessert but had to try the fantastic mouse. It was small but so rich and yummy, much thicker than what I know of mousse. Fried carrots sounded weird but it was really good. Crispy and with a hint of salt so a good combination with the sweetness of the chocolate. I loved our meal because they were mostly dishes I wouldn't have known to order. The cuisine of northern italy is very different from the typical italian dishes that I find in the states. So far I have not had any spaghetti or lasagna! I learned that ragu sauce originated in naples in south italy, it means sauce simmered over a long period of time. Wish I had time to go to bologna since spaghetti bolognese is one of my favorite dish back home.

Martin asked our Italian colleagues what I thought might have been an offending question: who’s more cultured, Italians or French? I was surprised to hear Antonio immediately say that italy might have culture but Italians are not cultured. People here do not appreciate arts or theatre. Much of the treasures in italy were discovered by French or germans. He said if you go into the many churches in these villages and town there could be pictures hung on the walls that are centuries old and easy to steal. I couldn't believe the way they were putting down their own people and the lack of appreciation of art and music and history.

When I first heard alfredo say that he does not agree that women should be in the military or work in the factory and that this equality thing was silly. He didn’t think women should do any jobs that involves physical no matter if they want to or not. I didn’t know how to respond to that and waited him out before arguing back. I was the only female in the group so wondered if I should defend myself and my gender. He said he almost got lynched when working in Russia and did not want to hire women workers. Apparently in russia the women are working in the factories while the men are busy drinking vodka. I thought alfredo was exaggerting but antonio chimed in that women is a big part of the workforce in russia and without them there would be no russia. Anyway, alfredo was very vocal about women doing anything kind of physical jobs. The others were also nodding their heads! It then dawned on me to ask salvatore sitting next to me if this machismo attitude was because Italian men feel protective towards their women and he said that’s exactly it. How can you get mad at that logic?!

Funny to hear alfredo talk about younger generations and how they are not well read and too reliant on TV, he is afraid of the future because of how today's youth is too materialistic. He is fearful that future generations will revert back to the old days of the rich few will be the ones leading the world and the middle class will disappear.

It was interesting conversation, it was a regular exchange of experiences. Our italian colleagues were curious about things happening in our parts of the world: martin in china, federico in argentina and me in the united states and ofcourse we loved to learn about italian culture. Alfredo loves watching american futbol, it's fast and noisy he said. We learned from martin that soccer is the most popular sport in china. Federico talked about the relationship of argentina with their neighboring countries. Brazil is like a close cousin, Chile is just a neighbor and Uruguay is like another province of argentina. I told them about the baseball stadium in phx that is open air but is airconditioned for the summer games (yes, hot air rises while cold air is depressed). We learned that salvatore demonstrated the essence of the italian value of family when he showed us pics of the house that he built so that it's 3 homes in 1 to accomodate his family, his parents and his sister's family. Alfredo was curious about what americans think about europeans and I hated to admit that the average american was not very aware on what's happening outside of the US, unless it's something major that would appear on the national news. Most don't watch CNN on a regular basis but instead stuck more to local news and what's happening in their town or state. Our country is quite big and isolated from the rest of the world. Alfredo said that it's the opposite here and that europeans are very interested in what's happening in the US. They like our current president. I said I like the current only because he was better than the last!

Best meal EVER!

The chef presenting to us the catch of the day!


Our own plate of hot appetizers

Primi plate of seafood pasta

Preparing our plate with yummy grilled fish

Tuesday, Nov 8

This is why I love this job so much. If I came here as a tourist the following experience would not have happened…..last night the head of the plant took us out for what he called “a simple Italian meal”. After work we followed him to the restaurant in the Como area. I was thinking somewhere near our hotel but we ended up going up up up the mountain side. Outside the restaurant Alfredo warned us that this is not a fancy restaurant but it’s where he takes his family or friends for nice meal. OK, I then knew for sure it was going to be great. First he asked us if we like fish and the answer was yes and that was the only input he needed from us. Then there was a lot of Italian going back and forth with the owner and waiter and the cook. We didn’t even get menus, all was taken care of for us. Then the chef brought out a platter containing 3 huge fresh fish (raw) that he got that afternoon, again a lot of Italian back and forth to discuss the best dish to prepare. Apparently one fish is best in a soup and another was best grilled, etc. Out comes the wine and bread, then a plate of mixed appetizer, OMG so delicious. I loved the paper thin slices of grilled octopus and the baked potato casserole. Then we get the primi which was linguini with a wonderful tomato sauce with shrimp and squid. Then they carted out this huge grilled fish on a trolley and prepared our plates in front of us. The waiter basically deboned the fish and place a portion on our plate and adding paper thin slices of grilled zucchini, eggplants and potatoes. I ate everything! Not surprisingly after the main course we were too full for dessert so had to regretfully say no when asked about it. But ofcourse there was an idea for something light. I heard sorbet and I heard limone so it was enough for me to say OK! What we got was a small champagne glass of ice cold of something with the consistency of melted ice cream and flavor of fresh lemon. It was so light and so good, especially when the chef brought out some lemon meringue cookies that he made that was as light as air. During our wonderful meal Alfredo told us about his 14 yrs expat experience of working for hkl in Russia. I learned so much about the culture and politics of Russia. The russians will put up with a terrible polictical leader because they value stability above all else. We spent 2 and a half hours talking about this topic, it was so fascinating to hear first hand account. It was a lovely evening even we had to practically roll out of the restaurant. I tried to take pictures of the food with the blackberry (such a tourist) and so it's not so clear.

First day of work at the plant

View of Lake Como from my hotel balcony

Nov 7
On Monday we had the opening meeting to kick off the audit. Everyone was sooo nice. I couldn’t keep the names straight since there were about 22 people in the room. I was the only female but hey, I am NOT complaining! All speak English even though it’s broken English. With their charming accents I would forgive them anything, lol! The plant is 80 years old and quite big, it will take me more that a week to be able to find my way around. Our working space is a nice conference room on the 4th floor with awesome views of the Swiss and Italian alps. Every morning when we get to the office there is a platter of croissants and sweets, local fruits, water and even a coffee machine. Lunch at the plant cantine is great. Even here they follow the Italian tradition of a multicourse meal. You typically have a primi (first) choice of soup (best ministone soup ever!) or pastas(always 2 kinds) and then secondi (second) choices of fish or meats with veggies or salads. THEN you have some separate portions of meats like thinly sliced salami or prosciuto ham or cheeses or fruits. OMG! I’ve already gained 10 lbs just writing about it! They do not have concept of to-go food, meaning eating lunch at your desk. There is no rush to eat your meal. Italians will take an hour to eat what American can do in 10 minutes. After lunch we have a coffee together. The coffee is so good here that I make the exception to drink it. It’s strong here so you only need a 1-2 oz shot. Yes, they do laugh that the American version which is a big mug of watery crap. I enjoy so much the lunch conversation with our Italian colleagues. Some like to talk to me about their traveling experience in the US. Simone told me about his 8 day trip by car from LA to Phx, grand canyon, monument valley, bryce canyon, las vegas, sanfranciso and Chicago. I didn’t understand how the hell he did that! Well, one reason was that he spent literally one night in Phx and got the heck out of there because it was in the summer and 1000 degrees! He was also the first person I met that took more pictures than me! I spent 4 wks in Africa and took 800 pics and edited it down to 200 before I can show it to friends, Simone spent 8 days in the US and took 1500 pictures and doesn’t delete anything, lol!

It has been cloudy and rainy in the past few days but not so bad. On CNN I saw them talking about record rain in northern italy (which is where I am) and flooding. It looks really bad on the news but it’s not where we are. The lake level is a little high but that’s about it. The rain is just a drizzle from time to time. Still, can't wait for the sun to come out!

And now, Italy!

Saturday Nov 5

Got here Saturday night and it was raining! Oh well I saw that it will be rainy of an off for the next 5 days. Got my umbrella, my jacket, boots, scarf and hat so I'm set. It was an hour drive from the milan airport, I couldnt see too much because it was already dark. My driver was funny. He was a man of about 60 but want to brag about his wife and his girlfriend. At first I thought it was the language barrier but that's what he said! Made me laugh when he said that religion tend to create war so his religion is women, lol! Oh yeah my first conversation right off the plane with an italian lived to my expectation. That's why I love italian men, they are so appreciative of women without being creepy. If I was young and single it would be fun to travel around italy but since I am not I will have to enjoy vicariously.

Martin arrived from asia on sunday morning. We met for breakfast to chat and say hi. It's my first audit with him but we've met when he was in scottsdale for an audit and talked to me when I was thinking of applying for this job. Nice guy from china. Federico, the 3rd member of our audit team will arrive from germany sunday evening.

It rained all day and I was feeling the jet lag, only slept for one hour saturday night. So it was a perfect day to laze in bed and catch up on sleep. Martin called me at noon to say that he's still sleeping so let's skip lunch and meet for dinner. We walked around the town for a bit and by 6:30pm was hungry. When we walked into a restaurant they told us something about being closed until 7. But we somehow understood that it was closed at 7. I was thinking they are closed early because it's sunday! I've since learned that they eat late here and that restaurants do not open until 7.

Our hotel is great. It's right on lake como and I have a room on the top floor with balcony and lake view. It's so beautiful during the day, also so nice at night with the lights from the homes reflecting on the lake. Como is a beautiful town with steep mountains that end right at the lake. The old part of town was a maze of narrow cobblestone streets, squares and endless walking paths along the lake. and OMG, the shops here are so tempting with the clothes so beautiful and stylish. Unfortunately it's so expensive! Como is a big tourist destination so the price tends to be high. It's now the off season so it's more quiet. It's actually the reason why we were able to afford our nice hotel. It costs 3 times more during the summer.

South Africa - going back on the bucket list!

Saturday, Oct 15

My flight is at 8:30 pm so I decided to book a day tour to 2 other must-see sights in Joburg. Cradle of Humankind, where the oldest fossil of a humanoid was said to be found, and Soweto a famous township where you can witness what life was/is like for blacks in SA. So it was a history day.

The sight of Cradle of Humankind is northwest of the city of Joburg, less than an hour away. It’s a world heritage site and there’s excavation ongoing. Back in the late 1800’s they were mining this site for limestone which was in high demand for its building materials and also used in the processing of gold. Unfortunately they had already accidentally blasted the skeleton of the body away before they discovered the skull of Mrs. Ples. Yes they actually gave it that name. Ples actually is short for a very long scientific name. And at first Dr.Broom had guessed it was a woman. Currently they are excavating the remains of Little Foot which they believe is a small boy that fell into one of the opening of the cave 2.9 million yrs ago. Because of the fragility of the remains they are using a powerful dental drills and brushes. As a result it has taken 13 years and they are only 85% done, can you imagine? The museum at the site depicted skulls found at the site and how they must have looked back then. It’s amazing to see the full evolution of man. The tour was interesting. We went down 180 feet into the cave and saw some fantastic examples of limetones. The guide let us touch a vertebrae of an animal fossil that was embedded into a rock. This cave had a lot of small openings from the top so as a result a lot of animals and humanoids (from million yrs ago) have fallen in and died in the cave.

Our next stop was the township of Soweto (stands for southwest township). This township got started back in late 1800’s for the miners that came to Joburg when gold was discovered here. Fred showed me the “camp hostels” that are still being used today. They are just rows of brick buildings that provided a one room home for the workers at the mines. The minor would have one room as living quarters. No electricity, no water or bathroom. They looked like they should be knocked down but there are people still living in it today. Over the years after apartheid the government started erecting these simple but new homes that are subsidized. You have to pay a nominal rent and running costs. What people were surprised to find out was that many of the blacks did not take up this opportunity. Instead they preferred to stay where they were because it was costing them nothing, they didn’t want to start paying rent or utilities. As a result many of these new homes are standing empty and you still see people living in shacks. We drove by scenes where the “local butcher” set up shop in an empty dirt lot. His shop consisted of cardboards and tarps held up by wooden sticks. Nearby locals form the neighborhood were washing their clothes at an outside water tap. Many of the homes, some had 4 walls and some were shacks made of tin, does not have running water. The nicer section of the neighborhood had the “matchstick homes” which was a tiny house surrounded by walls and gate. At least they looked to be better maintained.

The township is huge, about 50 square miles and about 3 million people. In some parts you see some decent looking new houses. Fred explained that during the apartheid blacks were not allowed to buy or own a house assuming they could afford to. Once apartheid ended some people who made more decent money had saved up money over the years started to buy land and build their houses.

We drove by the house of Winnie Mandela who still lives there for part of the time. Ofcourse her house is probably the biggest and nicest in the neighborhood.

We had just enough time to do a quick stop into the Apartheid Museum. Had to admit that this was not on top of my list but Fred thought it would be good to see. I was glad we found the time. The design of the museum and the contents within was incredibly impactful. We only had an hour so Fred was nice and gave me a condensed version of the museum. I can imagine spending the whole day here.

Just watched the movie Invictus on the plane. I had heard about it, didn’t know what it was all about but wasn’t interested because it was about rugby. I remembered Louis at the lodge telling me what it was about and I should see it. So glad I saw ithe movie after I’ve been to SA, it all came together for me. All that I’ve seen and learned in the past 4 weeks helped me appreciate the movie even more. I recognized the scenery in the movie and it was great. It was also a great movie, cried through the whole thing. I had asked Fred my guide if the movie had represented the facts correctly and he said it did. He was impressed by the accents of Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon.

Fred says that it will take generations for real change to take place. The laws of apartheid might have been abolished less than 20 years ago but not enough has changed. I saw it first hand at the plant where almost 100% factory workers were black and most of office and mgmnt were whites. Even though there are efforts of diversity there are just not enough of blacks with the education and skills. The next generation will be more education which will result with better opportunities and the generation after that will be better. Already there is an emerging black middle class and upper middle class.

What a great experience it’s been. Home for a few weeks and then it’s Milan Italy. Sounds boring after S.Africa but hey, I’m not complaining.

I have decided that this place is worth a second trip. There's so much more to see and I really only got a little taste. It was a big check off my bucket list but it's worth putting it back on again! Only this time G will go with me...

Last day in the bush! :-(

Waterbucks

Last dinner on the deck w/ full moon

Wine cellar (and tasting) at Billy's Lodge

Friday, Oct 14

12 game drives and it hasn’t gotten old. This morning Rex found fresh tracks of the leopard and really wanted to find him. At one point Frans our tracker got out of the jeep and went of foot to try to follow it’s tracks. I’ve had 3 great sightings of the leopard but by fellow travelers have not so I really wanted them to have the opportunity. Unfortunately it was not meant to be.

After breakfast it was time for me to depart for the airport. I got big hugs from Marilyn & Louis and Barb and Jen. I got their email addresses and promised to send them the link to my pics. The girls only had the small point and shoot cameras and Marilyn had a nice camera but she just got it and said she hasn’t really learnt how to use it. They all loved the pictures I showed them each night after our drives so was really happy when I said they could download any of my pics that they wanted.

Barb is 68 but is a ball of energy with such a zest for life. I would never have guessed that she was this age. When we hugged goodbye I told her I only hoped that I have this energy for life when I get to be her age. Marilyn and Louis will celebrated their 50^th anniversary in a few months. I found them so inspiring because they look like they are still in love. Over dinner conversations we shared stories and I could see how he values family and marriage and how a man’s priority is always and forever his wife his words!). I remember our first game drive when Rex went off road to get to the lions. The bush was dense in some parts so as a result you have some small branches wacking right at you so you have to pay attention and duck out of the way at the right time. In some parts when the branches were hitting our way I saw Louis reach over to put his arms around his wife with his hands covering her head as to protect her. I thought it was incredibly sweet. So far most of the people I have met at the lodges seem to have one thing in common. An African safari had been on their bucket list for awhile so all were beyond thrilled to be here and also the experience far exceeded their expectations. I have to say I agree with them there!

Flight back to Joburg. was uneventful. I booked another night at the same guesthouse and had just enough time for some last minute shopping at the mall. I had planned to get gary a rugby shirt with the 2011 emblem on it. I saw so many when we were shopping a couple of weeks ago but could not find any today. Must have walked up and down the huge mall a few times to no avail. I’m convinced that they pulled them off the shelves when SA lost last week!