Lake Como, Italy

It's been a few days since we got back from our trip and I'm still thinking about all the good food we had. Gerald and I spent the past weekend with Mark and Rachelli in Tremezzo, Italy.  Tremezzo is one of the villages in Lake Como where we stayed. During our stay, we also visited Bellagio, Varenna, Menaggio and of course Como. While visiting the villages, it was only right to eat or drink while there and we did just that. It was an eating/drinking type of weekend along with lots of laughs and good conversations.  

Day 1, upon arrival, we went to Pizza Balognett in Tremezzo for dinner and discovered house wine can be good and bad. After drinking a liter in 5 minutes, we proceeded to have another and by the end of the meal, Mark had to leave the restaurant for some fresh air...haha. Imagine what jet lag and alcohol can do to your body, poor thing. We still managed to find some energy to have dessert and discovered our new word for the trip: BABA!















Day 2, we rode the ferry to Bellagio and had one of the best meals of the trip at Ristorante Bilacus; 1L of wine was also consumed.  Bellagio is the most touristy village in the area so there were a lot of shops and people around. We had a wander and then caught the next ferry to Varenna.

Varenna was a very charming town, I'd say.  We had a nice walk around the lake with Sangria to go!  Our time here was very short since the sun was setting and we needed to get back for dinner in Tremezzo; however, for the hour that we were there, it left a nice impression on me. I would like to visit it again one day.

Back in Tremezzo for dinner, the four of us did a bit of damage at Al Veluu, but every penny was worth it. Mark probably would have thought the same, if it wasn't for Gerald getting a bigger portion of the risotto with white truffle they shared.  It was a male date night and female date night dinner. Rach and I shared figs, from the owner's garden, with meats, pasta with fresh tomato and basil, and chateaubriand with béarnaise sauce. The boys had baked goat cheese, risotto with white truffle, and steak with a mustard cream sauce.  We ended the night with a shot of limoncello and tiramisu! Fantastic meal, compliments to the chef.  I forgot to mention, another 2L of wine!

Day 3, would be our last day to spend with the Benetiz's and it was kind of sad because it rained all freaking day! We made the most of it with pizza at Pizza Lugano in Menaggio, took the 1hr hydrofoil to Como, only to find everything was closed because it was Sunday.

We attempted to go to Switzerland to Fox Town for some Designer Outlet shopping but none of us had our passports, failed. Como wasn't too exciting so we headed back to Tremezzo in the pouring rain and had dinner at Mark's and Rach's hotel, Grand Hotel Tremezzo.

Another fun meal, Fondue! Cheese, meat, and chocolate! It was still raining when we got done with dinner so we decided to just hang out at the hotel for our last night.  Mark and Rach were off to the Almalfi coast the next day and we would return back to Aberdeen.

Day 4, was a travel day. Boat - train - plane, and back to work on Tuesday.  Gerald and I have been wanting to go to Lake Como since our Contiki trip 5 years ago and I'm glad we waited until now to do so.  We have a much better appreciation for relaxation, good food and wine and that's what Como is all about.

Ciao!

St Andrews, Scotland

It's been a good few weeks now since our trip, so let's hope I still remember what we did in St Andrews.  To celebrate Gerald's 30th birthday, we decided to visit the Home of Golf. St Andrews is about a 2 hour drive from Aberdeen and I'm surprised we haven't visited it before now.  Maybe Gerald was secretly waiting to go there for his 30th, I wouldn't be surprised...haha.

We left Aberdeen after work on a Thursday evening and spent a couple of nights in St Andrews and then drove to Edinburgh for the Fringe Festival and Military Tattoo.  It was a nice little road trip.

Our time in St Andrews was pretty much golf related.  Upon arriving we checked into the Fairmont Hotel and went out for dinner. The local blog suggested a Thai/Japanese restaurant called Nahm Jim so we went there.  I've never had Thai/Japanese cuisine in one sitting so thought it would be interesting and it really was; sushi, curry, and pad thai? Overall, it was good and pretty cheap so 2 thumbs up in our book.  Any sushi these days is good for me, since I don't get it that often.

The next morning, we woke up at 6:30 am and were the first ones on the course at Kittocks.  Since I wasn't playing golf, and didn't want to have a spa day, I decided to be Gerald's caddy for the day.  It would also be a nice way for me to see the course, so we walked 18 holes.  Let me tell you, caddying is no joke and I had a trolley.  On top of being a caddy, I was also Gerald's photographer.  Most times I was too busy taking pictures and he'd already be half way down the fairway, oops. Despite the mowers who were in our way for the first 9, it was a nice day.  I'm not sure if Gerald though his game was up to Par, but I guess he can't complain.

After golf, we headed into town for lunch and a visit to the Old Course.  We had a nice 2 course meal at The Doll House and spent the rest of the day browsing through shops and watching people tee off on the 1st hole of the Old Course.  Everywhere we went around St Andrews, we heard Americans; for a minute I thought I was in the States.  It was a nice change.

We ended the evening with dinner at Bocci, a restaurant with a view of the 18th hole of the Old Course.  We saw a very pretty sunset and had a good meal.  I was a little disappointed with my parmesan truffle fries, because it was thick cut potato instead of shoe string, but still tasty.

The next day, we did a little bit more sight seeing around town and had lunch at Dunvegan Hotel, which is owned by an American-Scottish couple.  The husband use to be in the oil industry and ended up marrying a Scottish woman.  They bought the hotel about 10 years ago and serve up good eats! I wouldn't mind driving down for their chilli, even though it was crazy hot! The husband is from Texas, but from the wrong school but we won't hold that against him because they do great food.


Saturday evening we had tickets to the Military Tattoo in Edinburgh so drove out there after lunch. The Tattoo is a showcase of Military bands around the world.  We saw performances from The Netherlands, Brazil, Germany and of course, the UK.  It poured down rain the first 20 minutes but other than that, the show was great.

Well, that pretty much concludes our road trip and Gerald's 30th Bday celebration. Turning 30 wasn't so bad for Mr. Pena =)

Thought for 9/11

Sitting in my living room in Aberdeen, watching a recorded version of the Texas v. BYU game, I can't help but remember what today is.  Today is the 10th Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in NYC.  I was a freshman at UT when the attacks happened and I can remember it like it was yesterday.

My roommate, Linda, and I were sleeping in our dorm room at Jester West, when we were woken up by our dorm mates screaming, "the plane hit the building, turn on the TV."  I thought it was a dream, so I woke up and turned on the TV.  And what do you know, the twin tower was up in smokes.  We opened our door, and everyone was in the halls with a blank look on their face. I remember them saying, a second plan is going to hit, but don't remember if I registered it when I saw it on TV.  At this point, I was a bit confused, I never really knew of terror attacks or what it might be. I was just a college student, living away from home for the first time, and trying to figure out what I was going to do with my life. Classes were cancelled and from this day forward, our life and country changed, and I'd have to say, a part of me changed as well. 

Today, I will be thinking of the families of 9/11 and hope that they have found the strength to move on and forward with their lives. I will also be thinking about the soldiers who are out there fighting this war, especially my cousin, Steven, who is in Afghanistan.  It really just goes to show that you really can't take any one day for granted because you never know what that day might bring.

God Bless America!