Day 14: Spiritual Highs and Cow Pies

Started off with our lovely lakeside table for fresh fruit, yogurt and peach marmalade...pictured below....and eggs, cappuchino, fresh bread and local cheeses ... not pictured...

Then on to the "HIKE".  a one hour drive around to the backside of the mountain that our B and B is on...the drive was difficult, and the maps/road signs were no help.  Peggy and I, by God's grace, made every correct turn and arrived at the high mountain Rifugio to begin our hike:

We were not alone:

we knew to stay away from as..., I mean donkeys, when they're eating, but are cud chewers also a threat???

Thus we began our 2 hour hike from this rifugio to a high cross on top of a mountain...as we walked, we passed WWI fortifications that protected the Italians from invaders...first the English, then the Germans...

For Dan, we got a close up of the sign...

Mostly walking along a high ridge, with death to the left a few feet and destruction to the right a few feet...we persevered and made it to the Cross...I never knew that cows have great balance by the way...

Behind me in the hazy distance is a the town of Bellagio on Lake Como...I'm sitting at the foot of the Cross...and you can imagine the exhilaration from the view and the spiritual joy from the realization that all life should be lived right here... 

Peggy pondering the glory of God's creation...

Not sure if this blog will accept video, but if so...here goes my 30 second clip of the 360 degree panorama from the top...

failed to load...so just imagine a view of the base of the cross, panning to the top with Peggy beside the 30 foot cross and then circling the camera to capture Lake Como, the towns of Menaggio and Bellagio, and then directly below us, the town of Caddenabia where we are staying.  How'd you do on visualization?  If we could walk straight down the hill to our B and B it might take an hour at most.  Meanwhile, the drive all the way around the mountain was the only road to this spot and that took an hour also.

Okay, so one gets hungry on a high mountain excursion.  For those with weak stomachs please pass on to the next section...We drew straws for who would get the liquid from this tasty cake cakes and pie:

Can you tell I drew the small straw, but hey, I got my money's worth :)))  Just kidding.  Wanted you to see some of the dangers along the path.
There were other dangers...for those experienced Gubitz blog readers...you may remember the "Stinging Nettles" saga from a few years ago.  Now we know what they look like and avoided them....for the most part.  Peggy still brushed alongside one accidentally

Our real lunch was back at the Rifugio.  We still can't believe on the top of many of these Italian Alps, there are houses like this for hikers...and if it was just some closed rooms for atmospheric protection...that would make sense...but to have a complete lunch or dinner menu...really???

We ordered the meat and local cheese tray and really enjoyed the local vino rosso as well...
A nice sight were these cows lined up along the next ridge...which my zoom couldn't quite capture...but here they are anyway.

The map of the hike and drive is included for our future reference, but you might enjoy looking at this "carte des sentieres".  The makeshift arrows reflect our start and destination points for the hike portion...

When we returned to our B and B, Paola, our host said we could see the cross from the sidewalk just outside our room...here's what it looks like in the far distance and out of focus:)))

Refreshed from our hike it was time for another themed dinner menu from our expert chef, Ty.  And wouldn't you know as soon as we sat down to dinner, who shows up...yep, again we get to see George Clooney flying his two engine Cessna waving to us as we prepare for dinner

He didn't want the paparazzi to see him, so he chose to wave to us briefly as he passed over our patio's sun screen...very thoughtful of him:)))

Dinner Theme: TOMATO
First we had cherry tomatoes filled with cous cous and other yummies:

Followed by classic bread soup...tomato broth, basil, mint, other stuff and left over bread....

As amazing as this tasted, I would vote that Christine makes it even better than Ty, but don't tell him...
Then a nice veal tenderloin drenched in spicy tomato sauce with killer smashed potato pudding

Our final course was tomato gelato with fresh cream.  delicioso...

We invited a professor to join us for dinner, Doctor Deb,

and she shared her research, which has become my favorite word of the week...epigenetics...the triggering of genetic action based on external stimuli, like stress, lack of sleep, (too much great food?) etc.  So basically I've always had the blogging gene, but it took some encouragement from my friends and family to provide the epigenetic trigger necessary to get me started.  I apologize to some of you who now feel obligated to read these ramblings..but remember, it's not my fault, I'm just a victim too..it's in my epigenetic makeup:)))

Love you all and for now, ciao bella!!!