Back from Como

Now don’t get me wrong – I am loving life in paradise, but this week has been hard for me, knowing that all my buddies back at home in Irving have started school without me. As I sit down to write this blog, one of my favorite Cumbia songs has randomly played on my I-Tunes. I miss my kiddos!! ☹ I hope everyone had a great first few days – I’m anxiously awaiting some funny stories! My mom had a great first day back at LMS, which makes me so very proud of her. She is my inspiration!!

This weekend was Lake Como with birthday boy, Eason. To our surprise it didn’t rain all weekend, as predicted! Instead, the weather was GORGEOUS – about 85 degrees and sunny all weekend!! I was frolicking in the sun and babbling on and on about how it felt like Texas. Oh but it didn’t LOOK like Texas! I’ve never seen a scene so beautiful – mountains, lakes, beautiful houses…the whole nine yards! We drove down on Friday afternoon (only a 20 min drive), and immediately hit the town of Como for a good dinner. Saturday morning we hopped on a boat and headed to Bellagio and Varenna (small towns on Lake Como) to explore. WOW – beautiful! We had lunch and gelato in Bellagio and walked around the lovely town. It was pretty touristy, but still very nice. My favorite part was all of the steps that lead up to shops and tiny restaurants. It’s a quintessential part of an Italian small town! I really enjoyed Varenna, a much quieter/slower paced part of Lake Como (where all you do is also just eat and drink). We explored all over the little town and had some drinks while just taking in the view (see pics/video). Absolutely beautiful and totally romantic. I recommend it to all who come! That night back in Como we had Eason’s official birthday dinner at a yummy steak restaurant (where I got my Texas spicy food cravings fill with the jalapeno beans)!

On Sunday we headed up the funicular (train that takes you up the mountain) to have lunch in yet another small town. The view of Lake Como was fantastic from there – we were amazed at how much of the Alps you could see from that point. After that we had more gelato (!) and a cappuccino, and hit the Duormo. Can you tell that we did a lot of eating and drinking!? ☺ Then back to Lugano for dinner with my TASIS friends at a local Grotto where I tried RABBIT! Believe me, I was scared. I felt like I was eating my childhood pet rabbit…but it was actually pretty tasty! It’s still hard to get used to the food sometimes, but I haven’t had anything I don’t like yet! I’m sure the Mexican food withdrawals are on the way. Oh and speaking of Texas, I’m still looking for a friend to watch the first UT football game with me this Sunday (at one in the morning!). So far no takers, but I’m not giving up that soon! I’m so excited for Texas football to start!

The first week of training with teachers has gone great. I’m just really ready for the kids to get here (with cute Italian names like Fabio and Luigi, who wouldn’t be excited!). I’m really looking forward to seeing Eas again in September when we go to Germany, then again for OU weekend in October and Paris in November. I’m getting spoiled! It’s been really nice to spend time with him (finally!) for longer than just 5 days every 3 or so months. It’s especially nice having someone “close by” since I’m so far away from all my sweet loved ones in Texas! He treats me wonderfully. ☺ The travel plans are in progress…hoping to make it to Spain before Christmas with Morgan. Dad, Lisa and the rest of the Haglund/Jeffrey bunch are heading off to NYC today for the family trip (without me). ☹ I can’t wait to hear all about their trip! Dad/Lisa have been hard at work on the Kent House and deserve a bit of a break. As for me, hopefully the girls here will all get together to plan a trip soon. So far we’ve only made it to the local IKEA, but we’re making progress!

Arrivederci! Love you all!