The Long family - Steve, Nicole, Autumn, Zane, and Bryce - wander the Earth to live life, make friends, learn, and find things we didn't know we were looking for.
April 27, 2018 goes down in the Long Family history as a very bad day. Our ten months of travel bliss (barring my father's illness and a couple close calls with catching trains and planes) quickly came crashing down.
I got my phone stolen on the Barcelona subway in the morning, and had our rental car broken in to in Southern France and had four of five backpacks taken. While their target was clearly our technology (three computers, two tablets, and Autumn's phone), what really hurts is they ran off with our fuzzy friends (Bandit, Chester, Love-y, and Pleepleus), along with Nicole's and Autumn's journals. And the kicker is they nabbed our passports too.
When your life for a year is sitting in a car, and it's broken in to, it hurts bad. Like punch to the gut bad.
We spent most of yesterday afternoon and evening at the local police station filing a report. Fortunately some good samaritans that were nearby helped us contact the police, and our amazing Airbnb host literally sat with us at the police station for the entire time, and shuttled us back and forth to his apartment. Such a kind hearted man.
We now have temporary passports and will be going to the US embassy in Paris next week to see what else we need to do. We spent the afternoon today on a shopping trip to the French equivalent of Walmart, so we were able to get most things we need to reanimate our backpacks. It just sucks to have to rebuild a world that was working so well.
I couldn't be more proud of how the kids are handling this. Yeah they're devastated, but still have the urge to press on...
Bryce has amazing resilience and is already warming up to his new softer and sightly bigger hedgehog, but poor Zane is really crushed by his loss. We took a drive around the adjacent rough and tumble neighborhood near the parking lot in the desperate hope that they tossed the bags (and our furry friends) aside, but to no avail. Autumn is incredible and has really stepped up to comfort the boys... and us too. She has remained cool headed thru this whole ordeal.
Nicole and I are doing our best to keep our spirits up, but it's tough when we feel like someone sucker punched us in the gut. We had a sleepless night last night. I was replaying the events over and over and kicking myself for getting complacent. After all, we just went ten months traveling thru some pretty sketchy places without a scratch, so when it came to a nice little town in the South of France, I didn't bat an eye to leave our car for the afternoon. Stupid. I even said as we walked away... "We can leave the passports in the car". Stupid. Same goes for getting my phone stolen. We were the epitome of silly tourists trying to jam in to a crowded rush hour train with five giant bags, one of which I had to hold on top of another. I was standing right next to the door too! Stupid.
At the moment we're taking things day by day. The sting of the violation is slowly fading which is giving us clearer heads. We're just still very tired. Life will go on and nobody is hurt (at least not physically). Our message to the kids has been to not let this spoil all the fantastic adventures we've had, nor jade their view of how incredible this planet is and how wonderful people really are. We had total strangers step up to help us over the past 24hrs, and it has helped to ease the pain and anxiety.
These events come at a point in our travels where we were already losing some steam, so it is certainly giving us pause. But one thing seems fairly certain though, now that we've surpassed the 10 month mark, we all seem set on crossing the one year finish line. How we get there is the question. We didn't come this far, to only come this far....
All for now... Next stop:???
PS. We still have to fill the gap of Milan and Barcelona blogs
If we were Europeans, Lake Como would be high on list of places to have a vacation property. It sits in a giant Y shaped valley at the base of towering mountains with quaint Medieval and Renaissance Italian towns scaling up the crevasses and hillsides. It's a microcosm of all the cool places in Italy but with easy access to skiing and their neighbors to the North, making it a great year round destination. Como is only a short drive away from Milan, and a beautiful train ride to nearby Venice, Tuscany, or the Mediterranean Sea. It's massive size would keep us busy for decades exploring the countless hiking trails, ski resorts, both shoreline and mountain villages, as well as quick day trips to Switzerland. So now that my Lake Como brochure is complete, on to the highlights.
Lierna and Discount Food
We were fortunate again to find a real gem of an Airbnb along the Eastern shore in a town called Lierna. We found a "beach" (the pebbly kind, not sandy kind) front home with lots of different water fowl to keep us entertained. (Most were quite pleasant, but the geese were a bit ornery.)
Upper Left: Our nasty geese couple harassing the beach goers; Top Right: the local boat launch was just outside our door. This was the tractor used to launch the boats; Bottom Left: A few of the many different varieties of water fowl. Never seen so many different kinds of ducks. These just happen to be the common Mallard; Bottom Right: Just around the corner was a Swan pair nursing their clutch of six eggs. We named the momma swan Bianca (which is "white" in Italian, and the name of our beach), and checked on her daily. No new swans during our stay.
Autumn is on the home stretch of school so we gave her some quiet time to crush her work. The boys, Nicole, and I went for a stroll about our quaint town and struggled to gather the necessary groceries we needed for a one week stay. Our host suggested we visit a discount grocery store called Eurospin, which turned out to be a mini Pac N Save kind of store with off brand bulk food and sparse fresh produce. It's sort of par for the course for us on this trip, making do with foreign grocery stores and longing for the day we can frequent our beloved Lafayette Safeway.
Monte Chiaro
We couldn't be surrounded by snow capped mountains and not spend a day on an alpine hike. But where to go? Google it! (Shameless plug... My search for "best hiking trails around Lake Como" lead me to download a hiking app called Wikiloc. It's awesome.) For no better reason than it appeared a dozen or so people had started a hike from a small mountain village called Monte Chiaro, that we set off on a one hour drive. Not unlike our hike above the Amalfi Coast, our drive zigged and zagged it's way up impossibly steep slopes that only took us about five miles away (as the eagle flies).
Google maps navigation has been a lifesaver on this trip. This was our ascent up the steep mountainside.
One of the streams on the way up.
Fortunately our queesy quest was rewarded handsomely. I try to avoid superlatives like "breathtaking" as I find them overused and overstated, but as we rounded a bend in the trail, I actually stumbled and had to pause to take it all in. Perhaps I'll try to start a new superlative and call it a Stumbleworthy view. In one direction a verdant green valley shot off to a pinpoint with rock walled buildings peppering the hillsides, in another was the curving end of the glistening navy blue Lake Como, and in another direction was layer after layer of snow capped Alps. At our feet were patches of spring snow giving way to crocus flowers making themselves known for the year.
We actually didn't make it that far on our journey as it was impossible not to stop every 100 meters to take it all in. We found a ridge overlooking the lake and whipped out our fresh Milano salami, pecorino cheese, dried fruits, and crackers, and had a feast fit for a... Family of five on a budget...
Such a great day!
Found a playground in the snow, on a mountain.
Crocus sprouting everywhere.
Christmas card candidate
Technically the wrong country, but still felt compelled to take a spin. I couldn't figure out how to embed the appropriate soundtrack....
Villa del Balbianello
Lake Como is famous (in the states) for three things... The home of George Clooney, the town of Bellagio (thanks to Vegas), and the brief scenes in "Star Wars Episode II" and "Casino Royale" of Villa del Balbianello. Fulfilling a newly minted dream of Nicole's, we boarded one of those classic long wooden Italian speed boats for an afternoon lake cruise and tour of the Villa (Balbianello, not Clooney). There were ten of us on the boat and when the captain asked if anyone wanted to layout on the stern like mermaids, we jumped at the offer (well, not really, but since nobody else stepped up, we weren't about to let it go unpopulated). We felt quite regal...
It really was nice to just hang out with Nicole for the day and soak up the beautiful weather and not worry about how bored the kids would be if they joined in the day's activities.
Views of Varenna (one of many lakeside towns). Just happens to be a particularly charming and well situated town.
The lake is lined with old villas and mansions, most only moderately interesting to me, but Balbianello definitely captures your attention with it's location on a spit of land jutting in to the lake. The Villa has been under the management of FAI International, (a non profit that restores Italian historical landmarks), since the passing in 1988 of the most recent owner, Guido Monzino. The Villa interior is nothing spectacular, but you come to find out that Count Guido Monzino was seemingly the basis for the Dos Equis "Most Interesting Man in the World". They even look alike. Once a successful business man, turned world explorer, he had adorned his Villa with countless treasures and pictures from around the world.
While the scene in Star Wars is laughably lame and nearly unbearable to watch, I couldn't help but strike a pose and stand in the very spot where the cinematic atrocity was filmed. (Note, I'm a huge Star Wars fan, but the prequel was a mess).
Bellagio / Villa Carlotta
With the children in tow this time, we boarded one of the frequent ferries that criss cross the middle section of the lake to visit Bellagio. We were drawn there on this particular Wednesday because of the once a month street market that we expected would attract all manner of interesting craftsmen, food, and other entertainment. We came across what appeared to be a market, but given how small and lonely it was, we questioned whether we had actually found the correct market. We wandered on in search of something more substantial. The town of Bellagio is not huge, in fact, it could probably fit inside the man-made lake in front of the Bellagio in Vegas. After a thorough investigation of the town, it became clear that our goal for the day had already been fulfilled, albeit not fulfilling.
Frankly speaking, the town of Bellagio (aka "The Pearl of Lake Como") was a little disappointing. Sure, it has it's skinny stone staircases snaking between old shutter windowed buildings, but it somehow feels more sanitized and curiously fake compared to many of the other towns we have visited in Italy. Zane has developed an interest in water color painting, and we did find a wonderful little artist's studio that specialized in water color.
From there we crossed the lake again to visit Villa Carlotta, famous for it's hillside garden and blooming azaleas. Regrettably we were probably one week premature for the azaleas, but the rhododendron* were on full display. Probably the most notable and pleasurable thing about this visit to a garden was the shockingly pleasant attitude of Zane and Bryce.
That big red bulby looking tree behind Autumn and Zane in the upper picture is dwarfing a tiny Nicole standing in it's glory.
Autumn loves flower pics. Garden visits are one of her favorites.
No More Math!
Autumn has been diligently picking away at her 8th grade math (algebra) for the past 8 months, and today was the day to stick a fork in it. She locked herself in her room for two hours and finished her math final. I'm so proud of her. Two subjects down (finished science a couple weeks ago), two more to go!
This is what the boys were doing during one of Autumn's study sessions....
While Autumn was slaving away this week, Nicole and I have been tag teaming the final bookings for our last eight weeks on the road. It is exhausting to find our accommodations and figure out how to get around and what to see. One of the things we're looking forward to when we get back is not to look forward to anything. We're also finding out that Europe is getting harder and harder to be spontaneous. In this internet era, most destinations get sold out weeks or even months in advance, so in addition to finding a place to stay, we also have to pick the exact date and time we want to visit some of the sites. Gone are the glory days of rolling in to a town without an agenda and relying on good old fashioned patience to climb the cathedral dome, or see a famous fresco. It's why we have particularly enjoyed our stints outside of the busy tourist centers. I can't imagine what it's like during the busy season.
Switzerland
As mentioned above, Lake Como may as well be in Switzerland for how close it is. Given the convenience, it was a no brainer to add another country to our worldwide adventure. The posh town of St. Moritz, Switzerland, is a picturesque two hour drive from Lierna, which we broke up with a stop and a short hike in a mountain village called Soglio.
Someone needs to spend a vacation in Soglio. What a charming little mountain village this is perched above a picturesque Swiss Alps valley. As we strolled thru town, we happened upon a hidden piano with a sign asking for folks to sit and tickle the ivory. The piano was a bit out of tune, and Autumn a little rusty, but the ambiance was memorable. After a quick hike to a wonderful overlook, we continued our journey up the valley towards St. Moritz.
The small gaps between the buildings perfectly framed the landscapes behind.
Contemplating his navel
Soglio to the right
Autumn in Soglio... Ten points if you can name that tune (hint, think Seattle Hip Hop)
As in many cases, the journey was better than the destination. After cresting a set of insanely tight switchbacks, we found ourselves magically transported to a winter wonderland with iced over lakes and mountains blanketed in snow. I nearly skidded to a halt when Autumn spotted a perfect reflection in an break in the ice. The actual town of St. Moritz was a little too posh for our taste, and with food prices fit for Royals, not the Longs. We took one look at the $24 hamburger and found ourselves in the nearby Coop (Euro grocery store) within a minute. We Longs love a good lakeside picnic. The only other notable sites in St. Moritz were the Leaning Tower of St. Moritz (a far cry from Pisa), and the remains of the natural bobsled course, both not really worth the effort. But hey, at least we can say we've been to St. Moritz.
Yep, worth the stop. Amazing what these digital cameras can do in Panorama mode.
Head-smackingly beautiful
Some other random pics that don't go anywhere in particular:
Tractors, in all their many forms, always have some kind of expression.
Our rental car was filthy when we picked it up. This is the first time we've ever washed a rental. Thanks Zane.
Every day is ice cream day. We particularly liked the colored bowls in the house. These just happen to be their corresponding colors.
Como has millions of lizards.
This is Fiumelatte (milk river). It is the shortest river in Italy at 200meters. (According to the Guinness Book of World Records)
Our house had no oven, so every meal was on the BBQ. This is a make shift charcoal chimney made from aluminum foil. A one year trip around the world requires a bit of resourcefulness to make do with what we have on hand.
In addition to flowers, Autumn has a knack for finding every stray cat around the world.
We've come to find out that the SF Bay Area has the best bread in the world. We have been largely disappointed with everything so far. So it was quite a delight to have found a bread called Pagnol in a St Moritz grocery store. Doughy with a crunchy exterior. Yummmmy.
All for now... Next stop (and last Italian spot): Milan!
* One of a very few plant names I can remember because it sounds like some kind of dinosaur with scaly plates that does battle with a T-Rex
