Tag Archives: Lake Como

Traveling

Lets talk about Travel…

1. How far have you gone from home and where did you go?

The farthest I’ve been from home is Milan, Italy. I traveled there in 2013 with my husband who was sent there by his company for a medical conference. While he worked I explored Milan. Before the conference began the two of us were able to travel by train to Lake Como to the city of Varenna and enjoyed a very windy cold few hours there.

On my own I did a hop on hop off tour and I went by myself to an Inter Milan soccer game at San Siro stadium.

While getting on a subway a group of pick pocketers tried to grab my purse. They work in teams to distract you. Thankfully I was on to them and smacked the hand of the one who reached for my purse and they jumped off the subway just as the doors were closing.

2. Do you think the hassle of travel is worth the trouble?

Most of the time, yes.

3. Are there places you would like to visit or have plans for visiting?

We would like to visit some areas of the United States like the Northeast and National Parks in Utah. In Canada, it would be fun to visit Prince Edward Island. We always enjoy planning our next trip to the U.K. Lord willing we will be able to visit again.

4. What trip was the best you’ve ever had?

The best trips we ever had have been our trips to the United Kingdom. Greg and I met in a Christian band that toured England in the early 70’s.

After we got married we always dreamed about going back. In 2003 we were able to take a trip to London for a week with a few day trips out of London.

In 2004 we returned with our daughter for her graduation trip visiting many of the haunts of her favorite British authors.

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In 2006 we traveled with good friends to Wales, England and Scotland.

In 2013 we were able to return to England with our oldest son and our daughter-in-law. On that trip we traversed a lot of miles and our son got his dream of going to two premier league soccer games.

In 2014 Dear and I returned for a 40th year wedding anniversary trip. If it sounds like we can’t get enough of Great Britain, that’s correct!

We made plans to return to England in 2020 but we all know how travel came to a standstill then. We re-planned that trip for September of 2022 and spent a week in Oxford with extra days in Woodstock.

We arrived in England just after the Queen died.

We returned home and just 6 weeks later Greg had his stroke on November 5th of 2022. We wondered if our traveling days might be over.

We were thankful for yet another trip with our kids to Dublin and England in September of 2023.

Time will tell if it is God’s will that we take another trip this coming September.

What’s the furthest distance from home that you traveled to? What’s your favorite place to travel to? Any travel plans for this year?

The Haven of Rest ~ Hymn

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The Haven of Rest

My soul in sad exile was out on life’s sea,
So burdened with sin and distressed,
Till I heard a sweet voice, saying,
Make Me your choice;
And I entered the Haven of Rest!

Refrain

I’ve anchored my soul in the Haven of Rest,
I’ll sail the wide seas no more;
The tempest may sweep over wild, stormy, deep,
In Jesus I’m safe evermore.

I yielded myself to His tender embrace,
In faith taking hold of the Word,
My fetters fell off, and I anchored my soul;
The Haven of Rest is my Lord.

Refrain

The song of my soul, since the Lord made me whole,
Has been the old story so blest,
Of Jesus, who’ll save whosoever will have
A home in the Haven of Rest.

Refrain

How precious the thought that we all may recline,
Like John, the belovèd so blest,
On Jesus’ strong arm, where no tempest can harm,
Secure in the Haven of Rest.

Refrain

O come to the Savior, He patiently waits
To save by His power divine;
Come, anchor your soul in the Haven of Rest,
And say, My Belovèd is mine.

Refrain

Words: Henry L. Gilmour

Quaint and Characteristic…

Varenna is quiet and peaceful compared to the city of Milan which seems to never sleep. I was happy we had the chance to travel here before Dear started his responsibilities at the Conference. It wouldn’t have been enjoyable for me to travel here alone. Be forewarned that this post will be filled with lots of photos and few words.

Maybe you can tell by these whitecaps that it really was windy in Varenna on this day.

From Varenna we caught the train back to Milan stopped at the hotel to get new batteries for my camera and then headed out again to the Cathedral. We had a full day.

We’re having a quiet weekend for which I am thankful for as I recuperate more and more. It’s hard to believe that we’ll be celebrating Palm Sunday already. How’s your weekend shaping up?

Let’s Start At the Very Beginning…

…a very good place to start.

We’ll start at Como since it comes before Duomo and because we can see the Alps from there and they inspire me to want to sing all the songs from The Sound of Music.

We arrived by train in Varenna on beautiful Lake Como. The train ride was just about an hour from Milan.

The walk into the town gave us some promising views. The day was sunny and clear but very very windy and cold. It was the kind of wind with gusts that threw you off balance at times. This beautiful town is probably bustling in season but our time here was off season with very few people about and very few shops open.

We chose to eat at Ristorante Borgovino on one of the narrow lanes of Varenna.  We were happy with our choice. Dear and I were the only ones in the restaurant and were treated well.

We both chose risotto dishes. Dear had his with Lake Como Perch and I had the special with asparagus. Delicious.

More from the narrow streets and waterfront views of Varenna soon.

I’m happy to report I’m feeling a tad better today. I’m watching snow falling softly out my window. It threw me off guard when I first opened the blinds this morning to see everything covered with a light dusting of snow. How’s the weather in your part of the world?

Postcard from Varenna

Lake Como from Varenna…

More words later when I show you more from this little village on the Lake.

We had a full day of trains, wind, up and downhill walks, up and down stair walks. We are tired and tucking ourselves in. More touring tomorrow but this time on my own. Thank you for all your appreciated birthday greetings and comments in general. Ciao for now!