Lake Como, Italy- Bellagio {Cooking Class}

I'm so excited to continue sharing my photos from my trip to Italy and Switzerland in August!  Going through them again makes me miss it so much more, but I'm really grateful for the opportunity.

On our first day in Bellagio, we took a cooking class.  It was one of the highlights of my trip.

Our instructor was the head chef at a little Italian restaurant high on the side of the mountain in Bellagio.  We took the class with two other families, and one woman who was taking it without her family.  The two families had little babies; one was a baby boy from Holland and one was a baby girl from Australia.  They were absolutely precious and so well-behaved.  

 {Waiting for the ferry to take us from our hotel to Bellagio}

 {One of the things we made was pasta in three different flavors: plain, beet, and spinach.  I made the spinach one above.}

 {We also made stuffed zucchini flowers.  Here I am stirring the flowers in a delicious broth.}

 {The action shot of making pasta!  Kneading the dough is much harder then it looks because it's so sticky.}

 {I thought the colors of the pasta were gorgeous.  Our chef put everything through the pasta maker for us.}

{We cut the pasta into strips, and created a pattern on a sheet of plain pasta.  Then our chef ran it through the pasta maker to create this.}

 {Our fancy pasta was used to make homemade raviolis.}

 {The outside terrace where we all at lunch was covered in vines and grapes.}

 {My wonderful parents.}

 {Here I am earning my certificate for completing the course, with our head chef.}

 {We had two desserts: one was a chocolate soufflé...}

 {.... the other was a pistachio creme brûlée covered in fresh fruits.}

 {We made four different dishes for the main lunch: risotto, gnocchi, Bolognese (which I didn't eat), and the ravioli.}

 {My sister and I}

  {The stuffed zucchini flower.}

Doesn't the food look delicious?  It's making my mouth water!

xo

Lake Como, Italy- Bellagio

Termezzo {where we stayed at in Lake Como} was directly across the lake from a town called Bellagio.  Bellagio was much more of a tourist destination, but we ended up over there on two different destinations because we loved the little side streets and charming shops.  It was a quick twenty minute ferry ride over there, and we were able to snap some gorgeous shots of the lake while we traveled there.

We ended up taking a cooking class on our first trip there, which I'll save for another day.  The second day we spent there was spent walking around and soaking up the town.

 {The little ferry station where we went to catch out boat over to the other town.}

 {Having a little fun with a parked vespa.}

 {A shaded street overlooking the town's church.}

 {The best gelato of our trip was found here.  My pick?  Pear and hazelnut.}

 {My sister and I in front of that little gelato store.}

 {Saying we did a lot of shopping on our trip would be a huge understatement.  One of the most memorable shops we visited was a little wood working studio in this town.  My parents bough a few salad bowls, and I picked out a hand painted platter to store my perfume bottles on.  I'll post pictures of it soon.  This was in the floor of the studio, which I thought was pretty awesome.}

 {Like I said, the town had some pretty cute streets.}

 {The view, like any view in Lake Como, was spectacular.}

 {The view, again.}

 {And again.}

I'm missing it already!

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Please be patient with me this week, readers.  A lot is happening, and I'm a bit of a mess.  Yesterday was my last day of work.  I'm taking the next four days to get prepared and all packed up, because on Thursday I pack all of my belongings up and move close to two hours away to go to school.  It's crazy and I can't quite believe it's all happening.  So if my postings are a bit sporadic for the next week or so, please be patient!  xo

Lake Como, Italy - Termezzo

After our Milan adventures, we took a car to Lake Como in Northern Italy.  We stayed at a hotel in Termezzo.  Lake Como was absolutely stunning.  It was right on the base of the Swiss Alps and the mountain air was just incredible.  The town of Termezzo isn't much, just a couple of shops and a handful of

restaurants, but it was gorgeous nonetheless.  

{The view}

{Our first day there was kind of foggy and rainy, but I think it made it even more gorgeous}

{Our hotel had a floating pool, which I thought was really awesome.}

{The property of the hotel was gorgeous.  There were so many gardens and walkways that made you feel like you were in the Secret Garden.}

{This may be my favorite picture of the two of us.  The fountain absolutely makes it.}

{My darling parents.}

{Another glimpse at the hotel/ view.}

{The town, like I said, was small, but had a lot of charm like these hidden side streets.}

{I love this picture of my Mama.}

{We didn't go on one, but they had these cute little train rides around town for tourists.}

{That tall orange building is our hotel.}

{Across the lake is Bellagio, which I will talk about in an upcoming post.}

{Our second night there we ate at the most amazing Italian place.  The view was incredible and their homemade pasta was to die for.}

{Incredible can't even describe it.}

{I love places so gorgeous that it makes you forget all your problems.}

{I can't get over the view.}

{My favorite picture of the two of them.}

{Mr. George Clooney's Lake Como home.  I swear I'm not a stalker.}

As you can see, Termezzo was simply gorgeous.  I would highly recommend anyone who goes to Italy to spend some time in the lake area.

xo

Milan, Italy

Our first two nights were spent in Milan.  I was actually very surprised about how much I loved Milan.  Last year, I didn't like Athens, but Milan was full of magic and absolutely gorgeous.

{All of the streets were so pretty!}

{Colorful shoes}

{On the roof of the Duomo}

{With my little sister}

{The architecture was beautiful}

{and so was the view}

{again, on the roof}

{dinner with my sister}

{One more roof picture}

{All the little caffe's were so pretty}

{Outside the Duomo is just as pretty!}

{In front of the Opera House.  It's supposed to be gorgeous inside but it was closed when we were there.}

{There were a lot of tours, but we just decided to explore on our own}

{My first taste at Italian gelato.  The Hazelnut was amazing.}

{Homemade Pasta Fagioli soup.  Words can not describe how amazing this was.  My mouth is watering right now.  We found the caffe at this gourmet food store called Peck.}

 {Like I said, the streets were gorgeous}

{My sister and I in front of the Duomo}

 {When I was in Paris, France last year, I went to the famous Laduree Macaroon shop.  So when I saw one in Milan I freaked out and dragged my Mom and sister in.  The verdict?  They LOVED them.  We ended up going to the one in Lausanne, Switzerland too.}

 {Another shoe shot, this time with my tom's}

{We went to she the Last Supper painting.  It was simply breathtaking to see it in person, but we weren't allowed to take photos.  The history of it was incredible.  Like how it took four years to complete.  And how someone {stupidly} cut off Jesus' feet to make a door.  Who does that?}

 {The painting was next to this gorgeous church.}

{We saw all sorts of interesting things on our way to the Last Supper.  Like this Ray Ban building.}

 {This is a picture of our last night in Milan}

 {While in Italy, we learned about this dessert, called Millefoglie.  It's incredible and I ordered it every place we went.}

{The morning we left Milan for Lake Como}

Milan was an unforgettable city and I would love to one day go back, if only to have more of that pasta fagioli soup!

Have a great day xo

P.S I just so happened to get the day off from work today too because of more bad weather.  So I went to see Crazy, Stupid, Love with my best friend.  It was absolutely adorable!  I love any excuse to stare at Ryan Gosling for two hours, and I think Emma Stone is an adorable actress!