Halloween!!!

Happy Halloween! At first I was nervous when I thought I would be spending Halloween alone in Milan, but instead I spent Halloween with 3 foreign girls (Sarah, Maya, and Shen Shen) in Lake Como. There are 4 lakes north of Milan, Lake Como, Lake Lugano, Lake Maggiore, and Lake Orta. The first 3 are huge, I mean they make Tahoe look like a pond. Lake Como is over 30 miles long but very thin. They all border Switzerland and the Alps. Lake Como has tons of little villages up and down its shores. It has three legs, like a peace sign. 

Only an hour ride from Milan, the train dropped us off in Como where we caught another hour long ferry up the lake to Bellagio. It was a very enjoyable ride on the lake and tons to see. There are beautiful homes from the 18th century (including Richard Branson’s and George Clooney’s) and every village is precious.

 I thought every town was cuter than the last until I got to Bellagio and completely fell in love. The houses and shops and streets and cafes were all amazing. Out of everywhere I have been so far, I could see myself living there the most, probably because its so similar to Tahoe. An hour from Milan, an hour from skiing, and stunning.

You can see the Alps in the distance and the mountains jut out of the lake. And the color!!! We were so lucky to be there in the fall because all of the leaves were different colors. Ivy completely lining the narrow cobblestone paths were 10 different colors.

The views and the people, awww, it was amazing. We just walked and explored, the stores with the scarves and silks were my favorite, and had lasagna and local wine for lunch. Since we got a bit of a later start than planned... we had to get back on the ferry at 5:30.

  It was very cold and mountainous and they were giving away roasted chestnuts and spiced hot wine right in front of the port. We bundled up and enjoyed every minute of the ferry ride to Varenna.

We would have loved to explore Varenna, but it was freezing and dark and we had an hour train ride back to Milan.  Once home we changed and got ready for Halloween on the town.  Since none of had costumes, we made due with makeup. I wore a mustache:)

We went back to the neighborhood along the canals because we were told the bars wouldn't have a cover. Apparently some of the Discotheque’s had €25 entrance fees! We started out back at the StraRipa again and were greeted with kisses and free shots from the waiters from the night before. We stayed there for a long time because they were all dressed up and the place was decorated and the music was so much fun. The music they play in clubs in Europe is hilarious. It would never be played in the States. Its a cross between oldies, euro club music, 80s and 90s super over played songs, and songs I’ve never heard of. We danced and drank and ate and it was super fun. But we wanted to see more so we kept going to another bar which was in a boat on the canal.

This one was full of very young people dressed in witches hats smoking cigarettes. I think that Italian youth think that halloween means witches because literally every other person was dressed as one. Meaning the girls were wearing very skimpy black outfits with heels and a witches hat. But hey, they tried. I was actually blown away by the number of people that did dress up, there were quite a few. Not even comparable to the US but it was better than nothing. It was very late but our goal was to stay out until 4 so that Sarah could go straight to the train station for her 5:30 flight back to Paris. And we did.

We caught a taxi from the canals to the train station to drop her off then back to the hostel. When we got back, a German and Guatemalan guy were having a couple bottles of wine on the back deck, so I joined them for a bit and we talked and laughed as strangers who dont speak the same language do. Once again it was a combination of English, Spanish, French, hand gestures, and alcohol. I am figuring out that I might speak a universal language better than I think. It is so fun to communicate this way and amazing when you figure out that you can actually understand each other. Language is beautiful, and very confusing.