Travels – Page 4 – ⋆ Second Gen Desi ⋆

Pree July 24, 2021 Monza, Italy and Lugano, Switzerland

Two Hour Trips

Reading Time: 7 minutes

It’s late June as I start writing this post, and I have now been to more places in Italy (and even Switzerland!) since I last complained about lockdowns 😅

After Bellagio, I took a little break from day trips to reconvene and figure out what to do next. I knew June 2nd was coming up and since it was a holiday in Italy, I would have the day off and definitely wanted to dedicate it to a day trip.

The day ended up being dedicated to Bologna, a story for another day, but before and after Bologna, I was able to still venture out and feed my exploratory cravings.

The convenient thing about having your “home base” be north central Italy is that travel by car or by train to nearby locales isn’t too arduous (as long as we clarify the definition of nearby). Day trips could even just be afternoon trips, depending on what you want to see and how much energy you have 😅.

I took two such “afternoon” trips from Como with my boyfriend, and thanks to his car, we were able to start our “trips” as late as 3pm and get back around 6 or 7pm! It is completely doable to see the best of Monza, Italy and Lugano, Switzerland within a few hours.

💛 Monza, Italy 💛

Technically, if I had left for Monza from North Milan, it would have only taken a handful of minutes by public transit versus an almost hour drive from Como. But I thought spending a sunny Sunday afternoon outside with my boyfriend scootering around a new city sounded a whole lot better than walking around alone.

Como to Monza – a little under an hour by car

Trying to find a parking spot near Parco di Monza brought on a minor headache, but we found a spot in a residential area that was actually alongside a walking path. Once we got the scooters out, we blasted onto the path and made our way toward the prime destination of the “city”.

It didn’t take us long to run into a swarm of locals and tourists in front of Villa Reale di Monza. We eventually had to get off our scooters and walk amongst the crowds, so we decided to go inside the courtyard to get a closer look.

I think under normal circumstances, you can go inside the palace for exhibitions and shows, but it seemed as though plenty of people were happy enough with just strolling outside and soaking in post-lockdown sunshine.

After I got my share of pics, we proceeded to the park, where it turned immensely cool temperature-wise thanks to the towering trees and their overgrown leaves—it was literally a forest.

And while it was lovely to see (and feel) such cool, green scenery, it made for awfully bumpy paths that were not friendly to the scooters 😅. Still, it wasn’t too long before we reached friendlier roads.

Even though I was scootering with the BF, I imagined that this park would be the perfect place for mid-distance or even long runs. I think from top-to-bottom it is about 3 miles, so loops would definitely need to be considered!

But is that such a mundane thing if said loops included loops around Azienda Agricola Mulino San Giorgio ?

Basically, animal heaven??

I basically came to a screeching halt when I saw the donkeys.

Being the huge animal lover that I am, I immediately parked my scooter and ran over to where every munchkin under ten years old was lined up petting the donkeys. I wanted to join in on the fun too 😂!

I picked the least-friendly donkey to (try to) pet. Still, my heart was full 🧡.

And it overflowed once I realize we were at the border of what looked to be a petting zoo! We took a detour, and I got my fill of cows, pigs, goats, baby horses, chickens, ducks, rabbits…

It was difficult to pull myself away from these beautiful creatures, but the boy and I headed onwards to the furthest we could go on the path. A couple years ago, I remember watching the documentary Breaking2, which documented the journey of marathon’s running elite to break two hours in the marathon. The special race was apparently held at the Monza racetrack, which is at the north end of the park!

I thought we would be able to come across it (and perhaps enter to take a look on the inside…stepping on the same path that Kipchoge, Tadese and Desisa raced on), but unfortunately it was fenced off. And by the time we reached it, we realized the park was going to close soon—at a relatively early time for Italians, 7pm!

Getting back to the car was an easy endeavor. Once we were out of the park, we were able to directly get back on the path we took at the start. We could have taken a detour into the city center, but I was close to empty energy-wise, and I figured the city center wasn’t exactly as much of a “must-see” as Parco di Monza was.

Villa Reale di Monza is very gorgeous though!

💛 Lugano, Switzerland 💛

Driving up to Switzerland from Como is actually shorter in comparison to driving to Monza. It seems counter-intuitive…driving to another country takes less time? 😂. Technically, I suppose it takes around the same time, but driving up on the weekends eliminates the traffic brought on by Italians driving across the border to get to work!

Once you get past border control (which isn’t a big deal, they normally stop cars at random), the drive becomes more beautiful. At one point, you have to take a bridge over Lake Lugano which offers some gorgeous views. Don’t have any here for ya, but once parked and in the city center, the view is just as good, if not better.

Right next to this view is the entrance to Parco Ciani, a beautifully groomed park with a winding path and sights all-around.

This statue is an entire MOOD, and often mine 😂:

Quick search on Google indicates its Socrates…

Further along the path, there was a wooden deck area where, apparently, swans like to take rest or swim near. I was looking forward to the sight, but only saw too many half-naked humans…pity.

Away from the water, the temperature started to feel a lot warmer and unbearable. It was, the middle of June after all. After a certain point, the streets begin to look monotonous and empty, and that’s probably because Lugano is more active during the work week.

Some buildings still kept their charm though.

Tesla even managed to squeeeeeze into the aesthetic, and not the other way around.

I learned that they had to knock down the wall on the side of the building just to put a Tesla inside, and then rebuild it back up again! For test drives, they have a single red car parked in the back 😂.

Closer to the city center, there were more buildings to marvel at and photograph:

A bar for dogs! Wasn’t as popular as one would think!

All of this was seen and covered by foot within two hours! Of course if you want to make time for aperitivo and swimming and gelato and shopping, you could easily spend a full day here.

But, even though I was tempted by this *pricey* Subway offer, I was content with having dinner at home, after a pleasantly exhausting afternoon of travel!

Remember $5 footlong meals? Non-existent. Double for a half sandwich and a drink and cookie 😧

Are you a fan of short day trips or even afternoon trips?

Pree May 28, 2021 Bellagio, Italy

Bellagio (Not the One in Vegas)

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Since my excursion to somewhere in Switzerland in late August of last year, no other opportunities made themselves available in regards to day trips in Italy or beyond.

Nope, the second wave of ‘rona got in the way of that.

I even went so far as to daydream about Christmas break trips to Venice or Rome, but after summer ended, the way reality was shaping up crushed those plans to smithereens.

That, plus work stress and life stress—it was all piling up, and putting in the time and energy to plan out trips “for the future” seemed like a lost cause.

And it was, until April 26th, 2021 brought signs of hope. The following weekend—with the weather being a foreshadowing of a summer yet to come—was the first opportunity in months for lost souls to venture out once again.

I was itching to travel somewhere, anywhere, and I even thought about some “nearby” major cities I could try to visit from Milan.

Turin? Genova? Bergamo?

But, I ended up going somewhere not too far from my (weekend) homebase of Como—a special place at the center of Lago di Como, hand-in-hand with a special person—Bellagio.

Lago di Como is HUGE. From Como City, Bellagio is an HOUR away by car!!

Since moving to Italy, I have lost the urge to keep up with my early bird tendencies on weekends. With weekdays being harrowing at times, I decided that my time, on the weekend, should be spent in whichever way maximizes relaxation and recovery. And, whadya know, sleeping in till 11am or 12pm on Saturdays sometimes does the trick!

The good thing about Bellagio is that it’s small enough to explore within 2-3 hours. So even if you have errands to run on a Saturday morning but you’re somewhere in the Lago di Como region, it’s not too silly of an idea to drive up for a few hours of some nature eye-candy.

I. Mean. Eye. Candy.

At first, I wasn’t sure if I would end up going solo, but my companion offered to drive both of us in his car—on a winding, solitary road that overlooked the lake many times along the journey. It didn’t help that we were slowed down by a group of four girls who were also on their way to Bellagio, taking their share of pics for the ‘gram with their phones precariously held out the car windows.

When we did arrive close to 3pm, parking was a minor issue. We found a spot eventually, and shockingly had to pay by the hour. I guess it wasn’t too much of a surprise given that it’s a ploy to get every last bit of a tourist’s pocket change, but at least the rate wasn’t Los Angeles-crazy 😂.

City center is about a 15 min walk from the parking lot we used.

Since I’ve seen Lake Como from Como city many times, it seemed redundant to find a viewpoint to look out at the water in Bellagio, but that’s the main attraction 😂. Technically, there are some differences in the landscape…

It was interesting to see how the mountain “terrain” changed across a panoramic-like view.

Smoother textured mountains on the left, snow-capped mountains in the center…

But the best part of going out to see the water at this time and location, was the wildlife of course.

I had front-row seats for the Momma & Babes show 🥺!!!

We weren’t the only ones enamored by their cuteness. Other people surrounding the dock seemed to notice my excitement (I was literally pointing and waving my arms at the ducks!) and shifted the focus of their phone cameras from the landscape to a few baby birds.

After enough time was spent at the water, we decided to walk back towards the city center. My eyes fell upon the buildings that faced a central dining area of sorts, and I could not look away. The architecture was so fitting for Northern Italy.

A work colleague of my companion also happened to be in Bellagio at the same time and we ran into him. He was one of those guys who dresses up in a suit to eat pasta 😅.

South of the shops and eateries, there was a picturesque walking path with tall trees and perfectly-cut shrubbery all on the side.

Too pretty for a long run. Walking will have to suffice.

Once again, it was another ideal location to stop and look out at the water. And sneakily people watch.

Two hours had passed by this point, and so my companion and I decided to take “the long way” back to the car. We passed the I Giardini di Villa Melzi, but it was another tourist trap that we ran from. They couldn’t stop me from taking pictures through the gates!!

To be fair, there weren’t that many people walking around that day, but I secretly appreciated that we were walking away from the crowds.

I started to figure out why we weren’t seeing many people at the point…the roads were increasing in elevation and our casual stroll was becoming a stairclimber session.

The biggest perk of this surprise workout was “accidentally” falling upon the Church of Goats*.

When special guests donkey and black baby goat made their appearances, I literally died 😂. My name is Pree and I like animals.

Ducks, goats, donkeys, dogs, and cats. Bellagio has everything.

There was no issue with finding the parking lot since we pinned our location with Google Maps. We did however still have some more time left on the meter, so it was an excuse to walk through some alleyways for that authentic Italian “village” feel.

When we entered this path, I looked down at my sneakers and wished they had more padding at the bottom (can’t expect much from a cheap pair from Primark though…), but I was grateful that I wasn’t in a pair of high heels trying to navigate this pretty chaos!

As time started to inch closer to 6pm (or 18:00, military time for Europeans 😂), we called it a “day” and got back in the car. As I expected, I drifted in-and-out of sleep on the drive back: a genuine indication that I had a pleasantly exhausting time.

Wanna know one of the best things about travel, even if it’s just a short daytrip? Coming back home so exhausted and instantly falling into a deep sleep.

So, Bellagio. My few hours here were enjoyable and well-spent. And while the scenery was nice, the experience was much more memorable because I had someone special by my side. I could have gone on my own, but sometimes it’s nice to walk around with someone’s hand in yours.

And if they have a car, it saves you a bumpy bus ride 😂.

Pree February 5, 2021 Stockholm, Sweden

Remembering Malmö and Copenhagen

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Before the COVID crisis took over, I took the privilege of travel for granted. Looking back, I was lucky to have opportunites to travel both domestically (within the US) and internationally, solo or with family.

Since moving to Italy, I have yet to go beyond Lombardia’s borders. Even within Lombardia, I’ve only really “visited” Milan and Como.

And coming from LA, it didn’t take too long to master these cities 😉

As much as my solo trip to Sweden in the summer of 2019 was indeed lonely, I am still awestruck by the fact that I completed a 10-day trip-for-one, despite the many moments of ennui I experienced.

My trip started in Stockholm, followed by stops in Gothenburg, Malmo, and Copenhagen. Although the latter of the cities is technically in Denmark, it happened to be my most favorite part of the trip.

I documented my Swedish & Copenhagen adventures on a former blog before I decided to close it down for Second Gen Desi. But with COVID still around and with it still influencing our current travel policies, I decided to dig through my archives and find my old travel posts so that I could try to relive the memories.

Since I was unable to copy over the text, we’ll have to settle for these screenshots, and you’ll have to forgive me for the small, poor photo quality 😅.

Still, I’m glad I took the time to type out a recap of my trip, even if it was three months after I returned 😅😅.

Hard to believe there was a time of crowds and flurry at the peak of summer. I can only imagine what Italy was like in the summer of 2019, and I wonder if we can ever get back to that type of traveling lifestyle ever again…

As for Sweden, I don’t have much of a desire to return for leisure, but I have heard amazing things about Norway and Finland…but to be honest, I’d be happy just to make it out of Lombardia for my travel plans this year 😉

Pree December 18, 2020 Verzasca Valley

A Verzasca Twist

Reading Time: 3 minutes

When I was given the greenlight to pack my bags for Italy in June of this year, I did not give a single thought to what would happen in the months after—let alone days after—arriving in Milan.

Once I was out of my self-quarantine, things began to take shape. I was able to socialize, meet new people, and get back to filling out my bucket list of all the places I wanted to visit now that I was living in Italy (of course looking back at it now, this seemed like a wishful thing to do as we are now trying to survive a second wave of COVID…).

My birthday was coming up in August, and my original plan was to visit Cinque Terre—but life had other plans that I was unwilling to pass on.

So on my 28th birthday, I wasn’t on a tourist bus snapping pics of coastal towns and the sea—I was several miles north, deep in the Canton of Ticino, Valle Verzasca.

From Northern Italy (Como), it takes about 1 hour by car and 3 hours by train to arrive here, and it’s difficult to miss.

Despite Italy being a sweaty mess that August afternoon, the weather in the valley was mild, cool, and cloudy—the definition of a perfect escape from the horrors of summer weather. So many others had the same idea that day…

Even though a lot of time was spent commuting, getting through one of the trails that was linked to a parking area took no more than an hour! And within that hour, there were so many picture-worthy sights to take in and return home with:

Honestly, my most favorite sight of the entire trek was this building—the blue window shutters against a white backdrop and flowers on the window sill? It just screamed classic Swiss/European design 😍.

Ultimately, I was glad I was able to celebrate my first day of being 28 years old in the middle of lush, Swiss greenery.

This was my last “trip” of the summer, right around the time others in Italy were preparing for their August getaways. I didn’t feel comfortable asking for an extended amount of time off at the time, since I had just started a new position, and I’m relieved I didn’t. At least I can say I didn’t put myself or others at risk for the sake of lounging on a beach…

Of course, I’d love to explore more of Italy and its neighboring countries when the time allows for it. Verzasca was a lovely teaser for what is still out there waiting for me…

2021, I hope you have more lush green landscapes in store for me...

Pree November 13, 2020 Como, Italy

A (Half) Day in Como

Reading Time: 6 minutes

After almost a month in Milan, I was itching to explore. Quarantine-ing for two weeks made me feel restless, and starting work soon after made me feel a bit overwhelmed, but I went into this experience telling myself these things –

A) Don’t feel pressure to go out “exploring” every single weekend if you don’t feel like it. Italy and surrounding countries will still be there, and you’ll get to them eventually.

B) Weekends are yours and yours only. Work is always going to have its demands, but keep it at work. Do your best and give it your all during the week, but the weekend is there to relax, recharge, and rest. Those PhD weekends working on quantifying images from microscopy even with Netflix in the background were not exactly “fun”, admit it 😂!

Despite starting my new job at a time when people were planning their grand vacations for Ferragosto, I didn’t feel comfortable asking for time off within a week of starting. Looking back, it would have been nice to plan a more leisurely, longer stay in a city outside of the Lombardy region, but I felt most comfortable staying local and going out on weekends when I could.

When my labmates inquured what I would be doing in my next “free weekend from quarantine”, I turned the question on them and asked where they would recommend I travel. One of them immediately spit out “Como!”, and I thought why not?

It sounded beautiful, wasn’t too far by train, and was near one of the supposedly most beautiful lakes in the country. The word for lake in Italian, lago, even sounds more regal than just plain ol’ “lake‘.

When I think of ‘lake’, I think of this stagnant body of water (Folsom Lake, CA, 2005)

I started my half-day “adventure” with a lazy wake-up call (8am for me, lol) and proceeded to take the green line to the closest transfer point for inter-regional trains.

I ended up getting off at Sesto San Giovanni station and made sure to get myself a take-away cappuccino before boarding my train.

From there, it was about a 1 hour train ride to Como Lago station, one of the most beautiful train stops I’d ever seen—perhaps it was the summer flora that did the trick:

From there, I followed the crowd of passengers from my train towards the city center…since I made the mistake of not downloading Google Maps for the area (I didn’t have data yet because I still had my US number…had to wait at least one more week before getting my Italian one 😂).

As I walked on through, I realized this was the beauty people talked about when they referred to Italy.

The narrow roads, the faded, but beautiful-in-its-own-right architecture. It made sense to take pictures here.

Once I got to the center, I wasn’t sure what to do first—eat? Wasn’t too hungry yet. Shop? Didn’t feel like it. Walk some more?

I opted for walking, and felt the need to inch away from the crowds. Even during pre-COVID times, I tried to keep a distance from crowds 😂.

I ended up walking up an incline into what seemed to be a private neighborhood. It was a long, winding road, and I could definitely see it being used by the locals for their daily cardio.

I love seeing funky buildings like these and wondering what it would be like to live on the top floor.

Bikers passed by me, as well as cars and their annoying honks, as I made my way up. I didn’t want to walk too far without knowing where I was headed, so I made the wise choice to walk back down and orient myself towards the lake instead.

Before turning back however, I had to document the fact that yes, I had stumbled upon something beautiful.

As I made my way back down, it looked as if the crowds had doubled. Orienting myself so the lake was in front and the city center was to the back of me, I decided to walk north starting from the right side of the lake.

I realized about 20 min in that the “better” side of the lake was the left one—after seeing what all was there from my current viewpoint.

As I got further away from the center (and the crowds, again) I was starting to feel hungry and agitated. There were scattered groups of teenagers chatting animatedly and elderly folk walking hand-in-hand, but I soon found an isolated place to rest for a bit.

My walk back to the center was slower in pace, but at least I was ready to eat something. I ventured back to where the shops were, and found a cute bakery:

I wanted to use the opportunity to practice my Italian, but two things happened: 1) I happened to be in line right after a pushy Englishman who put no effort whatsoever to speak un po’ italiano. He demanded still water and extra forks. I was embarrassed for him, but mostly irritated by his behavior since the ladies behind the counter assumed I was a tourist who only chose to speak English as well, and 2) I pronounced olive wrong (I should have said “oh-lee-vuh”).

At least I had my (unpictured) foccacia olive alongside some gorgeous views.

After my lunch, I headed towards the left of the lake and the most exciting:

I didn’t care to hop onto a boat or go on a fancy lake tour—-taking my time by foot and soaking in the views on my own was enough for me.

Since it was a day in mid-July, the weather was starting to get unbearable. I had to take another break, but at least it was at an adorable stopping point.

For me, 4 hours was enough, especially going solo. Before leaving back to the station, I got myself a cup of mint gelato. I admired the front of the station before hopping back on the next train to Milan.

Little did I know that I’d be back very soon.

Since that first day in Como, things have taken wild turns on all accounts. Things that I never would have expected, but made me rethink what my priorities were for the time being in regards to travel.

I knew for sure that I wanted to try new activities, have novel experiences, and meet amazing people, so in that sense, I may have sacrificed the chance to explore more of Italy earlier in my journey. I’ve stayed “close to home” for the past (almost) six months in Italy out of choice due to work demands, my personal energy levels, and as already stated my new priorities, but I don’t regret this at all.

My (half) day in Como has led me to where I am right now.