Monday, June 11, 2018

A Glorious Half Day in Porto Ceresio and Varese


Sunday, 10 June, 2018

I say a glorious half day because we got home in the wee hours of the morning from our playoff game in Modena Saturday night.

With a 9:00 p.m. kickoff, lots of scoring, an overtime period and the usual slow, hot showering practices of our players, our bus didn't leave the stadium until 1:30 a.m.

We entered the Villa Skorpion quietly at 4:45 a.m. trying not to wake our houseguests from Sweden, Aiki and Janne, who were sound asleep after a long day of sightseeing in humid, sweltering Milano on Saturday.

Mission accomplished, Laurie and I slept in until 11:00 a.m. ready and raring to hit the road again with Aiki and Janne.

These next two photos are from earlier this week that I just got from Aiki via Facebook and liked.  

In Lugano, Switzerland answering
questions about the frescos

Dinner at one of our favorite
spots in nearby Tradate

So, we move on to today's activities . . .

Our first stop was the village of Porto Ceresio on the Italian banks of Lake Lugano about 30 minutes from the Villa Skorpion.

 Janne with Laurie
hamming it up

 Janne and Aiki with
Switzerland in the background

Oh NO!

Porto Ceresio was having a street market today.

All the signs for impending financial doom were in plain sight.

We had to be strong.

Aiki testing the water temperature
of Lake Lugano

She claimed that it was perfect for a dip but then again she is from cold, cold Sweden plus swimming is not allowed on this part of the lake.

 Nice garage for your boat

 So serene

 No, really, No Swimming Allowed

Love the wooden boat a lot . . .

. . . but we all LOVE the gelato
a whole bunch more

We looked HARD . . .

. . . but did not buy any for some
mystical health reason

The cheese looked good and
had rich aromas

We were still strong and fended off our spending tendencies.

That might be a nice place for dinner
but we had other plans for tonight

 Mini-pier/nesting ground
in need of some work

 We enjoy Porto Ceresio so
much every time we visit

We may have to check this B&B
out as they do have a pool

 Looks good, on the water
and now that our season is over,
we do have some free time

On to Varese for dinner and another street market, albeit a much more upscale one than the one in Porto Ceresio.

Deep TROUBLE averted

NRA Approved I'm sure

A sterling silver pacifier that
once belonged to a child named
Carlotta based on the inscription

Dusty bottles of old wine on sale
led us straight to . . .
  
. . . The BellaVita Cafè

Our server was noted scholar, bon vivant, philanthropist, Europe Warrior and Skorpions Strong Safety Nicolas Principi. 

Laurie and Aiki look refreshed

The famous BellaVita Cafè antipasto

 Hand crafted by local artisans
in the BellaVita Cafè kitchens 

Damn, those croutons are amazing!

No Janne,
you HAVE to share!

The BellaVita Cafè partners up with the tremendous Premiata Gnoccheria e Risotteria, about seven meters across the pedestrian street that separates the two establishments, to bring more culinary delights to their customers.

We shared three gnocchi dishes
and three risotto dishes

The blueberry risotto made life worth living again.

A great end to a great half day with great friends!

Now for some American Football news from Italy . . . 

GREAT news from the National
Flag Championship Tournament
in Grosetto!

The Skorpions were one of only two clubs to qualify all three of their youth flag teams to Nationals. The Milano Rhinos were the other club to qualify all three of their squads.

Our U13 team, 3-3 in the regular season, finished in seventh place in the two day tournament.

Our U17 team, 5-1 on the year entering the Grosetto tournament, took home the third place Bronze Medal.

Finally, our highly touted, 6-0 U15 team won all five of their games to complete a perfect 11-0 campaign and be crowned as National Champions of Italian U15 Flag football!

GREAT job all year long by the players and coaches involved in our flag programs!

As for the weekend in Division II . . .

Wild Card Weekend Results:
#5 Roma Pretoriani (8-1) - 41
#12 Ravenna Chiefs (4-4) - 7

#6 Cernusco Daemons (6-3) - 25 OT
#11 Palermo Sharks (4-5) - 19

#7 Modena Vipers (7-2) - 40 OT
#10 Varese Skorpions (5-4) - 33 

#9 Verona Mastini (6-3) - 45
#8 Monza Brianza Hammers (5-4) - 0

Wild Card Byes: 
#1 Padova Saints (8-0)
#2 Bologna Warriors (8-0)
#3 Busto Arsizio Blue Storms (8-0)
#4 Reggio Emilia Hogs (7-1) 

Quarter-Finals Schedule:
Saturday, June 16th
#9 Verona Mastini (6-3) at
#1 Padova Saints (8-0)

#7 Modena Vipers (7-2) at
#2 Bologna Warriors (8-0)

#5 Roma Pretoriani (8-1) at
#4 Reggio Emilia Hogs (7-1)

Sunday, June 17th
#6 Cernusco Daemons (6-3) at
#3 Busto Arsizio Blue Storms (8-0)

The DII Playoff Brackets
Championship Game on July 7th

Despite the end of our season . . .

Life is still
BEAUTIFUL in Italia!

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