Como @ Italy - home town of George Clooney!

There are many reasons to why we travel and why we should travel. My Reasons: to invite the opportunity to get lost and face one’s fears of the unknown & to help us get to know ourselves better, where the true us is rediscovered!!! What is yours? At the same time, some travel may have a defined purpose such as business travel etc, you know? But it is also about human relationship – to cultivate, to culture and to redefine the art of living!

My trip to ITALY was one of such kind, although   the purpose was defined. I went there to attend friend’s wedding. But it is foolish to expect time together with your friend, the day before his wedding, even if he is your good friend/best friend! So why not break out and do something exciting? That’s exactly I tried to do, with the company of my solitude and my very capable SLR camera. Not really, it is unfair NOT to mention some great friendship I engaged in during this short trip, I MUST therefore mention my dear friend Andrei and his beautiful wife Elina for very kindly offering me their company, for some exciting sight seeing and wonderful discussions/experiences together!

Como has acted over the centuries as a crossing point between Central Europe and the Mediterranean. Built by the Romans, it was an important communication point between Rome and its northern territories. In more recent times Como became famed for its textile industry/silk. The area around Lake Como, or "Lago di Como" in Italian, is pretty characteristic. It has a kind of flair and sense of history that tends to impress its visitors in a sense deeper than only from a touristic point of view.

I arrived day before the wedding, so I had the whole afternoon and evening to venture out on my own with my camera in my hand, capturing memories of this beautiful, yet popular town “COMO” in Italy. It is known to many as the home town of Hollywood hunk “George Clooney”. In fact our guide; pointed his house to us, on our way to the wedding venue, during this breath taking cruise through the lake COMO!

Even on the day of the wedding, we sneaked out for few hours on mountain trekking, walking along the stunning views of Lake Como. On our way back; we stopped over at the weekend street market, where they sell all sorts of traditional groceries and delicacies, as we find on the streets of our own countries. People speak less English but that does not take away their welcoming spirit…their contribution towards promoting human relationship. A small incident still remains very fresh in mind… on the evening before the wedding day, I chose to take a stroll around the city, I came across a fast food shop, selling Italian delicacies but they did not appear traditional Italian delicacies such as Pizza, Pasta etc. Rather they were selling some really interesting dishes such as mashed salmon, mashed tuna with some refreshing Italian herbs, served with steam rice, for example. I was curious…I went inside…asked if I could take some picture. The lady at the cash-counter appeared very very affectionate and cordial to me. She spoke little English and asked me to come back in the morning to take good pictures, because all her dishes were fast finishing now from the display cabinets. I thought that was very kind of her. I took some pictures and came back with no intentions to go back again in the morning, as I had the wedding to attend on the next day. But on our way back from mountain trekking we stopped over at this shop for few minutes, just to say hello to the lady and take some fresh pictures. The lady recognized me; gave me a big smile of welcome, explained each food item to me, and allowed me to take pictures. Then she insisted us to try some of their specialities, together with some complementary wines. She personally made our seating comfortable at a table outside and ensured that the heater was switched on, on that very cold day! Where do you find such gesture these days? Well; only in Como!!!