"Over the river, and through the wood, to Grandfather's house we go...."
This time, "it was around the lake and up the hill, to a mountain restaurant we go...". I learned last year that Thanksgiving is a difficult holiday to spend away from our family and homeland because we have so many wonderful memories of hosting our extended family in Ohio and enjoying the holiday weekend together. So I was very happy when our friend Amy invited the Americans living in the area to celebrate Thanksgiving together at a restaurant in Brunate on the mountain above Como. She talked the restaurateur into roasting two turkeys and preparing traditional side dishes for our group on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
There is a challenging, steep and curving road from Como to Brunate, so some of us took the option of riding the funicular (incline railway) up through the clouds to Brunate and then we walked down a lane for about 2 kilometers to the restaurant. The Ristorante Falchetto is in an old inn with hotel rooms on the 2nd floor and it has spectacular view of Lake Como. There ended up being 36 of us which included some Italian spouses and some English speaking friends, so we took over the restaurant for the day.
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| The funicular is celebrating its 120th birthday this month. |
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| Arrival in Brunate |
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| Scenic walk to the restaurant |
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| The panoramic view |
Roberto, our host went above and beyond to make it a special meal for us. With Amy's help, he had researched the recipes for the turkey, potatoes, dressing and even included cranberries as a side dish. Several of our friends pitched in and helped serve the meal so we could all eat at the same time. Even though a couple of the dishes had their own unique taste, the overall experience felt authentic as the room was filled with laughter and friendly conversation. The kids worked on crafts, played games and even had their own rowdy kids' table. The pumpkin pie showed up looking very much like Italian "pumpkin" pizza, even cut into squares!
The day lived up to its name; we felt truly thankful for a great meal, a roomful of wonderful friends and another memorable experience in Italy.
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| Our family for the day! |
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| Kids' table |
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| American-sized portions |
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| Italian-style pumpkin pie |
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| Ristorante Falchetto |
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