Here are some of the photos I took this week. I went for a walk last Sunday through Viglio, across the train tracks and down by the laghetto (little lake) into Sorengo (where there is apparently an Irish pub). From Sorengo I took a left and headed up a small street going up the mountain. It was lined by posh houses and apartments that got fancier (and older) the higher up I got. I finally landed in the middle of some very old and gracious buildings indeed, which was the center of Muzzano. It’s a very fancy, very posh tiny town outside of Lugano. The homes are all gated and I suspect the reason there are so many horses around are because the residents of this little village are jodhpurs-wearing equestriens. Incidentally the little lake is called “laghetto di Muzzano” not “di Viglio” or “di Sorengo” or even “di Agno”. Hmph.
On the way back home I passed a sign with a cute toad on it, which warned that there would be toads in the street at night. Now what I driver is supposed to do to avoid toads crossing the road at midnight I do not know, but the sign is there just in case. These toads, by the by, are not in the least bit cute in real life. They are awful, giant, slimy-looking things which decline to hop in favor of slithering/crawling. Disgusting.
Today I went grocery shopping and bought the entire store. Not actually, but I’m working on doing some baking this weekend so I did buy a fair bit of flour, butter, sugar, leavening and the like. I don’t know how well it will turn out since I’ve never attempted baking a cake in Europe, but I’ll do my best. IN ADDITION to finding flour etc, I happened upon a welcome sight: GOCCIOLE!! These are the marvelous, delicious, crispy, chocolatey cookies that Rachel, Allie and I discovered in Rome. I thought they might have them here but I hadn’t seen them so far, and almost gave up hope. I think this discovery means I need to add an extra five miles a week of jogging. These cookies are so good that I’d have trouble preventing myself from eating a whole bag at a time.
One last story before I hop off and make something to eat: I was trying to pick a shower gel here and I had the most awkward time of it. First of all, the shower gel aisle looked like a sex products aisle. I don’t know what it was, but all of the containers just looked like lubricant and stuff. It doesn’t help that the words are all “cremeuse” and “gel douche” and all that nonsense. I’m sure no one else noticed but I was blushing. I finally found something orange-blossom scented (does it get more innocent?) and went on my way to looking for wax paper. Still not sure if that’s what I bought…
