The Crawshaws’ Overseas Trip - Varenna Day 7

Sunday 26 May - last day in Varenna. I took our washing up to Eve and Max’s apartment, as, even though listed on the inventory, our apartment had no washing machine. Max offered me coffee and cake while their washing machine did its thing. I declined as I was meeting Michael for coffee at our usual café in the square. He told me later that he had gone to the small deli up the road and bought some cakes specially. I felt bad, not only for being inhospitable but for missing out on cake!

After our cappuccinos at the café, Michael and I went to collect the washing. It was in it’s final rinse so we made plans for the remainder of the day. Eve and Max had been going to take us out for lunch for our last meal together so we could pack later in the day. We needed to be in the square by 5am in the morning to be taken to the train station for our 5.35 am train back to Milan. They were also leaving Varenna but not until later in the morning. However, when they found out that our packing would not interfere with us going out for dinner, we all agreed that a last supper was more fitting.

That sorted, and after getting instructions from Max on how to use the dryer in the laundromat, we set off back down the hill with the washing. When we got there, the machines had signs on them indicating they were out of order. As Max had been there the day before, it seemed highly unlikely that this catastrophe had occurred overnight. Then we noticed the machine just inside the entrance, a big red dryer. I threw the wet clothes inside then fed euro coins into the slot. They kept rolling out. Just as I could see my day going up in steam from draping clothes over the coil heater in our apartment, repositioning them every half hour, Michael found the token machine inside the entrance on the other side. Neither of us obviously listened very carefully to what Max had said at the time but then we both remembered, red machine, token machine. My hysteria subsided, we fed tokens in the slot, then left our garments swirling clockwise within the vortex of the dryer.

Michael and I went to the eatery across the road from the café and ordered pizza, on Max’s recommendation. It was delicious, crispy base and cheesy topping. In no time at all, I had eaten half, washed down with Italian beer. Grazie and Prego, all in one!

After collecting the bone dry washing, we went back to the apartment. I folded the clothes, then worked on this blog while Michael wandered off to read his book. After a while, sick of being in our pokey quarters, I joined him on his bench at the edge of the lake. He regaled me with the happenings on the waterfront since he had arrived. Firstly, a tall, leggy teen with a cameraman and two lackeys in tow, paraded up and down the pontoon. She had at least three changes of outfit while the camera captured stills of her in various poses. They were still at it when I arrived. In the midst of this, a young American geek (Michael’s description) sat down on the bench next to him. He then unfurled his swag and produced a drone. Measuring about half a metre square, he proceeded to launch it skywards and take countless photos of Varenna from above. He told Michael that his drone had a range of 3 kilometres. He also said that if things went haywire, he had an emergency ‘come home’ button. When absorbed back in his book, Michael was suddenly startled by the drone  hovering close to his head, convinced he was about to receive a number one haircut or worse. Thankfully the young American ‘pilot’ manouvered it to the pavement at their feet. By the time I arrived he had moved on.Michael and I sat contentedly in the warm sun, eating gelato and watching the Como crowd pass to and fro.

Around 5pm, Michael headed to the café for afternoon beers with Max. I continued with my blog lakeside for a while. Eventually I joined the others at the café for pre-dinner drinks. It was so relaxing sitting outside, sipping on a gin and tonic, reminiscing about our week together. We were joined by the owner’s big, black, curly haired Portuguese Water Dog named Aqua. She was very friendly and let us stroke her silky coat. Before we left, Eve gave the owner and her daughter koala key rings. They were delighted with their gifts and placed them on display inside the café.

We left the café to go to straight to dinner. The dilemma was that the restaurant was right next door to  the café. Even though the café was outdoor seating only, and we preferred to sit indoors,  we felt disloyal hopping from one to the other. Luckily there was another entrance to the restaurant, so we ducked around the corner and snuck in the side door.

As before, our meals were tasty, the wine smooth and the Prosecco and Limoncello complemented either end of our evening. We parted company, wishing each other further fun on our respective travels. Holidaying with Eve and Max had been the highlight of the trip so far.