Visiting Italy's Lake District: Part IXa - Savoring Cadenabbia

Any visit to Italy provides many first-hand moments to savor Italian cuisine, which is a tradition that our group heartily and enthusiastically indulged in.  Our wonderful hotel in Menaggio had aided and abetted us all in this, providing copious amounts of wine - and refills - to us each evening at dinner.  In fact, we were all pleasantly surprised; this was a benefit that none of us had expected except on rare occasions.  When we have travelled before, most wine has not been included in the package.  How wonderful to discover that this tour was an exception to that policy, at least in Menaggio.  In Stresa, other than our first and last evenings, we had to pay out-of-pocket for our wine orders.  It wasn't necessarily a hardship to have to pay, but having copious amounts of "free" wine later on was greatly appreciated

After our trek up to the church of San Martino and return to the lakeside, we found ourselves in the charming Italian village of Cadenabbia.  As we made our way along Cadenabbia's lakeside walkway,

along with our lake views, we enjoyed the magnificent villas that were situated on the other side of the road.  According to local Guide P, the villa shown below belongs to an American university, but he could not remember which one, nor have I been able to find the name despite several internet searches.  What a dreamily wholesome way to spend a summer: learning and gazing out at beautiful vistas!

But an even greater treat was in store for us on this day.  Our destination was La Marianna, a tiny eight-room alberghetto

and, in particular, its restaurant (cucina) where we were to receive a cooking lesson from the owner-chefs.  

The alberghetto itself was warm, inviting

and cozy - certainly a place to return to on our own someday, especially now that we know how delicious the food there tastes!

First, we gathered on the cucina's lakeside terrace

for a midday apéro, very much appreciated after the exertions of our morning.

The apéro was to build up our courage for a dash across the heavily-travelled lake road to the building itself, where our lessons and midday meal would take place.

Yes, there IS a pedestrian crosswalk, but there are also a lot of drivers and it just takes one to be inattentive for a second or two.  Those of us who survived the ordeal then figuratively rolled up our sleeves, while the chefs did the actual "heavy lifting.  We got the best part: watching and learning - and later - eating.  First, we learned how to prepare pesto sauce for the pasta

and how to prepare the rest of what we would be eating for our midday meal -

fortunately already prepared, for the most part -

and then we learned how to make tiramisu, the dessert that would culminate our meal.

Fortunately, for our bursting taste buds and growling stomachs, the midday meal was served forthwith.   All I can say is "Mmmmm!"

And yes, we all happily received detailed written instruction for future recipe re-creation on our own!