Beauty everywhere

Como, Italy

Wow. Como is such a breath of fresh air. The town is nice and the lake is breathtaking. I walked up the edge and looked over to see several massive swans gliding about on the water. They are such large, beautiful birds. I'm staying in a hostel here, as I didn't plan far enough in advance for a couchsurfing host. The hostel is very sterile, but I'm sure it will be just fine. I wandered around for awhile today and for dinner I purchased some bread, pomodore (tomatoes), prosciutto, and mozzarella di bufala. It was delicioso. I am very tired as I had to walk quite a distance from the train station to the hostel with my giant pack. It feels good to be here near nature -- the lake, the trees, the swans. Tomorrow, I'm going to take the cable car up to the top of the mountain and then hike across it. Apparently I'm very close to Switzerland here, so for a little bit today, I entertained the thought of taking a several day detour into Switzerland. However, I feel that I think I want to stick to Italy, for right now, and I'll just do a day trip into the South of Switzerland, for some chocolate perhaps. Man am I tired. One other thing, I'm very pleased with how my Italian is coming along. I feel very comfortable asking directions, etc., and I can actually understand most of what they tell me. Okay. Goodnight.