Day 2 - May 7, 2014 - Welcome Back to Varenna

The drive from Milan to Varenna was a breeze. We did give Bryan some crap for driving like an 90 year old grandma since he could not keep up with us, even though Matt was driving under the speed limit. I was told that Joann was in the car with him pointing out that he was driving too slowly also. After a brief stop in Lecco to pickup groceries, water and 16 bottles of wine (for the party in Switzerland), we made our way up the shores of Lake Como. Rain and thunderstorms were predicted for the duration of our stay on the lake. 

Driving into Varenna was like coming back to visit an old friend. It had only been 11 months since we had been there on our last trip. The village was quiet and upon arriving at our hotel, we were greeted by the owner Bettina. She remembered us from last year and was very excited we were returning to have our wedding reception on her hotel's terrace.

After getting settled in, we immediately  started running into guests randomly who were already in Varenna. Matt and Vicki came walking towards us down a cobblestone alley in full backpacks looking like quite the travelers. Mark and Erika actually made it to Varenna and did not end up in the Ukraine as we all predicted might happen. Meredith and Jenn arrived just in time and helped us carry our packs to our room. Kerry, Jeremy and Decklan spotted us in the main square and came running up to us with big hugs and flowers in their hair. Katie, our photographer, emerged from a catnap to find us too. It was really weird and super cool to see so many friends in a country so far away in a tiny Italian village. The best part was that everyone was genuinely happy and excited to be there.

That night those of us staying at Hotel Milano met and had dinner. It was like our new little family having their first meal together...The May's and the Ricca's (Sandra, Mark, Erika, Suzanne, Matt, Meredith and Jenn). Everyone shared their travel stories while we enjoyed our meal. Mark and Jenn became instant best friends. Meredith had everyone laughing with her extended vocabulary of French curse words. Mom seemed to have a great time watching all her "kids" together. The food was great and the wine was delicious. Our 3 course meal took 3 hours to complete. 

As we were finishing dessert, Bill and Dina finally arrived in Varenna. They looked exhausted. It had been a very full travel day for them. We were tired too and then realized we had been up for basically 36 hours straight...it was time for bed...but I knew with how much my head was spinning with preparations the 4 days of guest activities, that sleep would be hard to come by.