Tech Topics - Fall 2008 - (Page 11) ALUMNI HOUSE ALUMNI TRAVEL Italian Lake District To-die-for attractions and a hunt for George Clooney highlight Alumni Travel journey to northern Italy Story and photos by Kimberly Link-Wills I have checked off one of the 1,000 sights to see before I die. Thanks to Alumni Travel’s “Village Life in the Italian Lake District,” I was afforded the opportunity to see Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.” Visitors, many of whom have secured their tickets months in advance, are admitted 25 at a time into the refectory of the Church of Santa Maria Delle Grazie, tiny in comparison to the Duomo, one of the world’s largest Gothic cathedrals and just blocks away in Milan. Georgia Tech Alumni travelers received their tickets as part of the tour, operated by Gohagan & Company. The 25 visitors are first sealed between two glass doors to ensure the painting remains at constant room temperature. Nothing protects the museum patron from goose bumps when first seeing the 15-by-29-foot masterpiece, which has come so close to disappearing, through deterioration of the artwork itself and from a World War II bombing. Affixing a fuzzy Buzz to George Clooney’s lapel also is on my must-do-before-death list. I certainly won’t mind returning to the banks of Lake Como for another chance to hunt him down. The chase is wonderful, considering the spectacular environs, cuisine, libations and companions. The comfortably appointed Hotel Regina Olga in Cernobbio, just an hour or so from Milan, overlooks not only Lake Como but Harry’s Bar as well. Magazine articles and guidebooks have reported that Clooney stops by Harry’s at 6 p.m. when he’s staying at his nearby villa. The Georgia Tech Alumni travelers safely can say that Clooney was not at Harry’s in mid-May. The spectacular Villa Balbianello overlooks Lake Como. Some of us staked it out every chance we got. Harry’s on its own is a charming little place with an equally charming staff. Order a drink and with it comes bowls of fat olives, homemade potato chips and nuts. And the people watching is fabulous, even when George isn’t there. George also wasn’t dining at Il Gato Nero, reportedly the actor’s favorite trattoria in Cernobbio. At first, we were disappointed that Clooney wasn’t anywhere to be found in the hillside restaurant made up of several eclectically decorated rooms. Then we tasted the incredible food. And then our entertaining waiter produced his scrapbook crammed with autographs and photos of him posing with George — and Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta Jones, Matt Damon and on and on. We snapped photos of fellow traveler John Roach, MS EE 68, PhD EE 74, who, our waiter told us, was sitting where George always sits when he dines at Il Gato Nero. Rumors were swirling on the tour bus that Clooney had been spotted emerging from a helicopter and having lunch at Villa d’Estes, built in the 16th century and today an exclusive hotel. Too bad paparazzi reports put him on the other side of the ocean at the time. Chances are, however, you’ll come across some member of the jet set at Villa d’Estes, within walking distance of Hotel Regina Olga and Harry’s in Cernobbio. Be sure your villa-visiting list includes a stop at Villa Balbianello. Take a boat there as the views of the villa from the water are picturesque — but not as good as the stunning views from the lawn overlooking Lake Como and previewing the pre-Alps. The setting is so spectacular that the villa’s grounds have been used in the films “Casino Royale,” “A Month by the Lake” and “Star Wars Episode II.” Gohagan Tours also offered an off-the-beaten-path treat in Como via a hands-on cooking class at the Centro Studi Alberghiero Casnati, where teenagers spend up to five years immersed in culinary and sommelier training. Some Tech engineers groused about the notion of making gnocchi, but once they got into the kitchen they were all smiles as they tried to outdo each other in dumpling and pasta making. The lovely meal — including veal stew, pasta in a Bolognese sauce and tiramisu — was all the more wonderful because we had worked up an appetite making it together. None of us cared that George wasn’t there. The 2009 Alumni Travel schedule has been set and is available at http://gtalumni.org/site/TravelTourSchedule. For more information, e-mail the program director at martin.ludwig@alumni.gatech.edu. TechTopics | Fall 2008 11 http://gtalumni.org/site/TravelTourSchedule
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