I read Stefan Zweig's stories throughout Italy. I purchased one of his novels in Milano and carried it with me through five Italian cities. Post-Office Girl is beautifully written, sad, and spectacular. On my nightstand in Brooklyn is also Zweig's masterpiece, The Collected Novellas of Stefan Zweig: Burning Secret, A Chess Story, Fear, Confusion, Journey into the Past. You know, Stefan Zweig is actually much more modern and clever than what you generally read today. I don't think it's boring at all but it is old if you think about it. I very much like old things and as an old testimony, it's absolutely fascinating to read stories that were written between the first and second world wars. It's so interesting to me to see how the world has barely changed. But at the same time the world is changing so quickly that we don't even understand how it works.
“Time to leave now, get out of this room, go somewhere, anywhere; sharpen this feeling of happiness and freedom, stretch your limbs, fill your eyes, be awake, wider awake, vividly awake in every sense and every pore.”
Zweig's story, Post-Office Girl, was adopted by one of my favorite directors, Wes Anderson; Anderson used it as inspiration for his film the Grand Budapest Hotel. It was only fitting that I pay homage to the acclaimed author (Zweig) and the brilliant director (Anderson) as I was running around the Grand Hotel Tremezzo on Lake Como. The Grand Hotel Tremezzo is totally cheeky and if Wes Anderson could design a hotel on Como, this would be it. It's colorful, playful, and besides the fact that they have several candy bars throughout the hotel, it's also one of the best places to stay when you are holidaying on the lake.
La Terrazza is one of my favorite restaurants on Lake Como and it's just inside the Grand Hotel Tremezzo. Sarah and I absolutely love food so when we choose locations it has to meet specific criteria- 1: A place that we want to photograph 2: A place with a great design hotel 3: A place with extraordinary cuisine. So, while at La Terrazza we ate Spaghetti all’aglio e peperoncino con vongole veraci (Spaghetti with chili peppers and clams), Branzino selvatico alla mediterranea (Sea Bass, our favorite), and Coppa ai frutti rossi, gelato alla limon e salsa ai lamponi for dessert (fruit and lemon gelato). Right across the street from the hotel is their floating pool, which is great to relax at. You are right on the lake and can watch all the beautiful wooden boats pass with tourists enjoying tiny strawberries and champagne.
Next door to the Grand Hotel Tremezzo is Villa Carlotta- a museum villa and botanical garden, whose art collection includes works by Canova, Thorvaldsen, Migliara, and Hayez. Gorgeous fountains and sculptures adorn the 20 acre garden, along with rhododendrons, and 150 varieties of azalea flowers. Many of the photographs you see on this post are also taken at their beautiful gardens. Tremezzo is a lot quieter than Bellagio and a better gamble for escaping the tourists that visit with their families and children. I should know, I did this very trip with my parents in 2005 and guess where we stayed...
“First she cautiously tries out the bed: will it really be all right to sleep there, on that effulgence of cool white? And the flowered silk duvet, spread out like down, light and pillowy to the touch. A push button turns on the lamp, filling every corner with its rosy glow. Discovery upon discovery: the washbasin, white and shiny as a seashell with nickel-plated fixtures, the armchairs, soft and deep and so enveloping that it takes effort to get up again, the polished hardwood of the furniture, harmonizing with the spring-green wallpaper, and here on the table to welcome her a vibrant variegated carnation in a long-stem vase, like a colorful salute from a crystal trumpet. How unbelievably, wonderfully grand!”
The Post-Office Girl is a story about a young woman called Christine who lives in Austria working at a post-office just after WWI. She receives a telegram from her wealthy aunt who lives in America and writes that Christine join her and her husband at a luxurious Swiss Alps resort. Christine hops on the train and soon finds herself enjoying a life of grandeur and privilege that she had never imagined. After a few unexpected events, Christine's aunt sends her back to Austria to her ordinary life where she meets a man called Ferdinand. He was a rather eloquent war veteran that convinces Christine to do some unconventional things to avoid her misery. I love this story because if there ever was a story about a reality fairy tale, this would be it. That said, while experiencing trips like this and traveling to places like these are in fact, a fairy tale, my reality is that I am a hardworking girl living in New York City. Staying grounded and kind is super important to me so as long as those two things remain, I'm encouraged to keep pursuing these fairy tales into my colorful life. More Como diaries soon...
“Maybe everything’s not so hard, maybe life is so much easier than I thought, you just need courage, you just need to have a sense of yourself, then you’ll discover your hidden resources.”
Coco Wears: Zara Off-the-Shoulder Crop Top, Vintage Linen Skirt, Vintage Cherry Bag. Photography: Sarah Son. Location: Tremezzo, Lake Como, Italy. City Guide: Lake Como