This is the photo of my first Italian pizza. I tried it on the second night of my first trip to Bellagio in Lake Como.
I savored the pizza during dinner at the Bellagio Sporting Club after receiving a complimentary dinner voucher from the motel I was staying in. But I forgot what I ate; I don’t know the name of the pizza. I do remember, however, ordering a vegetarian one from the menu. Perhaps from the picture, you can tell me what it is. The waiter claimed it’s the best pizza in Lake Como. I almost believed him but after trying a few more pizzas here and there, well, I have to reserve judgment.
Truth be told, I was more interested in what I was seeing rather than what I was eating. Around this time I was working on my thriller novel Incognito, and taking mental and physical notes of places: parks, museums, monuments, boat rides on the lake, bazaar, cafes. I was soaking up and absorbing everything around me. Some of the characters I met were also interesting.
During this trip, I lost my pocket camera but a waiter at a Bellagio cafe found it and returned it to me. You’d be surprised the number of times I lost my belongings during the trip. Yet each time, I met a kind soul who returned them.
The visit also included visits to Venice, Rome, and Saint Moritz. I was tempted to learn how to ski in Saint Moritz but I think it takes a long time to master the sport, so I did the next best thing: I went mountain trekking.
Mountain trekking is therapeutic, and I understand why many people do it. I’d like to describe it as being a land astronaut. The higher you go, the more peaceful it becomes.
It was on Muottas Muragl (Mount Muragl) that I met a Swiss woman who gave me the idea to incorporate the Vatican angle for my manuscript. She was pointing vehemently towards Italy and ranting about the Vatican. It was a chance meeting after stopping her on a slope to ask for directions. For a moment, I thought I was in Speaker’s Corner, Hyde Park. Well, everyone is entitled to an opinion. But I have to thank her for helping me complete my manuscript.
By the time I was done traveling, I had enough ingredients to write my thriller. The novel was based on two separate visits to Switzerland. The second visit included various regions of Italy and provided the toppings.
I look forward to doing it again… and this time around, I’m going to be sure to remember what kind of pizza I ate.
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