POTLUCK

The idea to start a weekly potluck came out of everybody’s mutual love of good food. Thankfully there are a few great cooks in our group and sharing food is a great way to take advantage of their skills in the kitchen. We invited one of our visiting professors to join us for dinner, who generously brought some amazing dessert. We have worked out a system that each apartment brings a dish, and usually we are able to cover all the bases with a variety of food. Our apartment (Olen, Aren and I) decided to fry a filet of cod along with zucchini and breaded eggplant. Delicious! Other dishes that were served included two rice dishes, pasta, salad, brushetta, sardine appetizers and multiple desserts. All sixteen of us were able to tightly fit into one of the smallest apartments for the feast. There is always an abundance of food and no one ever goes home hungry.

After dinner we took our professor out for a drink at a bar down the street, which we like to call the “hobbit bar.” The bar is known for its collection of table games and the graffiti on the walls and personal engravings on the tables. We like to play a game called “Il Torre” (The Tower) or Jenga as it is more commonly known—a competitive game among architects. We even upped the ante by stacking two sets on top of each other.

This time we went I remembered to bring my corkscrew so I could make my mark on the “Hobbit Bar table of fame” along with everyone else who has passed through. Our next stop was a bar called “Arte Café” which is conveniently located directly under our apartment window. Every Thursday this bar is the local hangout for the young Como crowd and of course, us too. They have great drink specials, good music and it is difficult to sleep until the bar closes. If you can’t beat ‘em, might as well join ‘em!

Our apartment window is directly in the middle of the picture, but up on the third floor.