Oggi, we travelled north to Como, where we were given a tour of Mantero Seta, Lago di Como (where George Clooney lives), and the town of Como.
Mantero Seta is a family-owned silk company that has been in operation since its founding by Riccardo Mantero in 1902. The company designs and produces textiles for luxury fashion designers such as Chanel and Louis Vuitton, who often contract the firm to develop new designs and trends for them, and because they do not want their ideas leaked, Mantero does not allow photography in their production center. Just last month, one employee was fired after taking a picture of a design and posting it to social media. I found the tour very fascinating and enlightening, as we were able to witness the designing and the printing of the fabric patterns up close and personal, and also observe the different professions of engineering, digital design, and business work hand in hand to create these products. We as a group also found interesting that a waiver did not have to be signed when entering the factory and that none of the workers wore earplugs despite the loud machinery. Both of these exhibit the more relaxed labor safety laws in Italy compared to America.
After the site visit, we visited the town of Como and started off by eating belle pizze for lunch at a magnificent ristorante. Pranzo was followed by a walking tour of the city that involved seeing La Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta, also known as the Como Cathedral, which contained many breath-taking religious works of art, both on the outside and on the facade. Also along the walking tour, we were able to see ordinary houses from the fifteenth century and compare these architectural types to those built in the eighteenth and nineteenth century; both types were equally stunning.
The walking tour then led directly to the boat ride on Lago di Como, or Lake Como, which was my favorite part of the day! Despite the rain, the lake and its surrounding features were all very dazzling and awe-inspiring, as the mist and fog added a mysterious, yet beautiful, feel to it all. We beheld a plethora of colorful, unique villas and mansions along the lake, including that of George Clooney, which was just as awe-inspiring as the guidebooks said it was. Several of us stood on the uncovered back part of the boat, and when the tour ended, I was completely soaked from head to toe, but that did not matter because I was buzzing with excitement from what I had just seen.
Arriverderci e Ci Vediamo!