Dubi Dubi Du' with Cobo at the Fischbank Bar in Bolzano, Italy

Dear Reader,

There comes a time in every vacation when you just need a break, a little vacation from your vacation. The same goes for writing about vacations. It's time for a pleasant departure from the daily activities and details of traveling to talk about once again, the Art of Doing Nothing. The key is one must find the right place to practice said art. Next one must allow oneself to go with the flow and forget about the clock and just enjoy whatever may come.

Last year in Bolzano, Italy we found the perfect place to practice our Art of Doing Nothing: The Fischbank Bar and Restaurant owned by Rino Zullo, playfully known as Cobo. For those of you who have been following my blog since the beginning, you know all about that wonderful evening. When we decided to return to Bolzano again this year both John and I knew we had to continue our fun at the Fischbank Bar. What we didn't know was that Cobo would remember us from last year. I also wrote briefly about that pleasant surprise in a blog last month named: "A Wonderful Trip in Review".

Hot, dusty, tired and very thirsty we stumbled into the Fishbank Bar without a map. It seemed as if our noses just led us there without a wrong turn or even a moment's hesitation. I guess we were a bit early because we actually beat the crowd and found available stools at our favorite table. As soon as Cobo saw us he ran up and told me "You're famous! I read your blog!" I was amazed and very pleased, I must say. After all the thousands of people who find their way to his bar every year who would expect to be remembered after only one evening a year ago?

We ordered our Venezianas, a most delightful and refreshing drink on a hot day consisting of an Italian liquor called Aperol with Prosecco which is the Italian sparkling wine common to northern Italy's Veneto region, a touch of sparkling mineral water, a slice of orange all poured over lots of ice. Cobo generously serves his Venezianas in rather large goblets but we were so thirsty I believe ours were gone in two or three gulps. It was time for another round.

Cobo came with our next round and stayed awhile as we discussed where we'd been our our travels lately and what we had seen that day in Bolzano and also what we planned to see over the next few days. We told him that we were once again staying up the mountain in Soprabolzano which I could tell by his expression did not appeal to Cobo. He advised us that Soprabolzano is nice but everything is happening down here in Bolzano. Of course, he's right. Cobo has been a resident of Bolzano for many many years and knows every inch of the place. He's also drawn pictures of Bolzano and the interesting old buildings and cobbled streets in his cartoon books. Did I mention that Cobo is a renowned artist and famous in his own right?

While we were relaxing and enjoying our third or fourth Venezianas the crowd began to fill the place and the noise level increased gradually. No problem. Cobo turned up the volume on his little CD player so we could still enjoy the modern jazz which goes so well with Venezianas, I must say. He also brought us two gifts: a cartoon book about Bolzano with wonderful drawings and a comic book about the pigeons of Bolzano which is hilarious. Even though neither John nor I could read the subtitles which are in both Italian and German we were both able to enjoy and understand the drawings. The pigeon comic book speaks for itself. You see pigeons arriving by tour bus in Bolzano and visiting all the sights of Bolzano and gathering at the Fischbank Bar and finally leaving town on the bus. Some of their comments were obvious even in Italian. We were having a good time already and the books had us laughing our heads off.

Cobo said he invented a new drink and wanted us to try it. He calls it a Hugo after the famous French author, Victor Hugo. Being good sports and as part of our practicing the Art of Doing Nothing we volunteered to try a Hugo. It is another very refreshing drink consisting of Prosecco, mineral water and fresh mint over ice. In fact, I'd say it was wonderful. Then I looked around the bar and noticed people were drinking Hugos all over the place. I thought at the time "this drink sure caught on quickly".

Of course, one cannot sit and just drink. You must have something to munch on or risk falling off of your stool more than once. Cobo always provides baskets of very tasty potato chips but on our first evening he insisted we have some bruschetta even though we told him we had eaten a huge lunch very late that day. So he made up his wonderful homemade bruschetta, which are enormous, very fresh and irresistable. There are four bruschetta to a plate and every ingredient is fresh from the market and grown locally except the tomatoes which are from Sicily and shipped weekly, I believe. After managing to eat all four bruschetta, John and I agreed we would probably not be needing any dinner that night. And it was a good thing because by the time we left the Fischbank Bar it was too late to eat dinner and still make the last funicular back up to Soprabolzano.

As I gazed around the now packed bar I saw a lot of bruschetta going around plus other very delicious looking appetizers, all the size of full meals. No wonder this bar is so popular. Not only does Cobo provide wonderful and very reasonably priced drinks but also delcious homemade food called appetizers which are actually full meals for the price of an appetizer. If this bar was in my town I'd be there every day of the week. I guess it's a good thing it isn't. I also discovered that we aren't the only out of towners or even out of country fans who return to Bolzano and the Fischbank bar every year. That evening Cobo introduced us to a couple from England who have visited Bolzano either four or five years in a row now and spend every evening at his bar. Somehow, this is a very comforting thought. Perhaps a reminder that such a wonderful place will continue to be there in the future as long as we can continue to travel there. At least I hope so.

After a few drinks, John always begins to get really funny. He's a very sharp and intuitive wit who never misses a straight line or any opportunity for an amuzing comment. Cobo is also a very funny man of wit and humor and we had lots of laughs that night. I really admire his state of mind and the funny signs he has scattered throughout his bar such as "No Stress Zone" and my favorite, the first line of which is in German but you can figure it out, "Die Philosophie", Kant - "To Be is to Do", Nietzsche - "To Do is to Be", Cobo - Dubi Dubi Du'". I'd never heard of the philosopher, Kant, but am familiar with Nietzsche and understand perfectly the meaning of the sign: "Don't take yourself so seriously". What a great philosophy that is.

The bar, which is on a cobbled narrow street that was once part of the moat surrounding the medieval city, this year is decorated in lavendar with lavendar Chinese lanterns, lavendar umbrellas and pretty purple, lavendar, pink and white petunias in hanging baskets plus various lavender table items such as a ceramic shoe and a ceramic dwarf wearing a lavender hat. I commented on the color arrangement to Cobo and told him I like it but wasn't his place all decorated in red last year? Cobo advised me that he changes his color scheme every year so the place remains inviting and fresh to his customers. How wonderful. He also has lots and lots of greenery, bushes as well as hanging plants, ferns, spider plants and vines which add the outdoor feeling. His next door neighbor runs a small nursery (next to the bar) and also visits the bar frequently so I imagine he helps provide the plants or at least advises what to plant. Cobo told me that I should follow suit and plant a bunch of petunias in pots to add more color to my Secret Garden even though they die off every year. He said so what if they die, we would be able to enjoy them for months before then and just replace them the next year with new colors. This is advice I took to heart and acted upon immediately once home again.

We spent our three nights in Bolzano, technically Soprabolzano where we slept, at the Fischbank Bar enjoying Cobo's company, the ambience and the surroundings. Across the narrow street are a row of very tall peaked houses which are connected. Cobo advised that the houses were once the outer wall to the old city. Just down the street a bit is an archway connecting the buildings on Cobo's side to the houses. There are arches like that all over Bolzano which makes it a very cool looking place.

Every evening at dusk a young man would arrive across the street with three dogs on leashes: a black Lab, a Border Collie mix and a brown short haired muscular looking dog. He would always salute Cobo and Cobo would salute him back, then run over with a bag of treats, the contents of which I have no idea, and toss a treat to each dog in the same order, black, collie, brown. Each dog in turn would attempt to catch the treat in mid-air but only the brown dog caught every treat without fail. It was amuzing to watch and they were so well behaved sitting on their haunches waiting their turn patiently. Then to our surprise, Cobo took the leash of the brown dog and ran upstairs to the first floor of one of the medieval houses across the street. I had no idea that Cobo lives right across the street but it makes sense. When I inquired he told me that is one of his places. Lucky guy! Cobo also advised that the dog's name is Nietzsche, of course, but it's actually his son's dog. John asked why he doesn't keep Nietzsche at the bar and Cobo said it isn't good for dogs to lie around all day, they need exercise and space to roam so he has the college guy take care of him and walk him every day. Cobo knows the college student, whom I believe is studying Engineering, because even though it's a large city, it's a small community in the old town and everyone seems to know everyone. That's a very comforting thought which appeals to me a great deal. I've always longed for such community which cannot be found living in the suburbs of California.

The dog ritual occurred every day but on our last evening only Nietzsche showed up. Naturally, that was the evening I brought my camcorder to film the event. At least I was able to record the liveliness and fun times at the Fischbank Bar but I doubt I was able to capture the essence of the place. You'll just have to take my word for it or go there yourselves.

As I mentioned in my previous article about the Fischbank Bar, Cobo always likes for his customers to meet each other and goes out of his way to introduce people who he thinks might have something in common such as the English couple we met on our first evening. He also introduced us to his neighbor across the street who is apparently a psychiatrist but Cobo introduced him as a psycho! The neighbor laughed and then told us he is a psychiatrist.

On our second evening an eldery gentleman dressed in a suit with a plaid vest came shuffling into the bar. I mean literally shuffling like Mr. Tudball, played by Tim Conway, on the Carol Burnett show for those of you who remember. It was hilarious to watch him shuffling around. He shuffled up to Cobo while I was standing talking to Cobo and then leaned forward and stared at me really hard with a serious expression on his face. Before I could speak Cobo told the man to "forget her, she's owned by him" and pointed to John who was flexing his muscles at the guy. Without a word, the elderly gentleman made a right turn and shuffled off to some other people. Cobo told me he's a real local character who shuffles several kilometers every day all over Bolzano. It's his means of exercise. I could see that there was nothing at all wrong with the gentleman as he was chatting and laughing with some other people he knows. What a character indeed!

One evening, which one I cannot say for certain, a young Chinese student from San Francisco arrived with a bright pink ukelele. This grabbed our attention as well as Cobo's. Cobo insisted he play the thing and sing a song which after much resistance he did. The kid could play the ukelele fairly well and didn't have a bad voice either but he told Cobo the reason he carries it is to take the place of a diary of his travels by collecting the signatures of people he meets. He traveled to Bolzano just to meet Cobo and gain his signature. I noticed that the ukelele was covered with signatures already and in conversation with the student we discovered that he had been traveling without any plan whatsoever all over Europe for a month. He'd had some pretty wild adventures already and even had a date that evening with a girl he'd met on Facebook. We wished him well and never saw him again. I hope she liked him in person. He had planned to cook her dinner! What a guy.

Cobo also has a new student waiter who I believe is Korean but may be from Italy because his name is Mario. He speaks very good English as well as Italian and German, I believe, and also has a great since of humor. Once John spooked him by shouting his name out very loudly right as the music abruptly ended. Then we all burst out laughing. He's a great guy and very lucky to have found the Fischbank bar and Cobo as an employer. I wish him well and hope to see him again one day.

On our last evening at the Fishbank Bar, we arrived early to get a seat and found Cobo exhausted in a chair with his feet up. He greated us as usual, "Hey California" and brought us an ice bucket with Prosecco and mineral water. Then he brought two glasses with ice, a plate of sliced oranges and our own bottle of Aperol. He said he was too tired to wait on us and to make our own drinks! This brought much laughter but also concern...had we overstayed our welcome? How do we make a Veneziana? John told Cobo we didn't know what we were doing and he said we'd figure it out. We did eventually through tasting and experimentation. I still can't believe how fast that first bottle of Aperol went! It is one refreshing drink!

 We were naturally sad on our final evening in Bolzano and having to say farewell once again to Cobo, whom I truly believe I can call "friend". It's amazing how you can know someone for years and never truly feel they are a friend and yet meet someone and know instantly that they are a friend. This is the way that Cobo makes all of his customers feel, which is a true talent but not fake or feigned. He really truly does like people and loves running his bar. A guy like Cobo who is a world traveler and artist could live anywhere he wants and do anything he wants but he chooses the Fischbank Bar which allows him to socialize with locals as well as people from all over the world plus he gets to enjoy and relax several months out of the year when he closes the bar for winter. (If you plan to go to Bolzano, be sure to wait until May when the bar reopens.)

One last thing I'd like to say to Cobo, if you are reading this, thank you again for all the free drinks! We never in our wildest imaginations expected such a generous treat nor would expect that to be repeated the next time we visit. If during your travels you come to Sacramento, you must promise to let us know so we can show you the same hospitality that you always have given to us!

Salute,