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August 10, 2026 · Adventure & the Culinary Life · Quality 5/10

Day 16 in Italy is a wrap!

Day 16 of a 22 Day Adventure in Italy

Yesterday was about recovery. Recovery from a beautiful two weeks. One week meeting as an executive team with the Villa Riviera ownership group and a second week running our first investor retreat. And finally, recovery from a three hour intense, Italian futbol game experience.

What better way to do that than to slow role our Sunday morning. After easily finding some great coffee, we began to search for quality massages. This of course led to yet another authentic Italian meal of cheese and other things. 

After our late afternoon massages, Matteo picked us up and showed us a bit of his hometown, starting with its historic theater that the community asked him to bring back to life. He accepted the responsibility.

The theater is a beauty, and a very big undertaking. Lori & I might know a thing or two about how he can pull that off. 😎

After touring his theater, Matteo us to the best steakhouse in town, a joint called Barcelleria Chiavari. In addition to quite a few 24 to 36 ounce monster tomahawks, they also had a live band playing.

If you ever spent significant time in Italy, you do hit a point where you crave food that isn’t a carb. We were very successful in finding the perfect spot last night.

Day 16 in Italy is a wrap!

Key lesson: The retreat is exceeding his own hopes.

Summary: Day 16: cooking class, villa tour, and a private boat cruise on Lake Como.