aprillilacs

I hope to get stops 4 and 5 posted tomorrow, but in the meantime I wanted to reply to your posts. Bon--happy belated birthday! May 24 is a great date for a birthday--we love to travel in May so it seems I'm always celebrating someplace nice. How about you?

LAwoman--what did you think of the Pastini apartment? Was it as noisy as I describe? Without the din from the street it was actually quite pleasant, I thought. Great location in the center of things. And it would have been nicer if there had just been 2 of us, since you had to walk through the bedroom from the front room to get to the bathroom. If I didn't mention it in my report, by the way, I found dealing with Sleep in Italy to be quite smooth and would definitely rent from them again.

ekscrunchy--you probably gleaned from my report that we read your report(s) closely and appreciated the restaurant recommendations. (Too bad about that tuna at Al Convento, but everything else was great!) And I agreed with your assessment of Amalfi as preferable to Positano if you're choosing between the two as a base. You should surely go to the Aeolian Islands--they are wonderful. In early May we did see some people swimming--mostly younger people who stand the cold better than I do, I guess. I dipped my feet into the water a few times but was never tempted to go in--I'm a warm-water swimmer (I'm talking Hawaii temps!). The most swimmers we saw were on Vulcano, but there were some on Lipari as well.

This trip report is almost taking longer than the trip! I guess that's a good argument for shorter trips? Not really!

LAwoman

Hi Aprillilacs - we loved the Pastini apt. Just myself & husband, yes it would be tight for 4. The rental rate was incredible, for a place just a few steps away from the Pantheon, and we loved walking past it (and so many other beautiful bldgs) on our way home each night.

The street noise was not a problem for us, it was lighter than you describe (we were there in Oct) plus it was early in our trip so we were gone a lot anyway. I was more bothered by the night noise from the bakery (or pizza place?) below. Still, not that big a deal. Enjoyed having 2 of the best coffee joints in Rome so close to us (Tazza d'Oro & Cafe Sant Eustachio) plus the gelato (Giolitti & della Palma)...

Also agree that Sleep in Italy is a good agency, we just used them again last August for a place in Campo dei Fiori (needed something bigger, had the teens with us). They are very easy to work with and offer great apt deals.

Looking forward to more of your report! It's my dream trip.

bon551

Aprillilacs - Thanks for the birthday wishes! We have done some great trips around my birthday (Hawaii for one). We also have taken trips around our anniversary which is February. Since we've retired we like to travel in September (particularly if we are going to Europe). The weather is still nice and their are fewer crowds.

I'm looking forward to the rest of your trip report. Thank you for taking the time to share it with us!

ekscrunchy

Aprillilacs: I feel terrible about that tuna. I am glad you liked the rest of the meal at Al Convento and that you had a good dinner A Paranza in Atrani.

I am also a warm water swimmer, so May might not be a good time for me, but I will certainly move up the Aeolians toward the top of the list! I guess September would be a great time to visit....

Can't wait to read more!

aprillilacs

PART 4: A RURAL TUSCAN INTERLUDE

May 27
We were up at the (for me) ridiculous hour of 6 a.m. and out the door by 6:45, crossing our fingers that there would be a taxi at the taxi stand next to the Pantheon. Surprisingly, wee had no plan B in case there wasn’t--but not to worry, even that early there were four cabs parked in line, with the first being a roomy station wagon that would easily fit all four of us and our luggage. The driver was thrilled to get a fare to Ciampino so early in the morning, waving to his colleagues in the line with a happy smile on his face. And we were happy we had read the sign that said 30 euros was the flat rate to Ciampino, so there would be no haggling with the price. The driver took us on a lovely route and helpfully pointed out some of the highlights along the way.

The drive was so quick that O&R were first in line for check-in on their Ryanair flight. True to its reputation, the budget airline offered a rock-bottom fare but piled on charges for checking in (which they had to do at the airport rather than online because they had bags to check) and checked baggage. But the plane was on time and we left them having coffees at the airport, waiting for the gate to open. Our time with O&R had been so fun--though honestly it was nice to be back on our own, without the complications created by the need to consider others in planning our day.

We had gone to the airport with them because it would allow us to share a cab and pick up our rental car from EuropeCar there, without hassling with Rome’s traffic--not my favorite driving conditions. Because we were going to keep the car for the next 3 weeks, we wanted something that was small and fuel-efficient. We ended up with a cute little Fiat 500 ($696 for 3 weeks, all inclusive, except gas), which was really fun to drive, easy to handle even on mountain roads, got great gas mileage, and drew appreciative looks and comments from many Italians who fondly remember (and often still have) their original Fiat 500s that this little one, introduced in 2007, was modeled after. My only objection was that the sunroof didn’t open (or were we too dumb to figure out how?).

With the car keys in my hands and our luggage safely stowed in the little space behind the back seat, we headed north on the autostrada. Our next stop (besides a short cappuccino break at the AutoGrille on the A1) was the small town of Loro Ciuffenna, where we would meet up for 3 nights with my college roommate and her husband, who were also vacationing in Italy. They were staying at La Ferreira, a quiet resort hotel on the outskirts of town, and had invited us to take advantage of the sleeper sofa in their apartment. Free rent! Who could decline an offer like that?

Loro Ciuffenna turned out to be a colorful little town, straddling a small river about 20 kilometers northwest of Arezzo. It has several nice restaurants, small markets, and several shops, and its hillside setting is charming. It is well located for visiting other villages and towns in the area, as well as the lovely city of Arezzo. Definitely off the beaten path, but convenient enough to Florence (50 km) for an easy daytrip if we had wanted to make a return visit there. And an added bonus was the absolutely gorgeous weather, with crystal clear air that gave us great views of the scenic, vine-laden hills surrounding us as we visited the sites in the area.

We spent the first afternoon relaxing and exploring the town, where we settled on dinner at the wonderful Vino al Vino, the restaurant associated with the hotel Dimora Casa Eugenia. We had one of the best meals of the trip on their terrace overlooking the river below--an eggplant appetizer, followed by delicious wild boar for me and rabbit for J, with an array of interesting vegetable dishes included. True to its name, the restaurant offered a great selection of wines of the area. The meal was so good that we would return a couple nights later for another excellent dinner.

May 28
The apartment included a pleasant terrace and a nicely equipped kitchen area, so we enjoyed having breakfast on the terrace the three mornings we spent at La Ferreira. A couple of years ago the four of us had spent a week together in Umbria and had done a bit too much time driving to far-flung towns on daytrips, so this time we all agreed to stay fairly local and enjoy what there was to see in the immediate surrounding area. Thus we spent a nice day making our way slowly down the Valdarno wine route to Arezzo. One stop was the village of Il Borro, which had been purchased as a whole by the Ferragamo family and made into luxury accommodations for rent to tourists, with small shops selling crafts and other expensive things. The buildings have been beautifully restored, but the placed seemed deserted. I think it will take a big marketing effort to get this on the tourist map.

Soon we arrived in Arezzo, a real town with great churches from the 11th to 14th centuries that spills down a hill in classic Tuscan/Umbrian fashion. Since the churches are the main attraction of Arezzo, besides its nice piazzas, pretty streets, and good shopping, we decided to visit as many as we could. A couple featured beautiful stained-glass windows by a master of the craft. The Renaissance frescoes of Pierro della Francesca are housed in the church of San Francesco, and timed tickets are required to be admitted to the area with the best view of them. We dutifully purchased our tickets (6 euros each) for the first available time, a little later in the day. After we got into the church (for free) we realized that we could have had almost as good a view of the frescoes without stepping across into the pay-per-view zone.

We broke up our church-viewing expedition with an excellent lunch at a small restaurant not far from San Francesco--unfortunately, I didn’t write down the name, but there were a lot of nice places to choose from in Arezzo. More exploring in the late afternoon, then it was back to Loro Ciuffenna for good conversation and a home-cooked meal on the terrace of the apartment. A very relaxing day, and a good reminder that you don’t have to drive hundreds of kilometers to top-rated sights to have a rewarding tourist day.

May 29
More exploring along the Valdarno wine route was in store for us today, after we first visited the 8th century Pieve di San Pietro in Gropina, a couple of km from Loro, with interesting prehistoric-looking figures carved in stone inside the church. Along the wine route we saw a sign advertising a flower festival that was scheduled to kick off in the town of Bucine that day, so we detoured over to that direction. It turned out that the “opening ceremonies” were indeed going to take place in the afternoon, but the main part of the festival would not begin until the weekend so there was nothing much of interest to hang around for. Instead we retired to a local outdoor restaurant and enjoyed another fine lunch. Eating in Tuscany turned out to be as good as we had remembered!

After lunch we finished off the wine route, visiting a friendly winery for a tasting and the purchase of a few bottles of wine (how could we not, when the hostess willingly opened at least 8 different wines for us to taste?). A highlight: the local man who came in with two empty 4-liter bottles on which handwritten labels were pasted that simply read “Vino.” The hostess interrupted our wine tasting and led the man back to the wine vats, where they filled up the bottles with the local red. That made for a nice picture.

Dinner was back at Vino al Vino, where one of the excellent dishes we sampled was procini mushroom timbal on a cheese/panna sauce. Delicious! While my rabbit was good, I regretted not having the wild boar again. A sudden rainstorm abruptly ended our dinner on the restaurant’s terrace, but it was time to head back to La Ferreira anyway, to pack up for the next day’s journey to base 5, Santa Margherita Ligure and the beautiful Riviera di Levante.

bfrac

This has been wonderful to read; I can't wait for base 5.

aprillilacs

And here it is!

PART 5: SANTA MARGHERITA LIGURE AND THE LEVANTE RIVIERA

May 30
Seeing old friends is always nice, but the Mediterranean Sea was calling to us. We’d been apart 7 days, after all! Our friends were on their way to Rome to fly back to the United States, so we said goodbye and drove up into Chianti, enjoying the lovely views, through Radda, Poggiobonsi, and Castellina, all places we had stopped on previous trips to Tuscany. We were headed for Santa Margherita, which we knew was about a 3-hour drive from Loro Ciuffenna. We initially planned to drive to Lucca and stop for lunch there at a restaurant we fondly remembered, but J spotted San Gimignano on the map and we made a sudden decision to go that way instead--uncharted territory (for us, anyway)! We had read that San Gimignano is overrun with tourists, which is not our cup of tea, so we hadn’t been eager to go there, but it seemed to be presenting itself in our way so we decided to go for it.

At the end of May, San Gimignano was not overrun by tourists--not that it was empty of our fellow Americans, British, Italians, and so forth, but it certainly wasn’t crawling with visitors like Positano and central Rome had been. It’s obviously a well-cared-for town, with every stone in place, but it’s also beautiful and beautifully situated, on a hill with a spectacular 360-degree view of the gorgeous countryside around it. Parking just outside the walls was easy, and we made the obligatory visits to the guidebook sites, taking photos of the town’s towers against a gorgeous blue-and-white sky. We also enjoyed seeing a beautiful bride and groom and their wedding party posing for pictures in town--evidence that it’s not just for tourists. We were about to buy pork sandwiches from a vendor in the square when we noticed a sign for a “slow food” restaurant, Ristorante Dorando, leading to a side street off the Piazza Duomo. Though the restaurant was empty except for the attentive staff (why? the places in town that offered tourist-oriented food were full), the meal we ate was outstanding--chicken livers in a pastry basket with greens, leeks and ham, broad noodles in a duck ragu, ravioli stuffed with potato in an asparagus sauce--all delicious! One of the best meals of the trip, with the most impeccable service. I highly recommend the Dorando.

We needed to get to Santa Margherita at a reasonable hour, especially since the B&B we would be staying at, Villa Gnocchi (105 euros per night, including breakfast), was in the hills above town and we didn’t want to try to find it in the dark. The drive was very pleasant. We reached the coast at Rapallo and I immediately felt the coastal vibe--I was excited to be back at the water. Lots of traffic, but my navigator J pointed me on the right route to Santa Margherita and we wound our way up the hill to the B&B, requiring a rather terrifying left turn off the main road and a steep, narrow driveway down to the B&B’s parking area. Seeing the traffic in the area and the lack of parking spots along the town roads, we determined to keep the car parked at the B&B for the next few days and depend on our feet, buses, and boats to get us around.

We buzzed into the gated entrance and Roberto Gnocchi greeted us at the parking area. He led us to our room, which he said he assigned to us because we had reserved so far in advance (February maybe?). It was nice! Simple, clean, and airy, the best part being the awesome (I mean it) view from the small balcony overlooking the town and the sea below us. By now you know how enamored we are of rooms with great views, and this one was extra special, for we could see all the way to the Cinque Terre in the distance on the left and to the cliffs plunging down toward Portofino on the right. Wow!

The B&B used to serve dinner, but Roberto told us he had made things easier for himself a couple of years ago and stopped that service, so we were on our own for our evening meal. He suggested that we walk up the footpath about 10 minutes to the little town of San Lorenzo, where we could buy provisions in the market or have a meal in one of the several restaurants in town. We did just that, enjoying the lovely walk and buying some things at the market for a light meal on the balcony, watching the day slowly turn to night, and the lights of the town below start to twinkle. What a gorgeous place.

May 31
Not everything is perfect, even on the Riviera: we woke up to the first rain of the trip. But with only four days in the area we didn’t want to waste one reading in our room, so after breakfast, with the rain momentarily stopped, we walked about 15 minutes down the trail from Villa Gnocchi, past some lovely hillside residences, into Santa Margherita to explore the town. The walk allowed us to see that, beyond its tourist-oriented seafront, the town is a real working town with real people going about their daily lives. We liked it!

For some reason I wasn’t aware before visiting the area that the walls of many of the buildings are elaborately painted in lovely colors with detailed trompe l’oeil moldings, faux stonework, and painted shutters. I loved the decorative touches and wondered how long it would take the expert painters to finish their work on a building. It really added to the special ambience of the area.

The rain continued off and on through much of the morning, but we used it as an excuse to duck into churches, a coffee bar, and shops, where we admired the merchandise but didn’t buy--for some reason I had little interest in buying anything on this trip. Maybe because I knew that I’d have to carry it around for weeks? We found a crowded trattoria in the center of town (away from the water) for lunch and managed to squeeze into one of the few open tables in the steamy room (it was wet everywhere!) where we had pizza and watched the wait staff handle the crowd. A break in the rain allowed us to walk in the gardens of the lovely Villa Durazzo, taking in the views down to the town below.

The weather improved greatly as the afternoon progressed, so we walked out to the southern end of the lungomare, admiring all the boats in the harbor and sitting on the breakfront for a while to take in the view of the sea and coastline. On our return stroll we encountered an open-air market with many hand-made items (again, they didn’t tempt me) and then stationed ourselves along the wall of the beachfront to watch the rowboat races that were taking place in the harbor. We watched for more than an hour as teams of boats and their crews of 6 or 8 from local towns raced against each other, alternating women’s races and men’s races. A big crowd had gathered to watch, and it was fun to observe both the races and the crowd. Santa Margherita had plenty to keep us busy!

It was time to head back to the Villa Gnocchi for the evening. I wasn’t eager to walk back up the hill (give me downhill any day), so we bought bus tickets from the well-placed bus information center along the waterfront and found the local bus (Sta Margherita-Camogli) that would take us up the hill to San Lorenzo, where we could walk down to the B&B. Before getting on, however, we returned to one of the gourmet food shops we had seen during our wanderings and bought an artichoke torte, a seafood salad, bread, and wine to have for dinner on our favorite balcony.

June 1
The skies were overcast again but no rain threatened, so we walked back down into town in time to catch the 10:15 a.m. boat to San Fruttuoso (via Portofino), a small stoney beach with steep cliffs and a monastery built right at the edge of the water. I assumed that San Fruttuoso is somewhat off the beaten track since you can get to it only by water or by a strenuous hike over the hills, but the frequent boats from Portofino and other ports dump scores of tourists onto the tiny beach. Fortunately they come and go pretty quickly--not much to see there! To let the place clear out a little after our boat disgorged its passengers, we climbed up some steps to a cliffside restaurant where we had a drink and enjoyed the scenery below. As with most of the beaches we visited on our trip, workers were setting up the stakes and ropes to separate the public from the pay area of the beach. When the crowds dissipated for a while we investigated the abbey and walked a ways on the trails behind it before getting a boat back to Portofino.

The sun was out by the time our boat pulled into gorgeous Portofino harbor, where many of the yachts are bigger than the buildings. It’s a beautiful place, almost like a stage set in its charming layout, and it reeks of money. We walked along the harbor and through the little streets for a while, ignoring the 16 euro papardelle offered for lunch at the restaurants along the harbor, and found an informal cafe where our order of foccaccia and wine set us back just 20 euros total. We considered that a bargain lunch in pricey Portofino.

After lunch we finished touring the (literal) high spots of town and then decided to get our exercise by forgoing the boat trip back to Santa Margherita and walking instead. It turned out to be a wonderful, scenic walk on a wooded path from Portofino to Paraggi, and then along a dedicated walkway that skirts the sea all the way back to Sta Margherita. I loved that walk! We had the trail pretty much to ourselves so it was very peaceful. We picked up the bus in Santa Margherita for the ride up the hill to the villa, and after a short rest we walked back up to San Lorenzo for dinner at Trattoria degli Amici. Good country food (stuffed mussels, penne with calamari, chicken with walnuts, washed down with a Gambero Rosso ’08 and limoncello) provided the perfect ending to a perfectly lovely day.

June 2
Where do you go to escape the crowds on an Italian national holiday? Don’t make the mistake we did and go to the Cinque Terre for the day--you’ll regret it!

In May 2005 we had spent a delicious three days based in the quiet town of Corniglia, hiking the main CT trail and visiting all the colorful little seaside towns that make up the “5 lands.” It was so beautiful that we were eager to return and soak up some of the same atmosphere that had charmed us four years ago. Unfortunately, hundreds (thousands?) of others had the same idea, so when we alighted from our train at 11 a.m. in Vernazza, we were appalled to find that it was hard to even elbow our way through town to the harbor. Yikes! (Marigross, in another recent trip report on the forum, had much the same reaction to her stay in Vernazza on June 2. Maybe I brushed elbows with her?)

We tried to enjoy what we could of Vernazza but soon lost interest and headed up the trail for the 2-3 km hike to Corniglia, hoping we would find some calm in that less frequently talked about village high above the coastline. The hike was as stunning as we had remembered, marred only by the scores of hikers with which we jockeyed for position as we passed each other. When we reached Corniglia we sat down to have lunch in the little piazza that forms the center of the town, where we had whiled away lovely, quiet afternoons in 2005 over beers and caperberries. No such luck this time--though Corniglia was indeed nowhere as busy as Vernazza had been, the charm was missing. I’ll blame our bad choice of days to visit--I hope that’s the case, anyway. I doubt we’ll ever go back to the Cinque Terre--we’ll just have to stick with the pictures and feelings we had from 2005 and try to block out the memory of June 2, 2009.

On the train back from Corniglia to Santa Margherita we met an interesting mother/daughter pair from Australia and had a nice conversation with them about experiences we had had traveling in each other’s countries. The daughter was the first real-live couch surfer we had met--to her mother’s despair, she had spent the past several months of her trip around the world crashing on the couches of people she had contacted through a couch-surfing site on the Internet. And she had lived to tell about it! Sounded like a great way to do some inexpensive adventure travel--but somehow I don’t think we (or her mother) will be doing that ourselves anytime soon. They too had given up on the Cinque Terre after about 5 minutes in the train station at Vernazza and were headed for Rapallo to find some peace and quiet.

We were happy to get back to friendly Santa Margherita, which is large enough to absorb the holiday crowds, and definitely regretted not doing something more local for the day. There was so much to see in and around Santa Margherita and its neighboring towns. Oh well--live and learn! At least we hadn’t tried to drive and been stuck in traffic for hours.

Next stop: a brief visit to Camogli and then on to Asti and the Piedmont.

irishface

Loving every minute of your report and looking forward to the next installments. Oh, I want to go back to Italy so much! thanks for making me dream.

aprillilacs

Thanks, Irish--I want to go back too!

Well, I spent the first third of my summer traveling in Italy, and it seems like I've spent the second third trying to finish this trip report. Here's the next installment--only two more after this!

PART 6: THE PIEMONTE

June 3
The coastal weather had reached a state of perfection, but we had reservations in the Piemonte (Piedmont) region so we reluctantly tore ourselves away from Santa Margherita. Well, first we prolonged the pleasure of the Riviera a bit by driving over to Camogli, not far to the east of Santa Margherita, instead of getting directly onto the A12. What a delightful detour!

Camogli surprised us with its colorful buildings rising high along the wide pedestrian way fronting the sea--they seemed to be several stories taller than most of the buildings we had seen in the other towns in the area. It was virtually deserted on this Wednesday morning after the national holiday, except for the crowd of locals who were shopping at the street market that spilled down the main street near where we parked. We had a glorious, carefree walk through town and along the seafront, stopping at the castle and church that stand on what was originally an island but is now connected the the mainland. We spent some time in the outdoor seating area of a small cafe, taking in the view. As we had seen at many beaches along the coast in May, workers were pounding stakes in the sand and stringing ropes to cordon off the private beach areas from the public ones, in time for the high season that was about to begin. A baby made its way over the large rounded stones, happily crawling between the two areas with no one about to disturb him. He looked so much like our oldest son did when he was the same age (with the same well-worn knees), which brought back fond memories of our travels with him and his brother in various parts of the world. (Start them young!)

After our beautiful interlude at Camogli, we took the A12 and then the A26 toward Asti and the Piemonte. When I had posted a question on this forum several months before our trip asking for suggestions of what to do with 12 days in northern Italy, the recommendations flowed in. Bob the Navigator convinced us to spend at least part of the time in the Piemonte with this statement: “Stay at Villa Sampaguita and let Tim help you to find the best places to eat in the villages.” Villa Sampaguita is an agriturismo (or is it a B&B?)in the countryside not far from Asti, and it became our destination of choice for a base from which to explore the area.

When we contacted Tim Brewer (who, with his wife Rina, owns and runs Villa Sampaguita and is an occasional poster on this forum) for the reservation, he helpfully asked what we were interested in doing while in the area so that he could send us information to help us plan our days. He also sent detailed driving instructions, including a good detour through the hilly vineyard country near Acqui Terme that we could take if we had some extra time on the way over from the coast. We followed the recommended route and found ourselves in the land of wall-to-wall vineyards. I’ve never seen so many! No wine shortage in the Piemonte, that's for sure.

Acqui Terme turned out to be a lovely city with what looked like great shopping, though most of the shops were closed because we had arrived at the lunch break. We parked for free just outside the center of town and walked in toward the modern stepped fountain that graces the center, near the top of which was the restaurant Tim had recommended (called I Caffi). We were directed to it by two helpful local women we met on the street who miraculously understood our poor Italian (not much English in Acqui), but unfortunately it was closed on Wednesdays, so the envisioned fine lunch there was not to be. Instead we settled on yet another open-air restaurant, this one in Piazza Bollente, where we admired the ancient thermal water fountain that bubbles away at 74.5 degrees Centigrade. We had a tasty light lunch and watched the schoolchildren roam the piazza on their lunch break from school. Very fun! It looked like Acqui Terme would be a place to spend more time, if we had it. (This seems to be a theme. More time needed!)

Further driving and good navigating brought us easily to the doors of Villa Sampaguita about 4 p.m. Rina greeted us and showed us the ins and outs of staying at the villa, which is set in a vineyard and surrounded by interesting trees, flowers, and other plantings, cared for almost solely by Tim and Rina themselves. Oh--and there's a bunny that plays ball. The villa is a large building with two wings and is nicely placed overlooking the hills beyond. Later in the week, on a very clear day, we even saw snow-covered mountains in the far distance. Tim and Rina live in one wing and their guests occupy large rooms and a couple of apartments in the other half. The ambience is relaxed, make-yourself-at-home, airy, and open. There were lots of places to explore on the property, and the place grew on us throughout the week. We would have liked to spend more than 4 days there, especially given the reasonable price (95 euros per night since we paid in cash, with breakfast included).

The guest rooms were purpose-built when the villa was remodeled at the beginning of Tim and Rina’s tenure there, with comfort in mind: a terrace/balcony with a view, a spacious bedroom, good closet space (a large armoire), a large, firm bed, and a big bathroom. My favorite part was the view from the bathtub, through a large window whose panes could be flung open to let the glorious country air in.

We were hungry for dinner so Rina gave us the low-down on restaurants in the area. From her extensive list of recommendations we picked out one of her favorites, Osteria della Barbera Tacabanda, near the theater in the center Asti, which was only a few miles away by car. We found good parking in town and walked through the busy pedestrian street to the restaurant. We had no reservation but were early enough that we were able to snag one of the outside tables. Highlights of the meal included the excellent house wine, an onion tart with zucchini sauce, and delicious pork with its own delicious sauce. We enjoyed this meal so much that we decided to return later in the week for another one.

The view from our balcony that night of an almost full moon rising over the hills was gorgeous. What a nice, relaxing place we had found!

June 4
Rina served a super breakfast with fresh fruit, homemade bread, local cheese, and free-range eggs provided by her own chickens. We had to turn down other offerings because we were gaining too much weight--almost 4 weeks in Italy had definitely blown the diet!

On tap for today, hopefully, was a visit to a winery to do some tasting. Tim sat down with us after breakfast and talked about the possibilities; he ended up calling a friend, Allesandro Rivetto, at the winery Rivetto dal 1902 in the Barolo valley not far from Serralunga. Armed with an appointment for 11 a.m., we wound our way along local roads to the lovely, well-kept winery, where we were met and escorted on a tour by Allesandro. He told us all about winery and the nebbiolo grape used in his family’s business, we shared stories about an expensive Philadelphia restaurant we had eaten in that carries his wines (he was wearing a Philadelphia shirt), and then he poured and discussed each wine (and shared a bowl of hazelnuts, which are also grown on the estate). We were joined by a German couple who had had one of the Rivetto wines at a restaurant the night before and had searched out the winery in order to buy a case or two to bring home with them. We also bought a few bottles, for drinking in the coming days.

After so much wine we needed something solid, so we (carefully) drove over to Barolo, where we found a cute outdoor restaurant, Osteria La Cantinella, in the village. Another good meal! (I don't think there's ever a bad meal in the Piemonte.) Then it was on to La Morra, a town with spectacular views over the region even on a hazy day, and explored the town. At the tourist office I saw a post card showing the colorful little “Cappella di Barolo,” which was shown on the map as being on a back lane on Ceretto’s Brunate vineyard. It turned out that the cappello wasn't that interesting, but it was fun getting out on the backroads and close up among the vines.

Back at Villa Sampaguita that evening, we decided to forgo another restaurant meal and instead went into Asti to do some shopping for delicacies in the local gourmet shop, which we could eat back on our balcony. The shopkeepers were very friendly and the prepared food was excellent, so it was a nice break from restaurant meals.

June 5
One of the nicest things about staying at the villa was meeting the other guests--breakfast around the big dining room table, in particular, was conducive to good conversations. We had a nice talk with a couple of teachers from England about standardized testing, national currciulum standards, and so on. (Sounds boring, but since J is a college professor and I worked for a nonprofit testing company, it was actually very interesting.) Then it was another sit-down with area expert Tim, who gave us plenty of information and routes for a daytrip we wanted to take to the Val d’Aosta and the Alps. This was kind of a stretch, since it was a little more than 2 hours of driving each way, but we figured it might be the only time we ever get to that part of the Alps, so why not.

The drive took us across the flatlands of northern Italy, through the surprisingly extensive rice paddies that stretch far on either side of the road (who knew this was the rice belt? not me!). The weather looked a bit iffy, but miraculously, as we reached the Val d’Aosta, the clouds lifted and the spectacular mountains loomed right in front of us. Since we were right at the turnoff to Brieul-Cervina and the Matterhorn (Monte Cervino in Italian) when the clouds lifted, we took the bait and headed up the hill to see that famous mountain. Just before arriving in the ski town of Brieul, at the base of the mountain, we stopped to see the small Lago Blu, really just a pond ringed by a short trail, but with beautiful reflections of the mountains in the water and wildflowers galore. The weather was cool--we were glad we had our fleece jackets--but it was fun to walk around the town and take pictures of the Matterhorn.

It was lunchtime and Breuil looked pretty closed up (too late for winter and too early for summer), so we headed back down the hill and stopped at a cafe in Valtournenche for a hearty mountain meal of salad, soup with huge dumplings, and polenta. Delicious local food. We did want to make it up the valley toward Mont Blanc if we could, so we drove on as the clouds were closing in. At the cable car entrance we ran into some people who had just come over the mountain--they said it was cold and snowing at the Italian-French border, so we knew we wouldn’t be going beyond the first stop (Pavillon), especially since it was pretty late in the afternoon already. We enjoyed the trip up to that first stop, though, where we walked along the trails and gazed at the valley below and Mont Blanc above, through the clouds. It was a quick trip, but we were glad to have seen those beautiful mountains so close up. We were itching to get into the mountains on foot, but since the Dolomites were next on the agenda we knew we would have plenty of opportunity to do that in the coming days.

June 6
We spent a relaxing start to the morning at the villa chatting over breakfast with Tim and Rina. All the other guests had departed, and they were going to spend the afternoon with a large group of friends at a wine tasting in Barolo. We were headed in the opposite direction, to Torino (Turin), for a day in that beautful city on the banks of the Po.

The drive to Torino was relatively short. We parked on the street near the Piazza Vitello Venezio and walked to the fabulous Film Museum, which occupies the base of a unique landmark tower, the Mole Antonelliana. We started our visit by taking the interior elevator to the top of the tower for the view, which was good even though the morning was hazy. (If we had visited in the afternoon instead, after a dramatic thunderstorm passed through the city, the distant views would have been awesome.) Back at the base of the building, we spent a couple of hours in the fun and fascinating exhibits on the history of film making. We could easily have stayed longer.

For lunch we ended up on one of the many arcaded shopping streets, where we came across a falafel cafe that provided a quick and tasty break from the cuisine we had been eating so much of the past month. Then it was on to the grand squares and grander buildings of the historic center, including the Palazzo Madama and the chapel that on occasion displays the famous Shroud of Turin (not showing!). The skies opened while we were walking the length of the Via Garibaldi, so we ducked into some stores to wait out the rain. The city is vibrant and beautiful, and it deserves more time than we had. When the rain stopped we decided to cross the Po and drive up to the Basilica di Superga to view the city from the hill, and hopefully the Alps in the distance. The basilica is imposing from the outside, less interesting inside. We did get glimpses of the city spread out below, but a good trimming of the many bushes and trees would make the view more accessible.

We returned to the villa by the back roads, arriving a little before 6 p.m. to find 3 New Zealanders sitting on the patio. They were planning to stay for a week in the apartment attached to the villa, but their reservation had apparently fallen through the cracks so they were not expected. With Tim and Rina still away at the wine tasting we played host for drinks on the patio and then we all headed in to Asti for dinner at Tacabanda. We had a great time! By the time we returned to the villa Tim and Rina were back and eagerly welcomed the New Zealanders--and thanked us for helping out in their absence. We were only too happy to share the "make-yourself-at-home" vibe with the newest guests!

Next stop: The Dolomites

aprillilacs

PART 7: 5 NIGHTS IN THE DOLOMITES

June 7
When we planned this trip we knew that our time in the Piemonte would be an introduction only, and that it would open up new possibilities for further explorations of in years to come. With that in mind, after a final delicious breakfast of farm-fresh scrambled eggs and other tasty things, we said good-bye to Tim, Rina, and the ball-playing bunny and headed northeast for a long drive into the Dolomites, where we had booked a room at an inn in La Villa, in the Alta Badia, for five nights. According to our map it looked like it would be at least 450 kilometers, which we figured would take us much of the day.

We stayed on the autostrada (A21) for quite a ways, stopping at an AutoGrill to get some snacks for lunch in the car. We did a brief drive-by of a portion of Lake Garda as we turned north, then continued on along excellent roads past Trento to Bolzano and then into the heart of the Dolomites. At last! J has longed to get to these mountains for many years, to hike and see the rugged peaks, and I was happy to come along for the ride (and walks). We ticked off the town names as we passed through--Ortisei, Santa Cristina, Selva--all magic places that we knew we would have time to explore in more depth over the next four days.

We were planning to pick up maps and hiking information at a tourist offices along the way, but it was Sunday afternoon so nothing was open. Problem was, we weren’t exactly sure where La Villa and our inn, the Ciasa Montanara, was located. (So unlike us!) We kept going, up and over the magnificent pass as the road got narrower and the turns became true hairpins. Voila! After driving down through Colfosco and Corvara, we finally came upon La Villa, which sits in an unbelievably beautiful green valley dotted with chalets and surrounded by stunning mountains, many with snow still on their slopes. Somehow we figured out where Ciasa Montanara was--I think we found it on a map that was posted outside the tourist office--and forced our little Fiat (which had held its own in the mountains) up the steep village road to a safe landing in the hotel’s small parking lot. It had been a long drive and we were tired, but we were definitely in the Dolomites! The weather was cool and crisp, but the sky was clear and it looked like we were in for some beautiful days ahead.

The three-story inn, with the name Garni Montanara painted on its side wall, was warm and inviting. As we were led up the stairs to our room on the top floor by the friendly owner, we learned that although German and Italian are spoken there, English is not. Since we don’t speak German, our baby Italian would have to suffice. We managed to get by just fine, though, with hand gestures and smiles and the simple words and phrases we had picked up over the past month. By the way, we didn’t encounter any other Americans in the town or, for that matter, during our time in the Dolomites. The bulk of the tourists we saw and heard seemed to be German or Austrian.

The room was very comfortable, with two pristine down quilts on the bed (one for each of us--a perfect solution to the nighttime grab for covers), a roomy bathroom with a large jetted bathtub, and balconies on two sides, with incredible views onto the valley and mountains. With the down quilts from the bed wrapped around us, we would spend quite a bit of time in the evening sitting on the balcony watching the daylight fade and the mountains warm with the glow of the setting sun. Gorgeous! Special thanks Paul from this forum, whose recommendation and beautiful pictures of Ciasa Montanara and its views spurred us to select it as our Dolomite base. And it was a bargain that we hadn’t seen since Lipari, at 60 euros per night, including breakfast. Great choice!

We hadn’t eaten much since breakfast, aside from our autostrada snacks, so we drove down the hill into town to try to find an open restaurant. We knew that our choices were going to be limited because we were in that no-man’s land of post-ski season, pre-summer hiking season, but we found La Tor, which was open for its last night before a two-week holiday break. Our meals were good--much different from the Italian food we had been enjoying over the last month--but the portions were too large, and we were just too tired from the long drive to really enjoy them. After dinner we headed straight back to the inn and those enticing down quilts.

June 8
Uh-oh. Bad news. I spent the night throwing up, and J was feeling bad as well. It must have been something we ate--the breakfast eggs? the peanuts from the AutoGrill? something at La Tor? Who knows--all I could tell was that I was miserable.

I almost never get sick--never before on a trip--and when I do it is always short-lived. So I thought this would be a momentary aberration from which I would quickly recover. I had no interest in breakfast, of course, so J, who was feeling a little better, ate alone--he reported on an excellent a buffet with lots of good choices. I was starting to feel a little better myself, and I figured I would continue to improve over the course of the day but wouldn’t be up too much hiking, so we set off for the Olympic village of Cortina d’Ampezzo via the Passo Falzarego, through lovely countryside. We drove around the town a bit and finally found parking at the old train station. When we got out of the car to do some investigating of the town, I realized that I wasn’t feeling as well as I had thought. I was fine sitting down, but walking was out of the question--I was really weak, and I just wanted to go back to bed. Rotten luck! So it was back to La Villa where I climbed the three floors to our room and went straight under my down quilt, where I spent much of the afternoon.

I won’t prolong the agony with more discussion of my health--suffice it to say I didn’t fully recover until we left the Dolomites, four days later. Each day I got a little better, but I didn’t feel like eating and was just too weak and uncomfortable to do any uphill walking, so that didn’t leave many options. I felt bad for J, who had been so looking forward to our time in the mountains, but he didn’t want to go off by himself and hike, leaving me behind (even though I insisted that he do soon our last day in the area). So the rest of this report about our time in the Dolomites isn’t what it could have been--though we did make the best of it, it became more of a driving trip than a walking trip. Because we were there between seasons only a few lifts were open, but we took them when they were available. We’ll just have to go back again to do our walking.

June 9
The clouds were threatening, but we were off first thing in the morning, up the valley toward Arabba and then on to the Passo Pordoi, where we took a cable car steeply up to the top of Sass Pordoi and the precipitously perched Refugio Maria. The views were nice for the first ten minutes, then the clouds closed in and nothing was to be seen! We had a nonalcoholic drink at the refugio (we were the only visitors there), walked around as much as the snow allowed, and headed back down on the cable car.

We then returned to Ortisei to get a closer look at that town, which is much bigger than La Villa, with lots of activity. The weather had started to clear so we took our chances on another cable car, a cute pod-shaped red one up Mont Seuc to the beautiful valley at the base of the Alpe di Suisse. The restaurant there seemed like just the right place for a light lunch of soup (neither of us was eating much at that point), after which we took a lovely walk down into the valley. The meadows were incredibly green, some of them swathed with the bright yellow of masses of wildflowers. There were quite a few more people in this area (no one speaking English), doing various walks across the valley.

We made our way back up the hill and down to Ortisei on the cable car. It had been a nice day, low key but beautiful despite the clouds.

June 10
We decided to give Cortina another try, since the drive from La Villa was lovely and our previous visit to the town had been unexpectedly aborted. The day was overcast, so spending some time in town was appealing. Cortina seemed like it would be a lively place, with its pedestrian-only main shopping street, but most of the shops were closed up, again a drawback of traveling in this area between seasons. Instead of shopping, which we didn’t really want to do anyway, we stuck our heads into a couple of churches and stopped at the tourist agency for a good map that would help us on our future excursions.

One of the most famous mountain groups in the Dolomites is the Tre Cime di Lavaredo, so that’s where we headed next. J spent his youth reading mountain-climbing books and dreaming of climbing those mountains himself, so he was eager to see these icons of the Alps. When we got to the turnoff up to the mountains, however, we were presented with a sign that stated the charge to go further up the road: 20 euros! Since we weren’t going to be able to hike (thanks to me), we made the decision to give up on the Tre Cime and go on toward Lago di Braies, about an hour’s drive away (I told you this would become a driving trip!). In retrospect, we should have paid the money and taken the opportunity to see those peaks up close. What’s 20 euros when you’ve come so far and already spent so much? They will definitely be on our list for next time. We did find a nice viewing area across a meadow a little further on, so we pulled in and stopped for a nice little picnic of crackers and drinks. No dining highlights to describe in this section, that’s for sure!

When we hit the main east-west road that would take us toward the lake, the E66, we realized that we were just about 12 km from the Austrian border. Another country to add to our list! So we made a brief detour to cross the border, where we saw one person and, perfectly, he was wearing a Tyrolean hat, complete with feather. We took a quick picture of the “Austria” sign to prove that we had been there, and then turned around and back into Italy to find Lago di Braies.

The lake is reputedly “the most beautiful lake in Italy,” and indeed it is lovely. Green/blue water, steep, snowy mountainsides plunging to the lake, and forest-green trees combined with beautiful sunshine to create a special place. The only drawback was the number of visitors--it was a popular place, even early in the season. We took a nice walk part way around the lake.

At the end of this long day we drove back past Brunico and again into the mountains, via an incredibly beautiful route. This area is just stunning. We were pretty tired but found a nice local pizzerizia/ristorante in Corvara for our first substantial meal in several days.

June 11
What else could we do that didn’t involve hiking uphill? We spent the first part of our morning planning out some things, then, because it finally was a sparkling sunny day, decided to make a return to Passo Pordoi for another cable car trip up to Sass Pordoi, this time in the sunshine. First we stopped at the Passo Falzarego, hoping that the highly recommended Lagazuoi cable car there would be open (not to be). The sunshine and the few days really made a difference in the amount of people going up to Sass Pordoi--there were maybe 100 people scattered about at the refugio, and we shared great views all around. Wow!

All this driving was not without its challenges--the roads are very good, but in many places they are incredibly curvy, and everywhere they are loaded with zillions of motorcyclists and many bicyclists as well. (How do they manage to get in good enough shape to make it up those steep roads?) It was necessary to keep all the variables in mind as we went up and down the mountains. Mentally, it was kind of exhausting!

On the way back to La Villa we went over Passo Campolongo. It was still early in the afternoon, so we parked at Blanac (lift not open), and I read (almost a whole book) in the sunshine while J hiked for a few hours up the steep but varied and beautiful (he reports) route to Utna Paralorgia, about 3.5 km each way and 450 m vertical. Each stage opened up new vistas, culminating in a 360-degree panorama at the top. As everywhere in these mountains in early June, the meadows were full of stunning wildflowers.

We made it back to our inn at La Villa to watch the mountains light up from our balcony, wrapped in our down quilts. We ended the day with a nice dinner at Pizzeria Caterina in Corvara. Our time in the Dolomites may not have been what we planned, but it did have a silver lining: we saved a lot of money on restaurant meals, and I lost all the weight I had gained over the course of the previous four weeks!

Next, the final part, at last: an overnight in Verona, and three gorgeous days on Lake Como.

packed

We're always looking for interesting places to visit in Italy and you have given us food for thought.

aprillilacs

Thanks, packed. I am glad to be of help. I was wondering if anybody was still reading this!

OK, it's time to wrap it up--this has gone on too long.

PART 8: LAKE COMO, WITH A STOP IN VERONA

June 12
Another gorgeous day dawned in the Dolomites, and finally I felt just fine. Of course it was moving day--over the pass and down the Val Gardena to the Alto Adige valley, mapping our route to an overnight stop in Verona for a quick taste of that town.

Seeing all the signs to Venice, I suddenly wanted to forget Verona and head straight to the city on the water--I had a hard time knowing it was so close and not going back there, since it’s one of our favorite places in the world. But no, this was Verona’s time, so I had to give it a fair chance. Navigator J had an excellent plan for getting us to our next accommodation, B&B Residenza Carducci, which we knew was just across the river from the center of Verona. Unfortunately, our map wasn’t quite as detailed as we needed it to be, for just as we thought were within spitting distance of the B&B we ran into a street that blocked our way and we were forced to turn. No! Now we had to dead reckon to get back to where we wanted to be, and just as I uttered the words “The one thing I don’t want to do is be driving in central Verona,” we were across the river and smack in the middle of town and unsure how to get out of the center and back across the river to the B&B.

OK, plan B. The road we were on was one-way, so we followed it gingerly through town. (Last time something like this happened we were in Florence and ended up almost on the steps of the Duomo. Not a pretty sight.) As I drove slowly and carefully around corners and through the narrow streets we passed Verona’s own Duomo (it's a pattern), which at least allowed J to spot where we were on the map and thus figure out how to get us out of the center. About to breathe a sigh of relief, I looked in my rear-view mirror and saw a police car following us. Even more careful driving ensued as I searched for a place to pull over and let the car pass, to no avail. When I looked up again I was being waved over by the police inside the car. I managed to squeeze into a parking area on the side of the street and got out to face the two policewomen who emerged from the car. One asked me to produce my documents, nodded knowingly at her partner and mumbled something like “Americano,” and then asked if I knew what a red light was. Well, yes, it means that one should stop. Hmm, she said, I had failed to stop at a light a couple of turns ago. Honestly, that’s the only thing I dislike about driving in European cities--the hidden stoplights. I really didn’t see it! I apologized profusely and waited for the other shoe to drop. Fortunately, she let me off with a little lecture about how important it is to obey the driving rules, and how “next time” it would be a 140-euro fine. She also helpfully confirmed that we just needed to make one turn and go across the bridge and we would find the street we were looking for. Breath sigh of relief, get back in car, wait for police to leave, and drive off. Check.

Once we got to the right street we parked and looked for the residence. It wasn’t readily apparent (numbers weren’t consecutive), but a kind pharmacist came out from behind his counter and led us to the right door. We were buzzed in and met in the foyer by the charming owners, who led us upstairs to the gigantic apartment that was ours for the night. It was bright and charming, much nicer than it appeared on the web site we found it on, with a living room, nicely equipped kitchen area, big bedroom and bathroom. All at the bargain price of 95 euros a night, including breakfast. What a find! I highly recommend this B&B--we wished we could have spent more than one night here since it would be a great base for touring the area. And they even provide a parking pass so we you can park in the residential parking zone for free. Can’t beat that!

We stashed our bags, grabbed a handful of the glorious cherries the owners had left for us, and headed out to explore Verona. What a surprising place! Though there were plenty of tourists at the guidebook sights, their (our) numbers were more than balanced by the fashionably dressed local residents and businesspeople. Our first stop after we crossed the Ponte Nuevo was to find lunch, which we did at a very nice, reasonably priced little outdoor cafe nearby, with no other tourists to be seen. After 5 days of crackers, applesauce, and the like, I was suddenly ready to eat. The food was delicious--or maybe I was just starved.

What followed was a full afternoon of sightseeing as we packed in as many of Verona’s highlights as we could. We didn’t seek out Juliet’s balcony, but it presented itself along our route as we walked through town, so we had to join the throng of people in the courtyard to take a look. There was the famous balcony, not much, but I did enjoy the walls leading to the courtyard, on which were scrawled love notes from people around the world. The Piazza delle Erbe, the Basilica Sant’Anastasia with its photogenic hunchbacks, the Duomo (not that impressive, but certainly nicer on foot than in a tense drive-by), and the smaller churches nearby were all worth visiting. I think we were happy to be back in town after all those days in the mountains.

More walking took us across the river Adige to see the Teatro Romano, which was unexpectedly closed. We were tired from all the walking so we recrossed the bridge to Residenza Carducci for a brief rest, then we were out again, this time to Piazza Bra and the huge expanse adjacent to the Roman arena. We paid the entrance fee and went inside to see lots of workers setting up the stage for the upcoming performance of Carmen. Sadly, though we had long before tried to get tickets for a performance, the season hadn't yet started so we had to settle for watching a little of the construction work on the sets. It kind of detracted from the aura of the arena, but it was interesting to see.

After the arena a circuitous route (i.e., we got a little lost) took us to the crenellated brick Ponte Scaligero, adjacent to the 14th-century Castelvecchio built in the same style. Good setting for pictures! Evening was falling, so we took another break on a park bench in the Piazza delle Erbe, watching the residents, tourists, and young children all doing their thing. It’s quite a vibrant place. Finally, we walked back into the historic center and found a classy little restaurant, Osteria Sgarzarie, off Corta Porta Bozai near the north end of Piazza delle Erbe. Actually, I’m thinking it’s hard to find a bad meal in Verona! We dined on vergetable flan, chicken with oranges and olives baked in parchment and magliata with zucchini blossoms, saffron, and shrimp, with a lovely white wine. Ah, it was good to be up to eating again!

June 13
Verona was well worth at least another day, but our final pitstop, the small town of Lezzeno on the shores of Lake Como, was next on the agenda. First, a delicious breakfast and good conversation with the B&B owners in their lovely living/dining room. The home has apparently had been owned by the family for quite a long time (dare I say centuries?). We would love to return Verona someday and would happily make our base at the Residenza Carducci.

Back in the car, I had to fight the wheel to keep it from turning toward Venice. How could we not go back to Venice? But we love Lake Como, too, so I guess it wasn’t such a poor alternative. It didn’t take long on the autostrada and a few back roads to get to the city of Como, where we parked at an indoor lot within walking distance of the center and spent almost four hours entertaining ourselves with Como’s attractions.

The walking route from the parking lot to the center took us directly past a great indoor market filled with fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, you name it. We bought filling arancini from one of the friendly vendors, cherries from another, drinks from another, and took them down to the shores of the lake for a picnic as we watched the boats and the people. After lunch we walked the streets, visited the duomo, took in an open-air sculpture exhibit, and stopped at the tourist office for maps and information.

It was time to head uplake to find the village of Lezzeno and our hotel, the Aurora, which we had reserved for the next three nights. The drive was beautiful, as expected, and we arrived at the hotel by 4:00. We checked in to a nice, simple room with full-length doors opening to a small balcony overlooking the lakeside restaurant and the lake itself, with a stunning view up and down the lake and across to Lenno and its neighboring towns (110 euros per night, with breakfast). I was back on the water, and in heaven. (No, it wasn’t the sea, but almost water will make me happy.)

The Hotel Aurora is not full of Americans (we were the only ones there at the time) but is frequented by Italians, who come for the delightful location on the water, the full-service restaurant, the large deck full of umbrellas and lounge chairs, the good swimming, and the great water sports (wave-boarding, water-skiing, boating) offered by the helpful staff. We absolutely loved this place. The hotel management was friendly and very accommodating, offering travel advice, bus tickets, ferry schedules--anything they could do for us they did. One of my favorite parts (besides the view from the balcony and the sun deck) was the free kayaks provided for guests to use. Whenever I wanted, I could ask the boat guys to put a kayak in the water for me (or do it myself) and paddle on the lake. What can be better than being out in the middle of gorgeous Lake Como in the morning or late afternoon, taking in the beauty of your surroundings? I have to get back there.

After some relaxation on the deck and a predinner paddle, we went down to dinner at the open-air lakeside restaurant. The food was good, not great--lots of lake fish on the menu. But the setting was magic, and we were happy to be ending our trip in such a delightful place.

June 14
A drawback of Lezzeno is the infrequent boat service (it doesn’t compare to the options out of Menaggio, Bellagio, and Varenna). But we knew there was frequent bus service in case we missed the boat, so we left our car in the tiny hotel parking area and after breakfast caught the 10:37 boat that criss-crosses the lake on its way north. We were the only ones picked up (and later, dropped off) in Lezzeno. We were surprised to see it was a classic sidewheel paddle boat, which made the ride special. We disembarked at Lenno, across the lake, had a cappucino (horrors! after 11:00!) at a lakeside cafe, and walked along the shore over the hill through beautiful woods to the back entrance of the Villa Balbianello (the front entrance is accessed via a small boat from Lenno). The Villa has been featured in a couple of movies--episode 2 of “Star Wars,” and the 1990s’ movie with Vanessa Redgrave, “A Month by the Lake,” in which it's set as a hotel. Not a great movie, but it certainly has beautiful shots of the Balbianello and other parts of Lake Como.

The gardens of the Villa are, no surprise here, “Italianate”--manicured bushes, walkways lined with statues, beautiful views through the stately plantings. It’s not my favorite style of garden, but it was lovely and a good destination to spend some relaxing time next to the lake. After our visit we walked back over the hill into Lenno, where we had one of the few gelati we indulged in on the trip. Not sure why we hadn’t sampled more of that refreshing Italian standard.

We hung out in Lenno waiting for a boat to Bellagio, which, when we got there, was absolutely swarming with people--reminiscent of Positano and Portofino. These places seem to draw people to them like magnets. Yes, they are beautiful. No, they are not the highlight of a trip to Italy! We had been to Bellagio on a previous trip so we knew what to expect. We wanted to explore a little, so we walked up the steep streets and lost a few of the people. We found a little restaurant where we thought we had hit gold--off the beaten track, with a hidden back courtyard--but the food turned out to be less than stellar, one of our few unlucky choices on the whole trip.

We put the unsatisfying meal behind us and walked over to a lakeside park where the three branches of Lake Como meet, and many people were enjoying the afternoon. After a respite there we caught the last boat back to Lezzeno and the delightful Aurora sun deck, where we watched darkness fall and then had a light meal at the hotel restaurant. The end of another beautiful day!

June 15
The kayaks called, so we spent the morning paddling across the lake. We paddled right up to the Villa Balbianello, which was closed for the day, and enjoyed our view from the water. The weather was threatening so we eventually paddled back to Lezzeno and traded the kayaks for our car. We drove the short way up the road to Bellagio again and caught a boat across to Varenna, where we had spent three lovely days on a previous trip. The weather had improved, so we enjoyed a nice meal of crepes at a lakeside cafe before boating back to Bellagio and the short return drive to the Aurora.

I think we had had it with touring after almost six weeks on the road. How to spend our last afternoon on Lake Como? Lounging on the sun deck, of course! We hung out by the docks, sipped Prosecco from hotel bar, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, watching the boat guys teach a young Italian girl (maybe 5 years old?) and her slightly older brother (8?) the first lessons in how to wave board.

Meanwhile, the restaurant was readying itself for an evening wedding reception, which was going to be held in half of the restaurant that had been sectioned off to create a little privacy. In the early evening the boat guys went off in their speed boats and soon were back with two boats full of the bride and groom and their small group of well-dressed guests. We stayed on the deck for a while, enjoyed another Prosecco, and then sat down for dinner, entertained by the great mix of songs coming from the speaker system--lots of 60’s and 70’s American tunes, some Polish folk songs (the couple were Polish film stars, I think), and a whole range of happy dance music coming from the reception side. (Little did we know that the party would go on until about 2:00 in the morning--right under our open window. No worries--we enjoyed listening to the happy event).

We finally left the restaurant and made it up the steps to the hotel entrance when Chubby Checker’s “Twist again, like we did last summer...” came blasting out of the speakers. The Twist is actually one of the few dances I can do, so J and I started a spontaneous twist right in front of the hotel, leading the staff to pop out the doors to gawk and giggle at the spectacle we were making of ourselves. Who cares, it was a hoot! Actually, I think everybody enjoyed watching two wacky Americans contorting to the sounds of Chubby Checker.

We finished off the evening sitting in front of a TV with the bar staff (those who weren’t on wedding duty, anyway), watching Italy vs. the United States in a Confederation Cup soccer match. Wisely, we left at halftime with the U.S. up 2-0, knowing full well that that score wouldn’t hold up (it didn’t). But it was a memorable end to our wonderful trip.

June 16
We still had to get to Milan to catch our plane, which was flying out of Linate to London very early on the morning of the 17th. We reluctantly left Lezzeno and the Hotel Aurora and drove south to Como. We rode the funicular up to the little town of Brunate and hiked most of the way up to the lighthouse at the top of the hill--the town is very quiet and peaceful. Before we took the funicular down again I had my first granita of the trip--why didn’t I have one sooner? I loved it!

Back in Como, we walked along the shore through the park to the Volta memorial and then had an excellent lunch (orecchiette with shrimp and zucchini flowers, risotto with gamberoni and lime) at an osteria in Piazza Volta, whose name I’ve unfortunately forgotten. That marked the perfect “final meal” before we drove on to Linate, dropped our rental car off at the airport (no thanks to the rude EuropeCar staff), and checked in to our serviceable hotel for the night, the Air Hotel Milano, which was walking distance from the airport. We had thought about going into Milan for the afternoon but were suddenly “tripped out,” so it was early to bed, with a wakeup call set for 5:45 a.m.

June 17...and the trip in retrospect
The trip home via Heathrow to Philadelphia was uneventful (the best kind!).

Parting thoughts? Six weeks is a significant amount of time to be on the road, but it has real advantages. We had taken a trip of a similar length to Australia and New Zealand last year (refining my packing list!) and expect that this, or even longer periods, will now be our standard since we now have more flexibility to travel in longer chunks than we used to. The best part of a six-week trip is that you never have the sense of being rushed, even if you are covering a lot of ground.

In retrospect, we thoroughly enjoyed every part of our fourth trip to Italy and have no regrets about choosing any of the destinations we visited. For our next long trip, however, I think we will limit ourselves to three bases, spending at least two weeks in each. The problem is, which three place would we have chosen? Food for thought. I do know that when we left Italy we figured it would be a while before we return, since there are so many other places in the world we want to get to. But as the weeks have passed since our return home, we have been feeling that tug to return to one special place--the Aeolian Islands. So on tap for next year are at least two weeks on Panarea and/or Salina, so we can soak up more of aura of those beautiful spots.

Arrivederci!

bfrac

Thank you for taking the time to share your lovely trip with us. What a dream to travel in Italy for an extended period like you did. I am going back in October for 10 days, based on the border of Tuscany and Umbria. Like you, I can't imagine not going to Venice this time, but there is so much else to see and so little time. Grazie mille.

farrermog

Bookmarking - great report, thanks. Was there any particular 'non travel guide' reading that informed your trip?

aprillilacs

I appreciate the compliments!

I read for a living (as a book editor), so I actually don't have much time for reading for pleasure. Thus, aside from reading travel guides and lots of Fodors and Slowtrav postings, I sadly can't advise on that front. However, as we were planning our trip we did catch up on several films based in areas we visited (thanks to Netflix!)-- Il Gattopardo, Il Postino, Roman Holiday, The Talented Mr. Ripley, A Month by the Lake, and Under the Tuscan Sun, among others I can't remember.

Do you have recommendations for Italy-related reading? I would love to hear them.

Dayle

aprilliacs,

I have so enjoyed your trip report. Lucky you to have a wonderful 6 week trip. Some of my favorites and some I plan to visit next trip!

How did you find your time on Lipari? I'm think of 5-6 days in the Aeolians combined with Sicily for my next trip. I know Lipari is the most populated and has the best boat options to the other islands. Would you recommend 3 days there combined with a couple on Panarea? Or was there enough to stay on Lipari as a base for the whole time? This part of my trip will be the relaxing, boating, sun soaking part, so don't want to feel rushed at all!

bobthenavigator

Terrific report--thank you for the paragraphs I can actually read. Glad you liked Villa Sampaguita. We will be in the Dolomites in Sep and then a week at Bellgio in early Oct. Next year we are talking about including Salina in a southern adventure. We seem to enjoy the same places.

aprillilacs

Dayle, Aeolis plus "mainland" Sicily would be a fantastic trip--we spent 2 great weeks in Sicily a couple years ago (without getting to the Aeolis, which we regretted!).

I loved Lipari, and 5 days was certainly not too much. It has the most action and most options as a base--easy access to boats to the other islands, places to walk/hike, buses around the island, good restaurants, shopping, very friendly people. We were glad to base there the whole time. That said, however, when we return to the Aeolis for 2 weeks next May we plan on basing half the time in Panarea and half the time in Salina, which are both beautiful. That may be too long for Panarea, but we want to give it a try.

Bob--yes, I've followed in your footsteps to Croatia and Sicily, as well as the Piedmont. I always appreciate the good advice in your helpful posts on a variety of topics. Maybe we'll see you in Salina!

Treesa

April, you are one talented writer. One of the best reports I've read. Great photos, too. Where next?

farrermog

aprillilacs - good reading recommendations (as usual) on Fodors threads -

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...t-in-italy.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ting-italy.cfm

Another I've just come across and which may be of interest is Alan Ross's <i>Reflections on Blue Water; Journeys in the Gulf of Naples and the Aeolian Islands</i> (Ischia 1948 & 1998; Capri 1998; Aeolian Islands 1998 - 'a poet's perception' rather than a travelogue).