Finsteraarhorn -

I'd wrongly assumed all pizzoccheri was dark! I think I had the Valchiavenna type last year at Crotto Ombra, photo below. I just looked at the menu and it was called Gnocchettialla Chiavennasca.

I thought it was the buckwheat that made it dark, but I love Swiss pizokels, which are made from buckwheat and they're not dark. So, what make the noodles grey-black?

Beautiful pictures and food...

I love pizzoccheri. I only know the dark kind, made with buckwheat. I've made blini at home with buckwheat, and they are always dark. Maybe the Swiss mix the buckwheat with wheat flour.

Dec 17 -

Our day began with a walk to nearby Soul Cake for a caf� latte, a cappuccino and croissants - chocolate for me, cream for Bill, €6.80 and very good.


Soul cake

Soul Cake

Soul Cake

Then it was back to the apartment to sort out a hike, hoping to find something we hadn’t previously done.

We knew from past hikes around Chiavenna that the terrain consists of copious slippery moss-covered rock and stone steps, and while green and lush, it’s also wet and damp, a challenge for clumsy people like myself.

We briefly considered the hike up to the ''ghost" village of Savogno, which was abandoned in 1968 and is situated above the Acquafraggia waterfalls, in nearby Borgonuovo di Piuro.

This hike had been on our radar for a while, and while it did sound intriguing, my knees were discouraged by the 2,886 steps that led up a steep mule track to the village, especially as we’d have to walk there and return, or continue walking to Soglio, Switzerland and then take the bus back to Chiavenna (6.6 miles, 4:45 hours and an elevation gain of 3,340 feet).

The young woman in the tourist office had told us that she had done it, as if that should be enough to convince us old decrepit folks, but after consulting various sources and seeing the words “challenging”, “steep” and “fatigue” I listened to my inner voice which was telling me “don’t even think about it”.

This is the Italian counterpart to the famous Panoramic trail of the Val Bregaglia. The trail starts at the car park for the Acquafraggia Waterfalls in Borgonuovo di Piuro, where one of the paths climbs to the waterfalls and continues to the town of Savogno. From Savogno, the trail follows the valley to Soglio, in Switzerland, following the panoramic trail with constant ups and downs, particularly as it crosses two valleys.

So, instead we decided to seek out a trail Bill had seen above Chiavenna, attempting to locate it via the Braille method. We meandered up through the residential area behind the apartment, ending up on the road that leads to the Splugen Pass, an alpine mountain pass that connects Chiavenna, Italy, with Splugen, Switzerland.

We never did find the trail, but it was an interesting walk just the same.


Walking the non-trail

Walking the non-trail

Walking the non-trail

We backtracked to town and returned to Caff� Svizzero for lunch, both choosing the pasta of the day, Rigatoni al Pesto Siciliano (tomatoes, ricotta, basil, pine nuts, €8 each).


Chiavenna

Chiavenna, Mera River

Rigatoni al Pesto Siciliano

We’d only ordered a primo; Bill was still hungry, so we wandered through town and were soon enticed into the oddly named Sierra Nevada Caff� by their menu board, which advertised risotto made with wine, cheese and Bresaola.

Intrigued, we took a seat and Bill ordered a plate, not expecting much from a coffee shop. Wow, what a pleasant surprise; while not the prettiest plate of food, it was delicious; I had trouble keeping my fork to myself (€19.50 with a glass of local red each, no coperto).


Risotto made with wine, cheese and Bresaola.

After our second lunch, we wandered, walking up to the sports center, through the cemetery, alongside the various crottos and then back through the historic center, returning to the apartment some four hours later. We seemed to be the only tourists in town (which is how we like it).

Palazza Balbiani

Chiavenna cemetery

Looking up to Paradiso Botanical-Archaeological Park

Wandering Chiavenna

Wandering Chiavenna

Morning wander

One of our afternoon wanders

It’d been a nice day despite our host’s warning, temps reaching 50F, although the winter sun was gone by 2:50, having dipped behind the mountains that surround Chiavenna.

Later we returned to Caffe Bistrot Mastai for aperitivo, €23 for two rounds of drinks and three rounds of food, perhaps because they were closing for the next two days and had an excess.

We were entertained by the bartender, who was making Aperol spritzes by the dozen at high speed.


Aperitivo

Aperitivo

Between our wandering and several walks to/from the apartment, we’d managed to log six miles without trying very hard.

To be continued…

Dec 18 -

We really like Chiavenna, hence this third visit. While most of the hiking in the area is outside of my comfort zone, we love the small village atmosphere and the delicious food.

Our day began with a walk to Bar Pasticceria Mastai, the sister property of Caffe Bistrot Mastai, for cafe lattes, croissants and six mignons to take away for later (€15.80).

The Pasticceria was chaotic and all aflutter with activity; customers picking up Christmas orders, employees wrapping packages in a corner of the shop and tending to the regular morning coffee and pastry business.

Prior to leaving home, I'd made a booking for Crotto Ombra for today's lunch. We’d had a great meal here last year and were looking forward to an encore.

After breakfast, we walked to the tourist office, passing a kids Christmas program underway in the piazza; it was finally beginning to feel like Christmas. Compared to other European countries we’ve visited, Italy seemed slow in welcoming the holiday.


Kids getting ready for their program

Kids Christmas program

At the tourist office, we bought tickets from Chiavenna to Tirano for Friday, knowing we’d have to purchase bus tickets to our next stop, Bormio, when we arrived in Tirano (€15.50).

We then set out to walk a bit before our noon lunch booking, following the Ciclabile della Val Chiavenna, a 40 km cycle path along the valley floor that stretches from Colico to Val Bregaglia, at the border between Italy and Switzerland. We’d walked a section of this path from Colico a few years ago. Today we saw a long black snake, either dead or frozen.

We’d also walked a portion of this trail from Chiavenna previously, which took us through some interesting ruins.


Ciclabile della Val Chiavenna

Snake!

Ciclabile della Val Chiavenna

Ciclabile della Val Chiavenna

Ciclabile della Val Chiavenna

Ciclabile della Val Chiavenna

Today we walked it as far as the neighboring municipality of Prala Camportaccio, which we didn’t even know was there, and felt a bit like the ‘burbs.

Soon we were approaching Iperal in di Prala Camportaccio, a hypermarket; we went in to investigate. This place was massive and had a huge variety of goods - it would’ve been nice to have found it on our first day when we were fruitlessly looking for an obscure coffee pod for the apartment.

We eventually returned the way we’d come and continued on to Crotto Ombra for our much anticipated lunch.

For those unaware, Crotti are unique to the Alps, in particular the areas of Lake Como, Valchiavenna and the Canton of Ticino. They're natural cavities that have been used to preserve food and wines and some of them have restaurants that offer typical local products.


Backtracking to town

The crotto was just as we’d left it, we even had the same waitress from our visit over a year ago.

Bill chose the same meal he’d had last time, Coppa di Maiale alla birra (pork shoulder with roasted polenta and Tropea onion (€18).

I chose a side of roasted polenta and a side of Taroz (potatoes, beans and cheese, which was fantastic, €7 each). We also shared a bottle of Nebbiolo (€15), and sparkling water (€3), €55 total including €2.50 each coperto. All excellent.


Coppa di Maiale alla birra

Taroz

Then it was back to the apartment to digest and enjoy the last bit of sun from our terrace. Here we watched people walking to and from town on the narrow street in front of us. We’d walked up and down this street many times over the last three days, trying to stay within the narrow pedestrian walkway, wondering if we’d get mowed down by a passing car or noisy motorcycle.

Later, we tucked into those lovely mignons purchased from Bar Pasticceria Mastai this morning.


Mignons

To be continued…

The food all look and sound fantastic. Thank you for whetting my appetite, in more ways than one.

Mel, how did you find vegetarian food on your travels? My husband is vegetarian (actually vegan at home) and I�m mostly so. As a broad generalisation we�re not fans of heavy food but prefer lighter fare. At home we tend to favour Mediterranean or Asian flavours but of course will enjoy most tasty dishes. We�re not �foodies� (a term I struggle with) but given how often we eat it�s not unimportant when choosing holiday destinations.

Uhmmm... I also thought it's the buckwheat that gives the dark color to the Valtellina pizzoccheri... The Val Chiavenna ones are indeed white, as they are made of normal flour (present in the Val Chiavenna since former times thanks to the merchants going north on the Via Spluga, hence less diffused in Valtellina).

I will research it and give you an answer.

P.S. This picture makes me salivating more than a Pavlov experiment!

I'm a true fan of the Valtellina cuisine! The menus are not that varied (as the wines, mostly Nebbiolo, here called "Chiavennasca"), but they are always fantastic, and at prices you can only dream of in Switzerland.

Also the Pasticcerie in Italy are usually more developed (and cheaper) than in Switzerland.

To add more confusion, the Taroz are sometimes known as the "Pizzoccheri della Valmalenco"

Mel, how did you find vegetarian food on your travels?

I'm not vegetarian, just a picky eater who doesn't care for eggs, meat or seafood. I certainly didn't go hungry and found plenty to eat. It helps that I like pizza, pasta, potatoes and dairy (although I probably should have been eating more salad, lol). I doubt a true vegetarian would have any trouble in Italy.

Finsteraarhorn -

I'll be interested to know what you find.

That Gnocchetti alla Chiavennasca in the photo above from last year was good, but incredibly heavy. I barely made a dent in it, but I'd also ordered a side of roasted polenta and it was just too much.

Mel, every time DH says no more long haul trips for him, I just need to mention Chiavenna and he’d be back on board. I remember being told it’s nothing special, and I get that Italy is filled with wonders - but we loved our visits as day trips and the 2 night stay.
Having said that, I’ve enjoyed all the towns we visited 😂

He would order Bill’s crotto main, too, that looks delicious.

Thanks for the information, Mel. In some places we try to self cater if we think there may be limited options and have never starved (could actually lose a few kilos!). We would never not visit a country just because the food is not to our taste but it is definitely a bonus when the food is great. And double bonus when it is well priced.

Dec 19 -

Surprise, surprise, our day began with caffeine and croissants at Bar Pasticceria Mastai, both choosing the Chantilly cr�me filled, €7.30.

The nice weather was gone, it was 7c with 100% chance of rain expected, so we rugged up in our Gortex.

We’d hoped to hike some of the Via Spluga, a 70 km trail that runs between Thusis, Switzerland and Chiavenna, Italy by way of the Viamala Gorge.

We've hiked sections of the trail from the Swiss side on previous trips, and knew it would be steep going from the Italian side, so we weren’t optimistic, but wanted to take a look anyway.

https://schweizmobil.ch/en/hiking-in...rland/route-50

So, we followed the Via Spluga trail signs from the historic center of Chiavenna, located the start of the trail and sure enough, it got steep in a hurry.

My knees just weren't having it, so we bailed, turned around, followed the road for a bit, crossed the Mera River and joined the Ciclabile della Val Chiavenna again, walking in the opposite direction from yesterday. We'd also walked this section on a previous trip and knew it would lead us to the Acquafraggia in Piuro.

https://www.exploralp.com/best-to-do...ggia-waterfall

We followed the level path, popping into Chiesa della Beata Vergine Assunta and befriending a cat enroute.


Mera River

Walking the Ciclabile della Val Chiavenna, Chiesa della Beata Vergine Assunta on the right

Chiesa della Beata Vergine Assunta

Coffee shop we passed enroute

We then continued walking to the waterfalls, where we poked around a bit, and then returned to Chiavenna, an easy 5.27 miles.


Piuro

Acquafraggia

Chiesa della Beata Vergine Assunta

Bill was looking forward to lunch at Bar Vicini, a favorite from past visits, which had been closed for the past few days. We arrived just before noon; the restaurant heaving, the terrace closed due to weather.

We were offered the last two seats at a side counter, where we were tightly wedged in due to the proximity of other busy tables in the small restaurant, but happy to just have a seat.

Raw meat eater Bill chose the Tartare di Manzo (€15) - the fifth time he’d had steak tartare in three weeks - I chose the Tortelli di zucca (€14) which was decadent and delicious.


Tartare di Manzo

Primi menu

Tortelli di zucca

We ordered the chocolate mousse to share for dessert, but they were out, so we were offered the mango and passionfruit mousse instead, which was divine (€55 with drinks, no coperto). Deliziosa!


Mango and passionfruit mousse

It began to rain as we ate looking out the window; we’d timed our walk well.

After a stop in a grocery store to ogle the impressive selection of cheese, we returned to the apartment to chill, then later wandered out for aperitivo at nearby Bar Pasticceria Mastai, which was already full with early evening customers.


Mozzarella cheese nirvana

Cheese, cheese, glorious cheese

So, we moved on, returning to Bar Vicini, much more sedate than it had been at lunch, where we enjoyed our final night in Chiavenna over a bit of grape (€21.50), Bill commenting on how much he enjoyed the abundance of mellow wine bars in Italy; pity the roads weren’t as tranquil.

On the return walk to the apartment, we detoured to Bar Pasticceria Mastai to pick up take-away sandwiches for our train day tomorrow and one last assortment of mignons (€17.50). Oink, oink.

We’d walked about seven miles today.

To be continued...

Mel, thank you for posting such a detailed trip report. I am loving the pictures and details. A very welcome diversion.

Mel, every time DH says no more long haul trips for him, I just need to mention Chiavenna and he’d be back on board.

So, it's not just us!

A diversion for me as well Kiddo. Thanks for reading along.

Dec 20 -

Up early, we walked to Bar Pasticceria Mastai for coffee and croissants, tidied up the apartment, and texted the owner, who sent her daughter down to inspect the place before we left. She looked around, announced “perfetta”, and we were on our way.

We trundled our luggage through the historic center towards the rail station, where a man approached us. We spoke for a minute, him telling me he was taking signatures for a petition for better train service.

We’d purchased tickets to Tirano via Colico a few days prior (€15.50 for both). The display in the station indicated that our 9:30 am train to Colico would be leaving from Track 1, so we waited inside the station.

A cop entered and started talking to a woman waiting with us, and for some reason that I can’t explain, my antenna went up, me suspecting that our train wasn’t really leaving from Track 1.

I asked the cop if he spoke English and if the train was leaving from Track 1. He nodded, and said “Binario 1”.

As the train pulled in, the woman the cop had been talking to pointed up as an announcement was made, and said “Binario due” sending us on a mad dash down the stairs, under Track 1 and back up the stairs to Track 2, luggage in tow.

This wasn’t the first time we’d encountered a last minute track change in Chiavenna, which might explain my “spidey sense”. It’s a bit baffling, as there are only two tracks, and there is only one train from Chiavenna, which just goes back and forth to Colico.

The ride to Colico took about 30 minutes, where we then had to wait 50 minutes for our connecting train, which was 10 minutes late. We eventually arrived in Sondrio, where the train stopped; we patiently waited onboard for it to resume its journey.

A hard-to-hear announcement was eventually made over the train’s PA system; all I could decipher was “Binario due Tirano”. Uh-oh. I noticed a few people getting off the train, so went into the next carriage to investigate.

I asked a woman wearing earbuds if she spoke English; she’d not heard the announcement, so she asked others on the carriage, but no one had heard it. Then, a second announcement was made, and yep, we were to get off the train and go to Track 2; something was wrong with our train.

A mad exodus followed, everyone rushing to Track 2, this station with an elevator, thank goodness. Here we all waited, and waited, and waited. I’d assumed they were sending a replacement train, but no, we were meant to wait for the next hourly train to Tirano.

The platform was busy, lots of people with luggage; we worried about space on the train, neither of us very happy.

I thought of the man with the petition in Chiavenna; train service here could definitely be better.

Our late train finally arrived, eventually depositing us in Tirano, having passed lots of vineyards enroute. The area near the rail station was surprisingly busy with holiday travelers; many appeared to be bound for Switzerland via the Bernina Express.

We had a bit of trouble locating the bus station; it’s situated behind the train station and accessed via a passage that leads under the tracks. We’d missed our well-planned bus connection, as well as our backup bus.

I popped into the Automobilistica Perego office and purchased tickets for the next A70 bus to Bormio (€5.60 each, plus €2 for one bag each). We waited quite a while, worried we were in the wrong place, periodically looking around the corner, thinking the bus might be waiting there.

It finally came along, already full to the gills with high school kids, evidently this bus was also used for school runs. There was no place to sit, not a single kid offered their seats to any of us old folks, so we stood elbow-to-elbow, sweating in our winter coats, but unable to move enough to take them off. The bus gradually emptied and a young Chinese man offered me his seat, bless him.

Just over an hour later we arrived in the spa and ski town of Bormio, situated in Italy's largest national park, Stelvio. We set about trying to locate our apartment, dragging our luggage up a busy street, then cutting through a snow-covered parking lot and into the Centro Storico.

We’d kept our Air BNB host apprised of our progress, and were met at the door of the 800+ year old former convent by her mother, who led us through a large atrium and up a rather steep stone stairway to our apartment.

We abandoned our luggage and immediately went out looking for food, now late afternoon. During our search for an open caf�, we located a small grocery store, picked up a few provisions, returned to the apartment to drop off the goods, and then set out again in the opposite direction.

We stopped at the tourist office, where we were given a rapid-fire array of hiking options, only to be told a few minutes later that 'this or that' trail was only accessible by 'this or that' bus that wasn't currently running, or that 'this or that' trail was inaccessible due to construction, etc. Argh.

We'd assumed that we could take a ski lift up and hike from there - as we often do in Austria and Switzerland - but we were told that wasn't possible here. Huh.

By now I was “pass out” hungry, so we stopped at the first open restaurant we found, Caffe Cavour on nearby Piazza Cavour, not knowing we’d be spending a lot of time on this piazza in the upcoming days.

The food wasn’t good, the offerings this time of day very limited, a sad lasagna for Bill (€12), and an awful cheese and tomato panini for me - how one messes up a panini is a mystery (€8). No complaints about the Aperol spritz and wine though, which was much-needed after the day we’d had (€31 total).

Afterwards we wandered, trying to get our bearings. Bormio felt much colder than Chiavenna, especially with the wind; not surprising given the 892-meter difference in elevation.

We stumbled upon the Bormio Bar, popped in for a drop, and were offered aperitivo for €2 each more, which we happily agreed to after our pitiful late lunch (€14). The nibbles were good, the place hopping when we left.


Bormio Bar

Then it was back to the apartment, via the tiny and quiet Christmas market.


Bormio Christmas Market

Bormio Christmas Market

We stuck our heads into the bar next door, where our Air BNB owner worked. She followed us up to the apartment and explained how we were to feed the pellet stove once a day and we discussed what to expect regarding restaurant and grocery store closures over Christmas.

She told us that we’d need to book restaurants for dinner, and that Italians don't eat between 3pm and 8 pm. She also warned us that the bar might be noisy that evening due to a Christmas party, but should be quiet for the rest of our stay.

We’re not big dinner eaters, nor do we eat late, so we figured we’d have no problem getting by with lunch and aperitivo. She’d also left us a large chocolate and fruit Christmas cake, which would be my breakfast for the next six mornings.


Chocolate and fruit Christmas cake

It’d been a long, frustrating day; we were finding travel here unduly stressful.

We'd not gotten off to a great start in this unfamiliar-to-us part of Italy.

To be continued...

Sorry for all the transport issues. Do you know if it is just the time of year?

tripplanner - I wish. Transport issues seem to be the norm in Italy. Bill said he's more surprised when things work than when they don't.

Mind you, we're spoiled by the efficiency of Switzerland.

Dec 21 -

We’d known about the bar below the apartment and had asked our Air BNB host about potential noise prior to booking. This was her response:

Hello! The apartment is in the heart of the historic center, regardless of the bar that closes in the week at 9 and on the weekend at 11 and is not particularly noisy if you are looking for maximum tranquility during Christmas time, maybe Bormio is not your destination. It is a small mountain village but very busy so a few people and a little noise is always there, it is not Ibiza but not even super quiet.

It’d been noisy until about 11:30 pm with the thump, thump, thump of music from below and laughing/chatter from the bar’s patrons as they came and went, but we slept fine once the bar closed.

We woke to blue skies and set out to get our bearings, deciding to walk up towards the Bormio Terme, climbing up many hills, surprised at the amount of traffic in town, where several roads merge near the pedestrian zone of the historic center.

Bormio is home to three spas and best as we could tell, only the Bormio Terme was within walking distance.


View from our apartment

Near apartment

Bormio shop window

There seemed to be an inordinate number of cars for a town of 4,100 residents. I’ve since learned that Bormio is a crossroads, accessible via several high-altitude mountain passes, most of which are closed in winter, including SS38 (Strada Statale 38 dello Stelvio), an Italian state highway that connects Valtellina with the South Tyrolean Vinschgau via the Stelvio Pass and continues on to Bolzano.


Stelvio Pass (borrowed from the internet)

Once at the Bormio Terme, we went inside to check it out, finding a very long line to get in. We hadn’t yet decided if we’d utilize the spa, but we were curious about it.

https://www.bormioterme.it/

We went downstairs to the bistro, considered having lunch, but decided we could probably find a more interesting venue, so we walked back down to town, dodging cars and ice, once again ending up at Piazza Cavour, where we found lots of people sitting at tables in front of various establishments, enjoying the sunshine.

We were learning that most of Bormio is perched up on the surrounding hillsides, although the historic center is relatively flat. And that “pedestrian zone” is a bit of a misnomer, as some vehicles were allowed access, so we were constantly looking over our shoulders.

We pulled up a chair near Bar a la Torre and ordered a glass of wine, accompanied by complimentary snacks.


Piazza Cavour

We then moved inside as it was getting cold. Here we had lunch, a margarita pizza for me (€10), Davola for Bill (€13), both with rather thick crusts, more like paddle pizzas, but very good. We also made the mistake of ordering negronis (€8 each), which gave us the sleepies for the rest of the afternoon (€50, no coperto).

As with most restaurants we’d patronized thus far, this one was small, the tables very close to each other. We were seated next to a boisterous Italian family of seven, the decibel level deafening, us unable to hear each other across the table, and this before they’d even ordered a drink.


Bar a la Torre

Bar a la Torre

Piazza Cavour

Piazza Cavour

Then it was back to the quiet of the apartment to sort out some walks, which gave us a head cramp, as most of them seemed to require a car or an uphill hike to access the trail. So, we looked into buses, which confused us even more.


Walking back to apartment

Walking back to apartment

Walking back to apartment

We were feeling more optimistic about the holiday food situation since asking about opening hours at the grocery store, and discovering they’d be open most mornings, including Christmas, but the hiking situation was very much a work in progress.

Later we wandered back out for aperitivo, choosing Dolce Ozio on Piazza Cavour. There had been an event involving Babbo Natale at 5 pm, the caf� was pretty full with families. We settled in with a glass of Sassella, my interest piqued by the thick hot chocolate two kids at the table next to us were eating with a spoon. Resistance was futile, I ordered a cup to share (€4), as I didn’t think I could finish it myself. OMG, so good (€15).


Dolce Ozio

Dolce Ozio

Then it was back to the apartment to listen to the antics below, wondering how late the festivities would go on tonight.


Bormio after dark

Bormio after dark

Bormio after dark

It was going to be an interesting Christmas.

To be continued...