Italy 2014: Day 25-29: Monday: May 26-30: Casale Monferrato-Gravedona (Lake Como)-Sesto Calende (near Milan Airport): THE END OF THE TRIP

In the interests of getting to the end of the trip, I will compress our last four days in Italy into one report.

Enroute to Gravedona

We left Casale Monferrato (where we had a terrific time) for the north end of Lake Como--the town of Gravedona.  We made a stop for coffee in Vigevano (near Milan), a city known for its very handsome Piazza Ducale.

  

Lake Como and our hotel

Gravedona is almost at the north end of the lake....this area is less crowded and developed than the southern and middle parts of the lake where Como, Bellagio, Cernobbio and the other famous towns are located (and where George Clooney is known to hang out)...but, if it is not quite as stunning as the lower part of the lake, it is still quite scenic and charming.  

We are staying at a new, modern hotel located right on the lake shore...there is a large swimming pool and broad grassy expanse for lounging and relaxing.  

The rooms are large and bright and the bathroom is as close to perfect as an Italian hotel bathroom gets.

The hotel Tullio is owned and managed by a travel colleague (Giovanni Gotti) whom I had "met" on an Italian message board and had actually rented some of his properties for clients.  We are happy to meet each other in person. I didn't realize it was his hotel when I wrote requesting availability and it was a pleasant surprise when he wrote back.

What we did while in Gravedona

Since the great weather continued for our stay on Lake Como (it had been overcast when we left Piedmont and rained some on our first afternoon but then took a turn for the much better), we spent some time relaxing in the sun on our balcony or near the pool admiring the view,

walking on the path along the lake with the bikers and other walkers and strolling around the very pretty lake front promenades of Gravedona and the next town to the north, Domaso.

We made a number of excursions from Gravedona into the hills and mountains that rise up from the lake.  We drove up to the small village of Peglio, up above Gravedona, on a curvy but not very challenging road, to visit the Church of Sant'Eusebio which has 16th century frescoes done by a student of Michelangelo.  The drive was scenic and the church was beautifully situated

but it was closed up tight and we were never able to get inside.  But the views from Peglio were pretty terrific

so it was worth the trip anyway.

We made another drive up north almost to to the Swiss border above the town of Chiavenna.  This was a much more challenging drive...the road was narrow and at one point, there were ten consecutive hairpin turns where there was no way to tell if there was a car or truck coming the other way.  A complicating factor was that many of the turns ended up in short tunnels that were dark and completely cut off our ability to see oncoming traffic. The second complicating factor was the fact that we were ascending continuously and the turns required constant downshifting to keep the car moving forward.  In any case, the mountain scenery was beautiful--pine forests, narrow valleys, lots of waterfalls dropping over the side of cliffs from the melting snow.  I didn't take any pictures while driving but here a couple that show the road we drove.

   

We decide not to continue on to the Swiss border and opt for the easier route back down to Lake Como.  There are some pretty lake towns on the way down and we stop for lunch at a small hotel restaurant in Campodolcino.

Our other excursion was a drive for lunch at an agriturismo recommended by Giovanni in the town of Ardenno located in the area called the Valtellina.  The main road to Ardenno is on the valley floor and is dominated on both sides by high peaks....but the road is wide and mostly straight, so we decide to take a scenic detour and take the parallel road that hugs the side of the mountain.  However, as we climb, the road gets narrower and narrower as it winds up and around the mountain side.  In addition, there is a lot of construction (these roads take a beating in the winter) and, at one point, traffic is stopped for fifteen minutes in each direction because of the road repairs.  (This got the Italian drivers really riled up and horns were honking steadily for the last few minutes before we were waved on.)

We admit defeat, find a place to make a u-turn, descend to the valley and go on the highway to the agriturismo for lunch.

On the way back to the hotel, we got the opportunity to explore the other (east) side of the lake when we took the wrong exit from a roundabout and ended up going ten miles in the wrong direction on a limited access highway (mostly in tunnels.)  When we finally could exit, we drove down to the lake and followed the shore road back north through the towns and villages on the that side.  The road gave us good views over to our side of lake and beyond, but seemed marginally less attractive.

Our other sightseeing was a visit to the churches in Gravedona...one of them built in the 12th century over a 5th century baptistery.  Santa Maria del Tiglio is a handsome Romanesque church...very plain on the outside

and austere inside with well preserved 16th century frescoes on the wall.

  

Meals in the Gravedona area

We had one very spectacular meal while staying in Como when we drove to Ardenno in the Valtellina.  Le Case dei Baff is an agriturismo located right on the edge of the town and has rooms as well as a restaurant.   We got a very nice welcome from the family who runs the agriturismo; one of the sons spoke English and we discussed both our Italian experiences and his visits to the United States.  The meal was terrific....mainly local specialties from this mountain area.  We started with three of the appetizers--salume from their own production, soft cheeses from local producers served with sweet and sour onions, a delicious concoction called taozz made of mashed potatoes, fried onions, cheese and string beans, and sciatt--deep-fried buckwheat flour coated cheese balls.  In addition to the good bread, there was a bagel shaped roll made of the buckwheat flour that was addictive.

We skipped the local pasta specialty called pizzoccheri (wide noodles made of buckwheat flour served with cheese, onions and cabbage..very delicious but very heavy) because we had already had it in other restaurants, and enjoyed the tasty orzo soup instead.  If that wasn't enough, we wanted to try the costine--the baked ribs cooked in a special soapstone pot called a lavecc--that is another specialty of the restaurant.   They were meaty, tender and delicious and served with some excellent roast potatoes.  We drank red wine made from their own nebbiolo grapes which was light and tasty.   No dessert today and no plans for dinner either....

One of our best meals of the trip.....

Our other meals in the area were both fine....we ate one night in Domaso and had the local lake fish--laverello--sauteed in butter which was a highlight.  We also had pizzoccheri a couple of times and carpione...fish served with a vinegar based sauce and vegetables.  The breakfasts at the hotel were excellent....and being able to eat outside in the sun looking at the lake added to the enjoyment.

Sesto Calende

Our last night was spent near the Milan airport in Sesto Calende, a busy, pleasant town located at the bottom of Lake Maggiore.  We did spend an hour in Switzerland on our way driving, through the stunning city of Lugano and getting caught in a big traffic jam at the border re-entering Italy but we survived the experience.  We have been staying at the Hotel Tre Re--a comfortable family run hotel-- since our first trip to Italy in 1993 and have become friendly with the two sisters who run the hotel.  We usually arrive in the late afternoon, stroll along the riverfront promenade, have a gelato, eat dinner at the hotel restaurant and leave early the next morning for Malpensa.

  

The hotel is about 20 minutes from the airport and we got there in the morning with no problem.  Here is the view of the Alps from the airport entrance which is our last view of Italy for this trip. 

It has been an excellent trip....some great new discoveries (Noli, Casale Monferrato, Gravedona) and some wonderful revisits--Milan and Mantova.   And the weather has been fantastic...

We are happy to be home after our month away..but we soon need to start thinking about our next Italian adventure.

Jim and Diana

Italy 2014: Day 24: Sunday: May 25: Casale Monferrato

Looks nice again....

This morning, we cross the Po to the north bank and head for the small town of Fontanetto Po, about 17 miles from Casale Monferrato.  This is farming country on this side of the river...flat for a long while until the Alps appear in the distance .  As we approach Fontanetto Po, we see the first rice paddies, some filled with green shoots popping through the water.  This area is one of Italy's two rice belts (the other is in the Veneto near Mantova). 

Our destination is the Antica Riseria San Giovanni, which has preserved the old water powered mill machinery as a museum to the old technology.

  

We join a tour that is led by the owner of the mill...he speaks in demonstrative rapid fire Italian that we can't keep up with...

but he is a lot of fun to watch.  We are led through the entire process of rice production in the old manner...from the cleaning to the hulling to the milling to the sifting to the bleaching (explained in the brochure).  And we see all the old machinery that has been preserved.  The highlight of the show is when the water turbine is submerged in the canal and the water that is forced through the inputs powers all the machinery inside....

We also have a great time with the Italians in the tour group visiting the mill.  We first talk with the tour operator and his daughter who run a travel agency near Cuneo who want to tell us about their business and about their travels.  Then other members of the group also talk to us--mostly in Italian--about their visits to the States or the American books that they like.  It makes for an interesting and enjoyable morning.

After we leave the rice mill, we do a little Po hunting but after crossing back to the other side, we find that the road veers off from the river.  So we climb up to the high road that parallels the river, stopping in several of the hilltop villages to enjoy the views.

It is getting onto to lunch time and we are saying that it is a perfect day to have Sunday dinner in the country when we pass the Agriturismo Cascina Smeraldo on the top of a hill.

We drive into their parking lot to check it out and see that is crowded with people (mostly families) both inside and out either eating or getting ready to eat.  On an impulse, we ask if we can have lunch and are shown to an outside table complete with a view of the countryside, beautiful roses and the Po.

Lunch is an experience...when we expect to get a menu, the waitress brings over a plate of salume and we realize we have fallen into a set lunch which promises to be abundant.   We break down and get a bottle of Barbera that comes with the feast.  The courses continue--vitello tonnato, a Piemontese fritto misto of meat, offal and various sweets, ravioli, risotto with gorgonzola and radicchio, roast beef and potatoes and a piece of cake. We eat as much as we can manage--it is all good especially the salume, the ravioli, the risotto and the potatoes--and finally get up from the table more than two hours after we sat down.  It was more than we bargained for but it was fun.

We drive back to Casale Monferrato because we still have to visit the old synagogue which is open until 5 pm. The synagogue dates back the the late 16th century and was beautifully restored in the 1960s.  There is a very small Jewish community remaining in Casale Monferrato (Piemonte had always been reasonably hospitable to Jews and the conditions improved when Napoleon showed up in the early 1800s.  This is why there are so many Jewish sites all over the region.)   The exterior of the building, located in a small alley in the center of town, hides the richness of the interior.

When we go into the sanctuary, to the sound of cantorial singing, we find a group of Australian Orthodox Jews, who are traveling in Europe with their rabbis.  They seem very excited by the place and are enthusiastically looking at everything and pointing out interesting things to their colleagues.  

In the middle of everything,the two rabbis begin to chant some melodies from the Yom Kippur service...Diana is quite transfixed by this.  They could be opera singers but are prompting one another with the typical hand gestures of Chassidic Jews. We speak to Sig.ra Adriana Ottolenghi, the wife of the President of the community, whom we had met 15 years before on our previous visit but, since they now have upwards of 15,000 visitors a year, she doesn't remember us.  :)

In addition to the Australians, there is a bicycle group, an Italian tour group and a few others in the synagogue and in the museum upstairs.  The synagogue has become one of the major tourist attractions in the town.

With so many visitors, it is quite hectic and noisy so we leave after a brief tour of the museum and return "home".

No dinner tonight....or maybe ever again.  :)  We watch a movie - "When Jews Were Funny" and go to sleep.

Tomorrow we are off to Lake Como, the last stop of our vacation.

Jim and Diana

P.S. from Diana

 At the end of these trips I usually share what books I've read. This year I brought along some New Yorkers which kept me busy for a while and then only read 3 books. One was 631 pages long, but still, I don't have much to report. But those that I read I can recommend highly.

1. Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante. I thought this was a brilliant (first) novel by a contemporary Italian author. A man leaves his wife after 15 years of marriage and 2 children and she's devastated. She's desperate to understand why, and goes a bit mad in the process, though ultimately comes through. Very vivid, very intimate, very gripping.

2. The Time of Our Singing by Richard Powers. A great American novel that deals with race, time and music. Narrated by Joseph, the son of a black mother and Jewish German immigrant physicist father who met at the 1939 Marian Anderson concert at the Lincoln Memorial. Joe and his brother Jonah are musicians. Their sister Ruth turns to Black Power and becomes a Black Panther. The parents want to raise their children "above" race, but this can't happen in that USA. The novel moves from the '40's and '50's through to the '90's. It's an amazingly rich, complex novel. The descriptions and uses of music are fantastic. This book was the 631 page one, and it does go on a bit, but I loved it!

3. The Unwinding by George Packer. A non-fiction examination by the New Yorker writer of the 4 decades during which America unwound - in terms of the loss of jobs, the housing crisis, the financial crisis and the lack of government will to deal with these issues. There are in depth portraits of 4 people and a city, Tampa: Tammy, a laid-off worker who becomes a community organizer in Youngstown, OH; a political operative Jeff Connaughton; a NC biofuel entrepeneur and a Silicon Valley millionaire. Packer also has short portraits of various celebrities, such as Oprah, Sam Walton, Newt Gingrich - and  Elizabeth Warren. The book is modeled on Dos Passos but is non-fiction. Depressing, wonderful journalism, with not too many answers.

Italy 2014: Day 23: Saturday: May 24: Casale Monferrato

After breakfast, we make a short expedition around the center of Casale Monferrato and visit the very impressive and distinctive Duomo.  

There have been recent restorations to the building--both inside and outside--so it looks very fresh.   Once entering the front doors (which are glass), you enter a high arched ceiling room called the narthex with many windows letting in the light.   

 

This architectural feature is unlike any we remember seeing in Italy and makes for an usual entrance into the church.

The interior is very harmonious...the striped columns have little ornamentation and they give the place an austere air even though there is a quite a bit of decoration.  The blue ceiling adds another calming influence

and the impressive crucifix in front of the "mosaic" (actually painted) in the apse is appealing.

Back outside, we are walking in the back streets when we are stopped by a woman who is sweeping the sidewalk and complaining about the people who walk their dogs and don't clean up.  After asking where we are from, she starts a long monologue detailing all the churches in town that are worth seeing.  We can't decide if she is charming or a bit off...but she was interesting.

Here are some of the sights in the center of Casale Monferrato...

the 11th century Torre Civica

a typical flower bedecked building on one of the main streets

an unfaced brick building--which is very common in Piedmont, especially for churches

and an archway leading to another part of the business district.  What a charming city.

We have some time to kill before leaving for lunch so sit on a bench in the pretty main piazza (Piazza Mazzini), enjoy the sun and watch the Casalese enjoy this beautiful spring day.

  

We get in the car and drive to Moncalvo, a busy hill town about 20 minutes away from Casale M.  We had passed by on our way in but didn't take the time to climb to the "centro".  We are meeting our friend Livio Misgur. We met through an online chat board--the Compuserve Italian Forum--in the 1990s and have kept in touch, getting together often to have a meal when we are close to his hometown, Alessandria.

We pull up in front of the restaurant and find a parking space right in front.  Since we are early, we find a bench across the street--at the entrance to the "centro storico"--to wait for him in the sun.  I take an exploratory walk up the main (pedestrian) street that leads to the central piazza at the top of the hill.  Moncalvo appears to be a pleasant, prosperous town; I pass many nice shops and "palazzi" en route to the top.  And the piazza at the top is spacious and picturesque with great views over the surrounding countryside.

When Livio arrives, we all climb to the top and have a prosecco in a cafe in the piazza, then go back down and go into the Ristorante Centrale.  This restaurant is known for the Piemontese dish--bollito misto (literally mixed boil) but actually various cuts of meat, sausage and offal cooked in a large pot and usually served from a rolling trolley.  Here the various cuts are presented on a large tray and sliced to order and include brisket, tongue, cotechino sausage and other less common (to us) parts of animals.  The dish is served with various sauces and mostardas (fruit syrup with a mustard base) and pickled vegetables.   It is a great favorite with many Italians...less so with most Americans.  Livio and I both have it and he judges it pretty good (an 8 out of 10).  We all start with carne cruda which is served everywhere and is usually delicious, as it is today.  Diana skips the bollito in favor of ravioli.  We drink a delicious Barbera which is one of Livio's favorites.  We have a good time catching up and talking food, Italian politics and the depressing Italian economy.

Back in Casale Monferrato, after a rest to digest the meal, I go out and discover that the Saturday evening passeggiata is in full swing.  The streets are full of people strolling, greeting friends, shopping and having aperitivos at the many bars with outdoor tables. I go back and get Diana who loves to be out during the passeggiata.  We walk a bit with the Casalese and then find a bench and people watch.

While we are not too hungry for another meal, we decide to have a pizza, our usual recourse when we want to eat something but not too much.  The only problem with this strategy is that we are not particularly fond of pizza served in Italy (outside of Naples) so we rarely finish the ones we order.  I text Alessandria and she gives us a recommendation and makes a reservation at a nearby pizzeria, the Capri.   The pizzas are the same as usual...we eat them but don't really enjoy them.  And by the time we are finishing, the pizzeria is mobbed and noisy so we are happy to leave.

The streets are still pretty crowded on this Saturday evening as we make our way back to our "home" where we watch a movie before going to bed.

Tomorrow, our last day in this town that we are enjoying very much, we will explore the countryside and visit the synagogue.

Jim and Diana

Italy 2014: Day 22: Friday: May 23: Casale Monferrato

Our room looks out onto an interior courtyard so it is hard to tell a lot about the weather but it is definitely not raining and the sun might be out.

Breakfast is brought to the room by Alessandra....and it is simple but fine--rolls, cornetti, yogurt, fruit, coffee and tea.  After breakfast, we head out to the market and find that it is a glorious day--sunny and warm.  I stop to ask for some information at the tourist office about things to do in the area and am pleasantly surprised when the middle aged lady on duty not only speaks excellent English but has many good suggestions along with detailed directions about how to find the places.  This gets the morning off to a good start.

I am not a big market person....they are usually fun for people watching but, for the most part, you see the same merchandise over and over again.  So we don't usually stay too long--just a quick once through and out. The market in Casale Monferrato stands out however....in the first place, the market is huge covering almost the entire parking lot at the Piazza Castello.  Secondly, there are more food stalls then we are used to seeing, selling the most delicious looking cheeses, meats, fish and fruits and vegetables.

This stand was particularly impressive for its tomatoes

but I really was fascinated by this guy and how he was going to get all his stuff back into his truck.

After Diana buys some sun-dried tomatoes from Sicily (she just ran out at home) and some hazelnuts--from Italy, not France--we make a short visit to the Santa Caterina Church...it is right on the Piazza Castello and is only open on market days (Tuesdays and Fridays).  It has a very richly decorated facade

and an ornate interior, including a large oval dome

Not exactly our favorite style but it does make an impression.

We walk back into town and go into a bookstore...we had noticed this bookstore on our first walk around town because it had very extensive window displays that stretched for an entire city block. With bookstores closing all over the US, even in NYC - the publishing center- it's so nice to see a few bookstores in this small city. One thing that catches my eye is an entire row of detective novels (in Italian) written by one of our favorite authors, Michael Connelly.

The bookstore is quite amazing....a large room with both new and used books...on seemingly every subject. 

Before we leave town for lunch in the countryside, Diana goes back to the tourist information office to ask about a laundromat and finds out that the nice lady that I had talked to is a retired English teacher and a volunteer (like all the tourist office people in Casale).

Alessandra has found a restaurant for us near Rosignano Monferrato, a hill town about 20 minutes from the city. Once you leave Casale Monferrato, it doesn't take long to reach the green, rolling hills of the Monferrato region. The horizon is dotted with a number of castles as well and it all makes for a very pretty picture.

We get lost as the GPS doesn't pick up either the restaurant or the address but Google Maps on the smartphone comes to the rescue.  The restaurant--A Casa di Babette--is in the middle of the countryside across from the local wine cooperative.  From the outside the building looks like a warehouse but once inside, the rooms are beautifully decorated in a cool, restrained manner.

We are greeted by the owner and he seats us in the French room (see above) and proceeds to explain the menu which is quite traditional with some creative touches thrown in.  When we ask about wine, he asks us if Alessandra has told us about the restaurant.  We say no and he explains that A Casa di Babette is known for its champagne list, that they have developed a name as a place to try unique French champagnes--very unusual in Italy and certainly in Piemonte.  We decide to try a glass of champagne with our meal..and it is delicious--delicate and crisp...and very different than prosecco.

The meal works out very well....it is like having your own private chef and private dining room.  Diana has the carne cruda--served with an unusual egg yolk sauce--and agnolotti (she is doing a comparison of Piemonte specialties) and I try something a bit different--a chicken salad made with local free range fowl and very delicate greens followed by gnocchi with local sausage.  Diana tries the special dessert which turns out to be a semi-freddo with three layers of flavors.  I like it better than she does so I finish it off.

The food is fine and the whole experience is memorable--the countryside, the weather, the refined atmosphere and the attention.

We take a short drive after lunch but we decide to go back and rest at our b&b after our special lunch.

In the late afternoon, we stroll around the town enjoying the activity on the streets...it appears to be a very convivial place...and stop for a prosecco at the Riviera Cafe

.

a very popular bar on the main street, Via Roma.

No dinner tonight...we stay in and watch some television.

Tomorrow we are going to Moncalvo to have lunch with our friend Livio.

Jim and Diana