Will Monk's Graduation Trip
The Skinny: Family week in northern Italy from Lake Como to Milan to Emilia Romagna to Venice. Some active/outdoor, some sightseeing, some city, some guides, some winging it, some shopping, some unique tours - helps to keep all ages happy.
It was a last minute trip so we used our travel agent extensively who had her Italian counterparts plan it all. IC Bellagio in conjunction with Virtuoso Travel. Not necessary, but certainly easy if you are short of time to plan and research yourself. Probably way overpaying, but it is top notch with really good guides.
Friday May 13 and Saturday May 14
Friday, May 13th (!) 2016 and Saturday, May 14, 2016 Lago do Como via London Allora, come stai? Molto bene dopo arrivi. Mama mia, travel is so worth it in the end, but never fun getting there. The RDU flight to JFK was late thus ensuring we would miss our flight to Milan, so we were rerouted RDU-Heathrow, Heathrow to Milan, not a bad option except instead of arriving Milan 8:20 am, it would be a 9 hour layover in London and arriving 6pm. Ugh. So make lemonade….go to No. 1 Lounge, a pay-for lounge chain within the larger British airports with everything you want including pod bedrooms, or a shower room, food etc. It was worth every pence of 20 pounds per person! Pods are extra, but depending on your needs, also well worth the 60 pounds for 3 hours. (These can be reserved in advanced and can have a double or single.)
Finalemente, Milano and on to Lago di Como and Bellagio (most certainly not to be confused with Vegas in any way…..) You can get there by rented car, train to Varenna and ferry across, or private hire driver.
The entire region is to die for…steep “pre-Alp” mountains create the lake shore with 4-5 feet out of rocky shallow area and then plunges to become the deepest lake in Europe. (Somewhat reminiscent of an Italian Milford Sound?) Bellagio is 3000 population of locals, but is made up of many smaller communities that have banded together to create a population that the Italian government will support. The Centro Storico, or historical center, is as steep as, and charming as, seaside towns of Positano and Portofino. Numerous hotels of all kinds are there and all around the lake in various towns. We stayed at the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni, a lovely old villa converted many years ago into a hotel. There is also Villa Serbelloni now owned by the Rockefeller Foundation and open for tours and gardens. We had dinner poolside at La Goletta in the hotel; nice for weary travel souls or lunch on a sunny day, but venture out into the town otherwise.
Highs: Traveling on Lago di Como roads and the scenery. Getting to the hotel. A shower. No 1 lounge. Lasagna. A glass of the local trebbiano grape Lungarno wine.
Lows: The trip over of course.
Captured moment: Seeing snow on the alps in the distance.
An aside: You could stay here for a week and do many different things including many hikes of all kinds, biking, kayaking and just lounging or visiting the little towns. All seem to have their own charm, even the larger 90k population of Como which is closest to Milan.
Hashtags:
Sunday, May 15, 2016
Get out on the water….take a tour of the lake however possible. It is both most charming and quickest to get around via water as driving takes forever on the narrow, winding roads around the lake perimeter. There is a full ferry service of car ferries, hydrofoils and catamaran boats, plus private water taxis. You can rent boats and charter boats, but not sure how docking works for the boat rentals though. We had a chartered boat tour for a couple of hours with Rita the tour guide, full of energy and knowledge. The highlight was touring Villa Balbianello which is to die for gorgeous and best done with a guide so you have full access to the house. It is the setting for movie filming (think Star Wars and James Bond, Casino Royale) and weddings for whoever wants to afford it….
Lunch in town at a local spot called Baba Yaga for the oblong, uber thin crust pizza (exactly why I can’t eat pizza in the US anymore - #snob) and then joined in the throngs for cruising the town and shops and of course gelato. Sunday is packed throughout the lake villages (and in fact anywhere in Italy) as locals and tourists take their day off for pleasure and ultimately the passeggiata, or walk around. Dinner that night was in Belacus - eat outside in the giardino. Try the regional specialty of Lake fish and riso (perch and rice for the very traditional) or better, perch with risotto.
Monday, May 16, 2016
What a day. Gorgeous again, which apparently is never a guarantee. Up and ready to hike, we met Rita to catch the Hydrofoil over to Bellano (“nice ass”) to hike up and about 5-7Km across the side of the mountain overlooking the villages and the lake to charming village of Verenna (not Verona, be careful if you are taking the train from Milan!) It was steep in places, but mostly flat with amazing views and delightful to be outdoors and see the local homes, pass through small villages and down for lunch shoreside in Varenna. OR grab a panini in the local alimentary before it closes at 12:30 for riposte and have a picnic. We took our sandwiches, hoped on board and headed to Cadenabbia to hike the very steep but short trek to Chiesa de San Martina, a tiny church up high on the mountain overlooking the lake. The views are unreal. Worth the trip especially if you like exercise and the outdoors. Car ferry back and more gelato…of course. Dinner at La Punta on the peninsula point was amazing, upscale but still very, very casual.
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Another beautiful day with blue skies and 60’s. Checked out and headed to Milan for a fly-by, bucket list trip. “The Last Supper” and the Duomo are the reasons for going and worth every second. Book way ahead for “The Last Supper” in the Basilica Santa Maria Delle Grazie and be sure to go up on top of the Duomo roof. We also visited the Castello Sforzesco, La Scala Opera House and Museum and walked through the Galleria. We splurged for the Mandarin Oriental which was quite posh located next to the fashion district. Lunch, as recommended by the hotel, was Paper Moon, was delicious, but dinner was a total whiff…had a seemingly hip place picked out, but it had changed hands and so we went the traditional route as suggested by the concierge. Solita was typical and forgettable; better to go modern and hip in Milan. Try Un Posto di Milano maybe for dinner or be a tourist and eat at one of the restaurants in the Galleria. For lunch, head to the top of the Rinascente Dept store and eat outside in their rooftop cafe or maybe even for dinner. Quite the Duomo view. Maybe would have loved some extra time to stroll and shop, but alas…..bucket list checked.
Highs: All and esp “The Last Supper”
Lows: Dottore visit and an entire farmacia; dinner expectations. Trip fatigue.
An aside: Take a guide or reading material or listen to the audio for The Last Supper so you can take in every last detail
Wednesday, May 18, 2016 Tante Auguri Will!
Departed for Parma, about 1.5 hours south in Emilia Romagna. The countryside flattens out and the grounds become fertile for the food basket of Italy (isn’t it all??) The area though is most famous for Proscuitto di Parma, Parmigiano Reggiano, Lambrusco wines and aceto di Balsamico. Stayed at the Palazzo Dalla Rosa Prati which is on the Piazza Del Duomo. It has rooms, but we were in newly remodeled modern and spacious two bedroom apartments complete with full kitchen and washing machine; the young adults were digging the space and hang-out area that comes with an apartment. We yearned for a fast/casual lunch and went to the popular Pepen sandwich shop for a take away lunch. This is very local so, while good and culturally interesting and cheap, it might be better to head to the main shopping areas of especially Via Farini, Cavour, Garibaldi, and Manzini and eat a quick and casual lunch at one of the fast cafes, bars, or pizza shops there. We ate in the nearby park, walked the streets, toured the amazing and oldest Romanesque Duomo with the Carreggio painted dome of the acension and to the Baptistry, also very important as a Romanesque style heading into Gothic with its 16 arches meeting at the top.
Will picked our dinner restaurant, which was recommended by several different separate sources, Ristorante Tribunali, which was a hit, both for our waiter and the food. Other restaurant suggestions included La Forchetta, perfect for great outdoor atmosphere and right behind the hotel as well as Parizzi, which apparently is delicious, but maybe more formal that we wanted? We were happy.
Highs: Ristorante Tribulnali and our 20 year old waiter, Carreggio, shopping
Lows: Replacing the left Euro guidebook
Captured moment: Parma Proscuitto satisfaction An aside - We skipped Bologna, but hear it is a great university city with lots of action. You can base here and do gastronomic tours as well, and get your motor revved with visits to the Ferrari factory and other toys such as Ducati.
Hashtags: #flipflopfobia;
Thursday, May 19th 2016
Steady rain drowned our plans for biking through the country on a gastronomic tour. So we turned our whine into wine and toured by van…which actually turned out better as we added a few stops and doing anything else in the rain would have been a sightseeing drag! Visited the Consorzio Produttori Latte parmesan factory just outside from Parma which was fascinating. Then onto the Conti Proscuitto factory, a still family owned producer in the hills of Langhirano where all the proscuitto is produced….of all levels, mass or by hand. After, we headed to the Carra family Vineyard for a fab lunch of local favorites and their Lambrusco and Malvasia grape wines, and ending the day in Ronocolo at the Venturini Baldini winery, an agritourismo hotel in the makes (eventually to be a Relais and Chateau) for their traditional balsamic vinegar process. What a day. Heaven for a foodie, interesting at least for a non-foodie. Despite being a busy and atmospheric place full of Italians, Ai Carriere restaurant was a ho-hum since we were full, tired and mostly given that no restaurant can top a food-centric day like that.
Highs: Every experience of the day and the guide Angelo. Sampling of freshly sliced prosciutto in the Conti tasting room.
Lows: Getting pumped to bike (no pun intended) including no shower and putting on biking clothes to open the shutters to a cold rain. Dinner sub-par experience.
Captured moment: Rows upon rows of Parmesan wheels and Parma hams.
An aside: You can do these food tours through your hotel, find them online or through the tourist office. Not sure how they all work, but you’ll get there anyway. having a local guide seem to be money well spent for the inside, personal spots.
Hashtags: #favoriteday #changefromarthistory #thunderstorms
Friday, May 20th, 2016
The day was gorgeous….can’t even believe the day before happened? We met Lucca, the bike guide with his company FatBikeParadise.com and Bikeiteasytravel.com at the Castello di Torrechiara (clear tower) parking lot for a re-do of yesterday without the gastronomic add-ones. It was magnificent as we rode to the top of the colline (little hills) and rode along the empty back roads viewing the countryside, vineyards and Alps in the distance. Europe is taken with the e-bike phenomena and this was a fun twist to the day and made the hills more than easy. The bikes also were the very fat tires now getting popular for in the US. Great for off-road and sand (he does desert and dune tours and also snow tours!!) Lucca is a jolly, enthusiastic fella who you feel immediately safe with. We rode in fields, on the back roads, dirt roads and in vineyards as we looped around 20 km back to the castle for an amazing lunch. Bravissimo.
E poi, we headed off for the 2.5 hour ride into Venice. Always interesting to enter Venice as a big bridge connects the mainland with the island city right beside the buses and trains going to the respective city. Into a water taxi and to our hotel. There are millions of hotels in Venice. If you choose the luxury route, there are lots of those too. We were originally booked into Ca’ Sagredo, but opted for the Gritti Palace. Apparently the Ca'Sagredo is all that, and the price seemed so. Not that the Gritti is any bargain, but as a boutique almost private villa, we opted for no view at the Gritti. And glad we did….it’s been redone having closed down 3 years ago for 18 months to totally re-do. It was heaven….the bar and restaurant float off the front of the hotel in the Grande Canal looking at Sant Salute, the Wake Forest Villa and the Peggy Guggenheim across the way….hard to beat. Our local guide says in her option that the Gritti, Europe and Regina and the Cipriani are the best in Venice….the Danieli, while having a enviable terrace restaurant, apparently is in need of an overhaul.
And then we did what you do in Venice…we walked and ogled and window-shopped and crossed the Ponti di Rialto. And had a drink on that fab bar and then went to dinner at Osteria Antiche. Looked pretty basic with all the traditional Venetian foods, until the waiter came and told us all the specials, which revolve around the fresh seafood of the day. Quite a refreshing change. Being very tourist savvy, the restaurants here have clearly picked up on the daily special model, which I don’t remember seeing in other restaurants around the country. The wine again is regional, with several to savor especially Prosecco for spumante whites and Valpolicella for reds. The moon was full and the Piazza San Marco had flooded a bit with the high tides and the walk home.
High Points: Too many to count. E-biking in the countryside; riding up the Grand Canal in a taxi; the Gritti Palace.
Low Points: A few biking mishaps; crowds in Venice; Captured moments: the snow covered Alps range An aside: The wines of Emilia Romagna are typically frizzante, or slightly fizzy known as the Lambrusco red and the Malvasia whites. Go for it. Unloved in the US, it’ll transport you from your snobby vinotude to an open mind and mouth in the country at an al fresco trattoria in the Castello Torrechiara.
Hashtags: #biking meltdown; #brierpatchfall; #neverenoughfriedbreadproscuittoparmesanbalsamicsilver
Saturday, May 21, 2016
We walked WAY over the 10,000 steps goal and only minorly got lost, though that is relative as we def went way out of our way, thus the 10k+ steps. From the Ponte dell'Academia to Campo Salute to San Marco and Vaporetto to Murano to the train station and throughout seemingly almost all of Venice except Buramo and Torcello. The crowds were numbing, esp in the popular areas, and interestingly, most were Italian tourists. But you dodged and ducked into the off-track interior and were rewarded to find the best pizza in Venice as recommended by another restaurant (because pizzeria al forno ligna (wood fireplaces) are not allowed for fear of burning the city down. This particular pizzeria is Sicilian and excellent….and out of the masses way. We topped off the day with a 30 minute gondola ride, which is skippable unless you just want to check a box. (It does get you onto the little canals and by La Felice opera house and it is after all a gondola ride in Venice.) Confession: we skipped the Doge palace and tower……lines were incredible and our regazzi were done with history and art. We did substitute San Giorgio and its bell tower which is just across from San Mark’s and equally as high and a great view option.
Dinner took us to an outstanding restaurant, Oliva Nero. The owner is a stern, but savvy and amusing woman who clearly does it all from select the wines, cook, make the specials and wait tables. It has a nice outdoors and is quite upscale, but very casual. It seems to be widely known in Venice. That is a must and an excellent way to put the final touches on an excellent trip.
Highs: weather, Venice alleys and canals, getting on the water even if on a Vaporetto,
Lows: painful and expensive fines for having the wrong kind of Vaporetto ticket.
Sunday, May 22, 2016
Sigh….ciao bella Italia
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