Road trip: northern Italy 2023 in the spring
Nice is a great place to live, as you can reach so many European and Mediterranean destinations by low-cost plane, train, or car, in just a few hours. Italy is right next door, but the northern part is difficult to reach by train, so we rented a car to meet up with family and friends. It took 4 1/2 hours travel on the fantastic Italian autostrade (highways) to reach the northern tip of beautiful Lago d’Orta.
Lago d’Orta is sometimes called the Cinderella of the Italian lakes. It is much smaller that Lake Maggiore and Lake Como (that I have not visited yet), but it is charming and beautiful, even in the rain (we came last year in chilly wet weather) – however, not to be missed in the sunshine.
Tip nr.1: the fastest way to get a meal on the road is by stopping at an Autogrill (highway rest stops). The food is not very good, and not cheap at all. On the other hand, shopping for Italian specialties can be nice.
We rented an Airbnb in the suburbs of Omegna. This was my first Italian Airbnb. It was a bit old-fashioned and the kitchen’s only condiments were salt and pepper. There was no oil, which was unpractical, as I’d come to expect it in any Airbnb. There was also no kitchen mitt; we promptly burned a towel, which I replaced. I tried to buy a mitt, but searched in several stores, and a market, unsuccessfully !
Our first day was sunny, and I asked the group if we could go to Orta San Giulio, that I had toured in the rain last year. It was a magical day. We parked in a public lot (you pay via a machine and it’s not very expensive) and set off to see the town. First stop (after a short visit to a tiny church): Arte del Gelato on Via Olina.
The gelato is absolutely wonderful. I had Fondente (dark chocolate sorbet) and mirtilia (blackberry — I think). Others had Panna Cotta (delicious), lemon sorbet… my friend swears by mango and pistachio.
Tip 2: 6 cones/cups cost €15. (June 2023)
It was Wednesday, market day. Stalls sold clothing, produce, jewelry. Just beware of the olives/antipasti stall: it was ridiculously expensive and not all that delicious.
We hopped into a ferry (€5 a person) to visit the small island in the middle of the lake. We walked all around it, through narrow winding streets and steps, with glimpses of the water. The Basilica of San Giulio was beautiful: an 11th-12th century church built on a crypt dating back to the 5th century, with the tomb of a saint. As a lapsed Catholic (technically Maronite), I still like to light candles in churches (the real kind, not the fake battery-operated ones), and here they only cost €0.30, but I had already used up my change in the aforementioned tiny church, where they were €0.50. Compare that to €2–3 in German and Swiss churches!
Much as Orta San Giulio was wonderful, the town where our Airbnb was, Omegna, begged to be discovered, too.
I walked to Omegna a bit before noon, downhill all the way, on roads with very little in the way of sidewalks, and cars zooming down – after all, this is Italy.
The view of the mountains was magnificent. When I reached town, a street market was in action. It went on for so long that I turned back at one point. Housewares (kitchen tools, towels, etc.), clothing for adults and children, and much more was on display. I headed into the city proper, through narrow streets, and finally came out at the canal. At least that’s what it appears to be: I found no river on the map.
There is a very tiny beach at Canottiere, a restaurant, cafe and boat rental outfit. Teens were splashing around (including those in my group).
I walked further into town, on the hunt for kitchen mitts (surprisingly hard to find in supermarkets!), and realized that there was a pedestrian walk along the canal.
After leaving Omegna, we drove to visit our friends in Baragiotta. It’s a tiny village with over 100 year old buildings, some of which are crumbling. Our friends renovated theirs to create a modern upper floor loft, with a medical practice on the ground floor. Most of the rest is still under construction. In the basement, we saw very old dusty bottles.(wine?) There is also an old-fashioned, perhaps 1950s kitchen.
Last year we had the pleasure of tasting the very excellent Erbaluce wine at Costa di Sera, and we wanted to buy a box to give some to our Nice friends. Once again, we were invited to a meal of cheeses, salamis, vegetables, bread, and breadsticks, in the Rock-music themed room of our Heavy Metal fan winemaker, Alfonso Rinaldi. Thisntime, my ear had become a little more attuned to Italian, and I think I understood about 30% of what he said (and he had a lot to say, including, incredibly, that one of the world’s best songs was « Blue Spanish Eyes »!
Our stomachs full, and our crate of wine safe in the car, we went on to visit the Agroturisma Fano’s Farm Bed and Breakfast. If you can snag a room or an apartment, it’s a one stop vacation, especially if you have children. Horses, ponies, chickens, a swimming pool and a vegetable garden await!
My friend (whom I know since high school in Germany – a very long time ago) reminded me that I expressed a desire for one more thing. After several guesses, I remembered: gelato from Cafe Agarla in Romagnano. The owner gets the freshest ingredients, and if the ingredients aren’t available that day at the market, that flavor will be unavailable. I had grapefruit/ginger and pistachio. The grapefruit was excellent, the pistachio IMHO a bit boring. Fondente wasn’t available! (Ice cream for 4 people cost €8.)
It was sadly time to leave the next day (Sunday). We tried to stop for coffee at one of the seaside towns near Genoa, but everyone was out (a sunny Sunday in June, after all) and there was nowhere to park. We had our capuccino at yet another highway Autogrill, with the delicious homemade grilled zucchini-mozzarella sandwiches our friend packed for us. It was still Italian capuccino in Italy – a notch above capuccino anywhere else! (The Autogrill lady probably thought I was crazy for grinning – but she smiled back nevertheless.)
