Our Trip to Northern Italy, May 2023

Chris and I travelled to Northern Italy with Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT), from May 3-17. Among the 13 travelers on the trip were Chris’s brother Tim, and his wife Kim Hoke; Kim’s sister, Jane Hewitt; my brother, Norman, and his wife Ginny Andrews; and Margery Kowal, a friend from Asheville, whom we met on a trip to the Baltic Capitals and St. Petersburg. Our Trip Experience Leader was Daniele Zanzi, from Milan. Below is a summary of the trip, by day, and some of our favorite photos.

For most of the photos, you can click to enlarge them.

Photo below sent by Dani.

Thursday, May 4

For our first few nights, we stayed at a hotel in Malgrate, across Lake Lecco from the town of Lecco. The lake is one of the two legs of Lake Como. On our first full day, we took a walking tour of Lecco. In the town square was a statue of Alessandro Manzoni: poet, philosopher, and author of the novel “The Betrothed,” published first in 1823, which I read about a decade ago.
We joined a local journalist for our first discussion of a “controversial topic,” something included in all OAT trips. He discussed politics in Italy, specifically the rise of neofascism.
The views of Lecco from our side of the lake were lovely at night.

Friday, May 5

We toured Milan.  Our schedule was set by the time of our tickets to see Da Vinci’s The Last Supper.  We had a brief walking tour of the city, seeing the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II,  the majestic and ornate Duomo, the statue of Da Vinci in the Piazza della Scala, and the outside of the La Scala opera house.  After viewing the Last Supper,  we  had free time to further explore the city on our own.   Since we had not been able to see La Scala on our first visit to Milan many years ago, I chose to visit the La Scala museum.  From the museum, you can enter several of the opera house boxes and observe the theatre.  A rehearsal was underway so the house lights were not fully on.  Nevertheless, it was great to get a view.  The museum itself was impressive.  There was an amazing exhibit about Franco Zeffirelli.  I was familiar with his movies, but not his operas.  He had a long partnership with Maria Callas, and the exhibit showed photos of great and lavish operas he directed as well as many of the key costumes from those operas. 

Saturday, May 6

We said good bye to our lovely hotel at Lake Lecco and headed to a mid-day stop at Varenna, a fishing village on Lake Como.  We hiked around Villa Monastero with its beautiful gardens, including some huge trees at the Magnolia Meditation area.  Following exploration of the quaint village, we had lunch at a local sports club.  

After the lunch, we headed to our next destination, Tirano (pronounced a bit like Toronto).  We had a brief orientation walk around the town, including the old town, then had time to explore on our own.  Some of us found our way to a wonderful pizza restaurant with outdoor seating.  It provided a great view of the approaching lightning in the mountains, as we wrapped up dinner and headed the few steps to our hotel before the rain came. 

Sunday, May 7 

Today we had our “Day in the Life.”  We visited a goat farm in the Valtellina Valley.  The family’s son had graduated from college and had a good job in the high-tech industry, but he decided he really wanted to return to the farm and work with goats.  He started a fairly large goat farm (60 females), in the land adjacent to the grandmothers’ house.  Neighbors allowed him to use their land for grazing.  His father retired and helped with the eco-tourism part of the business.  Now they have a good business making cheese and hosting groups.  They have a small pet goat, Fortuna, and the young daughter plays with Fortuna and enjoys the goats.  We helped move a fence so the goats could graze in the right spot for the day.  After the goats moved from the barn to the grazing area, we gravitated back to the farm house for lunch (after Margery had a chance to play with the family dog!).  The grandfather showed us how they take the goat milk solids to make cheese.  After we ate lunch (salad, several different cheeses), we finished draining our individual portions of goat milk to make a semi-solid cheese and add honey to it for dessert.  Not my favorite.  The family was absolutely delightful!!!  

We headed back to our hotel in Tirano and had a short hike around the town, through an apple orchard and past a sporting area where people were playing soccer, and some were practicing shooting. (There is a shooting club and the guns stay locked at the club unless there is organized practice). We walked through the lovely old town with its narrow streets, rusty doors, and real charm.

Here is a link to a video taken from the path above the farm, where we set the fence. (You may need to copy the link into your browser.)

Monday, May 8

 We boarded the Bernina Express Train this morning with a local guide.  This is the world’s highest Alpine crossing (up to 7,400 feet) and the steepest (gradients up to 7%).  We reached the Diavolezza station in Switzerland, then took a cable care further up.  We had time to view the scenery and have lunch before heading down.  Despite the cloudy beginning, we had some blue sky and beautiful views of the Switzerland Alps.  What a great day!!!  The train took us back on the same beautiful route to Tirano.  In the evening, we divided up into smaller groups for our home-hosted dinner.  We were driven to our family’s house by their son — a rather speedy voyage in their BMW.  We had a lovely dinner and discussion with the parents.  The mom had dual citizenship (US —from Nevada, and Italian from Milan).  One son was an accomplished pianist.  Margery and I played some pieces on their piano after dinner.  Great fun!!

There are two links to the time lapse videos of our descent.

Tuesday, May 9

Today we travelled toward Lake Iseo.  We stopped in the morning to visit a winery, Bersi Berlini, run by two women.  Some of the wines were sparkling, made with the champagne method.  We had a tour of the winery, and then a blinded wine tasting before a super buffet lunch.

We then headed to our hotel, Villa Kinzica, on the shore of Lake Iseo.  It was a lovely spot for spending a few nights!  The group had a tasty dinner in the hotel restaurant.

Wednesday, May 10

The next morning, instead of joining the group for an optional tour of Brescia, requiring an hour there and back, mostly in the rain, we took the morning to enjoy the lake and hotel.  There is a sweet church in the village center and a few shops.  We found a local cafe/bar for a casual lunch.  The cafe was the center of the universe for this village — with everyone stopping in to chat with the owner, pick up packages, grab a quick coffee and run.  They sold all sorts of drinks, pastries, and some sandwiches and pizzas.  Also Lotto cards, candies, etc.   We also passed waterfront houses with beautiful walled gardens with fragrant roses.

Later in the afternoon the group took a ferry to the largest town on the largest island in the middle of the lake, Monte Isola. There had been an art installation called the Floating Piers, by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, linking the mainland to two islands. Photos of that installation were amazing, and can be found on the web.

We walked around, saw sardines drying near the fishing boats, took a walk up a hill to see views of the town and lake from the top. Back at the hotel, some of us dined in the hotel. Chris’s clam shells were mostly empty! We liked the toasted cheese lollipops.

Thursday, May 11

We left Lake Iseo and drove to Lake Garda, the largest of the lakes in Italy.  We stopped in the town of Desenzano, a lovely town with a castle overlooking the lake.  On our walk to the castle to see the view, we stopped at a local leather shop and chatted with the owners. There was also a cool curio store with various items featuring floating spinning globes, and painted porceline French Bulldogs.   We then drove a short distance to an olive mill owned by the Manestrini family.  After learning about the olive trees and seeing the processing facility, we had an olive oil tasting, followed by a delicious lunch featuring items made using the oils.

Our next stop was Trento on the Adige River.  After checking into the hotel, the Grand Hotel Trento, Danni took us on a walk to orient us to the town.  

Friday, May 12

The next day, we met a local guide and had a walking tour of the town that was home to the Council of Trent in the mid-16th century.  The Castello del Buonconsiglio was an impressive sight. The guide pointed out a few signs that had previously paid tribute to Mussolini, but had since been altered.   After the tour, we explored the ancient ruins unearthed underneath the main square of the town.  We had dinner in a lovely local restaurant, in which we were the only guests.

Saturday, May 13

We departed Trento for Bressanone.  Along the way, we stopped for a hike in the Val di Funes, a beautiful valley surrounded by the Alps.  We hiked up to a small church with an interesting cemetery with photos, candles and bowls for holy water in front of each gravestone. We learned that a local guy, Rheinhold Messner, had been the first to climb Mount Everest solo and one of the first pair to climb it without supplemental oxygen.   Lunch was in the local lodge before we headed into Bressanone to check into the Elephant Hotel (amazing historic hotel, with a lovely garden across the street).  Daniele took us on an orientation walk around the small old town.  We ate at a local restaurant which was very busy!!!

More photos below.

Sunday, May 14

We took a local train to Bolzano for a walking tour of this South Tyrol area, where the majority of people speak German as their primary language. We met with a couple of individuals for another “controversial topic” discussion about Tyrolean history and culture.  One was a German Speaker, and the other, Italian.  We toured the Bolzano Museum of Archaeology, where we saw Otzi the Iceman — a 5300 year old mummy preserved only by ice.  His skin had tattoos, which were probably accupuncture marks rather than actual tatoos, based on size and placement.  On display were items found with him along with a scientifically created model of Otzi.    

After the museum, Daniele treated us to delicious gelato from his “gelato budget,”and then we made for a cable car to take us to great views above the town. 

We enjoyed dinner in a restaurant that had a Michelin mention.

Here is the time-lapse video of our descent.

Monday, May 15

We took a drive to Val Gardena for our longest hike and beautiful views of the Dolomites. This is the area where Ladin is still spoken.  We had a walking guide who was also a ski guide. The hike was spectacular.  We stopped at a lake with swans, and some individuals could take the coach to a local cafe/bar, and the rest continued to hike.  Lunch was in a restaurant up a windy road way at the peak of the mountain. After taking in the mountain views following lunch, we returned to Bressanone, where we could explore on our own.  

May 15, continued

Chris and I enjoyed shrimp, cheese, fruit and bread with a Lugano white wine from the market in our grand room.  I walked around town to view the marine light show that had numerous installations in the old town. 

Here’s a video of one of the art installations.

Tuesday, May 16

On our last day, we headed to the countryside near Venice. Along the way, we stopped at an apple farm.  After viewing the orchard — all trees grafted for ease of growing and picking, we prepared strudle, with several of us were drafted to roll the dough and finish the preparations, then had lunch.  

We drove to our hotel, a villa converted into a massive hotel, the Villa Corner Della Regina, where we had toasts, farewell comments and dinner.  It was a great trip. 

Our morning ride to the airport at 3:30 went off without a hitch.

Here are some additional images sent from Dani from various parts of the trip. Thank you Daniele for being such an amazing and fun trip leader!!!

A few ink and watercolor sketches I made on the trip.