It has been close to a year since my wife and I spent four days relaxing along the shores of Lake Como. As I have thought back on that trip, the memories from this particular part of two weeks in Italy have bubbled to the top as my favourite. That’s not because we did a lot. It’s because at that time, I really needed a true break and some peace, and the setting and backdrop allowed me to relax and soak in some very simple pleasures.
We did not plan on spending any time in Bellano on our Italy adventures other than using it as a convenient train station from which to pick up a rental car for our time along Lake Como. An Italian train strike (fortunately, announced with ample time to make alternative plans) and a lack of other rental car options meant that we decided that spending a night in Bellano all of a sudden sounded like a wonderful idea. Lemons to lemonade… we were going to enjoy this side quest.
My wife and I chose Turin as one of our stops as we toured northern Italy mostly because of its proximity to the Barolo wine region and because we found a stunning rental property with an enormous balcony overlooking the city. Here we are a few minutes after checking in already making plans for sitting here and drinking wine for a few days.
The idea for this particular trip to Italy, and more specifically, a day of wine exploration in and around the Barolo region, started at a wine dinner we attended back in 2024 at the Vancouver International Wine Festival. With friends, we attended a dinner paired with outstanding wines from around Piedmont and my wife and I became enamoured with the idea of traveling back to Italy and exploring some of the wines in that region. We have had some wonderful wine explorations in Burgundy and Champagne, the Okanagan, and Napa and Sonoma, and were eager to have a lovely day eating and drinking in another special place.
We secured a local guide and driver, Stefania, who arranged the details for our day with a focus of showing us a couple of smaller wineries. She met us at the train station in Asti and after some getting to know each other over an espresso she drove us to our first stop in La Morra. Luckily for us, it was day one of the nebbiolo harvest for Stroppiana. Look at all those grapes!
When my wife and I headed to Italy last fall, it was a very much needed trip. Lots had happened in our lives over the previous year (really, two years, but who’s counting?) and the idea of leaving the continent and spending a couple of weeks wandering around Milan, Turin, the Barolo area and Lake Como sounded like the slice of heaven we both needed. To make it a touch more special, we sprung for the really fancy seats on our flight to Milan and starting crushing Champagne as soon as we could.
Maybe it is because I’m heading to a Hawksley Workman concert tonight and that his song “Birds in Train Stations” became a soundtrack for my wife and me during our recent visit to Italy. It seems a reasonable way to title this quick reflection of a trip that had us spending a bit of time navigating Italy’s notoriously not on schedule trains as we crossed from Milan to Turin to Asti and eventually on to small towns on the east coast of Lake Como. I mean, if you’ve ever traveled in Italy, take a listen to this song and grin at this line:
“birds in train stations
hear the same announcements everyday
except the ones in italy because there’s always some delay
and they move at a different pace”
Pretty much spot-on. At the end of the day, a national day-long train strike and a host of other trains that had a loose association with any concept of time became laughter and opportunity inducing more than anything (Strike? Let’s spend an unexpected night in Bellano!). Italy might be the only place on earth that can attempt to simultaneously frustrate you, then ask for forgiveness with offers of 5pm spritzes, plates of heavenly agnolotti in broth, stunning natural beauty, and impossibly amazing coffee in the most unlikely of places.
The two weeks were perfect. I cried at the beauty of a ballet at La Scala. My wife and I drank Barolo and Barbaresco that completely changed my view of what those wines can be. I lounged hours away looking out over the snow-capped Alps from the absurdly-sized deck of our Turin apartment. We wandered. We ate (oh my god, we ate). We were gifted homemade limoncello from a favourite restaurant in Milan that we used to toast good-night to each day along the way. I drove a tiny Fiat 500 with the roof down along twisty mountain roads. And maybe the best part of the entire trip…. was just being in the moment and letting all of the beauty around me wash over me for two weeks.
Thanks Italy. You were pretty great. Even with your annoying trains.
Favourite 2014 travel photos. Rome, Italy. October 2014.
Favourite 2014 travel photos. Rome, Italy. October 2014.
I always end up feeling a bit nostalgic on the last day of any long trip. Maybe a bit bittersweet as well. That lends itself to laid back, slower and somewhat indulgent experiences the day before I hop on a long flight back home. On our last day in Italy, we made our way back to Rome as that’s where we were flying out of the next morning. After dropping our bags at the hotel, we had simple, relaxed plans for the last day – wander around the Villa Borghese park and have a couple of nice meals.
With deep appreciation to the travel weather gods, we had another beautiful day to explore. This one with a few clouds, but warm and not a drop of rain, making it a full two weeks without rain on this trip. Villa Borghese is a massive city park in the heart of Rome and is a lovely escape from the noise and bustle of the city that surrounds it. On this fall day, there were times we felt like we had the park almost to ourselves.
Bluenose Traveler 