Northern Italy: coming 'home' again

With our flight from Greece to Italy, we moved from super old antiquities to merely very old castles which predate America by many centuries. For instance, the university in Bologna is the oldest in Europe and has been in operation for nearly a millennium. Coming to Italy felt familiar as compared to the newness of Greece, Jordan, Turkey and Israel, part because we visited here together several years ago and more importantly the lovely visit we had with my cousin, Jen.


Arco/Verona

Our first stop in Italy was the well known outdoor focused town/region of Arco. This area is a delightful mix of the wine country of Napa Valley and the massive alpine lake and outdoor culture of Lake Tahoe. Since we have a strong affinity for both of those areas, combining them into one made for a place that was both pleasantly familiar and awesome. The similarities to Tahoe were particularly enjoyable, as Mu and i have spent nearly every winter weekend in Tahoe with our dear friends over the last 3-4 years.

The mountain lake in Arco is Lake Garda, and it is ringed by mountains rising a couple of thousand meters, and in some cases with thousand foot sheer cliffs cutting straight into the lake. It is a bit of an outdoor mecca, famed for rock climbing and mt biking, with a number of other outdoor activities on tap. We were focused on the climbing, which is quite well set and lead to us climbing on cliffs nestled in a grove of olive trees one day and high above the lake in a forest the other. Both crags had views of the lake, as well as vineyards, small villages, castles and seemingly endless big mountains. Honestly, the climbing was not as stellar as in Turkey and Greece, but the setting more than compensated and we had a great time.

We stayed a spectacular hour drive south of Arco, to be near the city of Verona. Having heard a number of good things about its charm, we wanted to check it out. Our B&B was in a small town about 10k outside of the city center, with tiny streets and a very relaxed vibe. We got to go into the city one night for a fancy dinner out in at this place (http://www.lacantinadel15ristoranteverona.it/), which we had read about and found after a charming hour of wandering the old city, seeing the famed forum from the outside, walking along the river and throughout the many, many pedestrian streets.The restaurant was down a flight of glass stairs in a basement, with delicious food and romantic ambiance. The two best things were a Parmesan flan app and the molten chocolate cake with vanilla sauce for desert, while the house white wine was quite delicious as well.

Bologna

After the two days in Arco, we cruised down to Ozzanna del'Emilia, right outside of Bologna, to visit my cousin, Jen, and her family. Jen has lived in Italy longer than she lived in the US, having met her husband, Mauricio, while studying abroad in Bologna 20 years ago. We were excited to see everyone and the visit ended being a clear highlight of our travels. After so many days on the road, meeting new people and making fast friends, it was deeply satisfying and comforting to be with family for a few days. We are so grateful for their bountiful hospitality and wish we had planned much longer for our visit.

It helps that their lifestyle is so enjoyable and relaxing. Some of the best times were the lingering lunches and dinners at their apartment, sitting around and talking/sharing with the sumptuous food. On the food front, visiting family in Italy is VASTLY superior to eating in restaurants, as each meal Jen, Litizia, Samantha and Mauricio prepared was off the charts delicious. They also evolved more gradually and enjoyably, with several distinct courses, followed by fresh fruit and always wrapped up with a little cappuccino. It is impossible for me to identify favorite, as they were all so yummy, be it the salmon cream pasta, baked calamari, chicken and potatoes baked in their pizza oven or the fresh tortellini with a butter sage sauce, the pasta being made that day in Ozzanna. Right now, my stomach is churning from the memories right now, and i just ate breakfast!

Beyond the lovely meals, we also got to do a number of really fun thigns throughout our visit, including a bike ride into the old city of Bologna with its arcades and plazas and famed towers, as well as a trail run in the hills above Ozzanna, a night out for pizza and gelato, and my personal favorite - a super fun sunset mt bike ride with Mauricio with technical ascents, as well as mellow ups passing vineyards and other fields. That led to super steep and flowing descents on both rock and trail. I was grinning/laughing the whole way down. (The ride back also went underneath the famed skier Roberto Tomba's "Tomba la Bomba" house, which was pretty cool.)

Our visit came to an end much too soon, with a delightful evening TV sports doubleheader of the Napoli soccer game followed by the Pats/Broncos tilt (both victories for the home team, by the way). I did not expect to get to see the Pats this fall so watching the game felt like a delightfully 'stolen' moment (with the game ending at 1:30 and our alarm going off at 5:15 to get to the airport, it was stolen from my night of sleep). It felt like home.