Category: Europe Spring 2025

We really like this area of the Piedmont region of Italy where we are staying. It is absolutely beautiful and there aren’t many tourists. Today we went on an almost 7 mile loop hike starting not far from where we are staying.

The first part of the hike was all on country roads that had all been paved at some point. The views were stunning. We only saw one car in the first 3 miles.

About half way through the hike we came to a little church, Church of San Rocco. It was originally built to ask protection from the plague epidemic and has a date of 1631 over the door. The key was in the lock of the door and we were able to go in.

From the church we climbed to the highest point in the province. Then we started back down towards our car. The trail was horrible. It really overgrown and at times it was muddy and very uneven.

But eventually we made it. We felt very proud of ourselves and had a picnic on the terrace when we got back to the hotel. We even had a nice talk with the owner of the winery where we are staying.

For dinner we went to Caffe’ Ristorante Della Posta in nearby Olmo Gentile. We had one of the best meals we have had in Italy with lots of Piedmont specialties.

Today we moved farther south in Italy. For the next 2 nights we will be at Cascina Bertolotto Wine Resort in the southern Piedmont region of Italy.

For most of our drive today we were on motorway but, we didn’t want to arrive before we could check in so for the last twenty miles or so we drove on country roads.

We stopped at Torre di Vengore, a fourteenth century feudal watch tower. Today is Liberation Day in Italy, celebrating the end of World War II in Italy. There were lots of people picnicking. We could see the Alps and Mount Blanc from the hill.

Then we went to the nearby hilltop town of Roccaverano and looked around a bit. Then we made dinner reservations at Osteria Bramonte a restaurant recommended by our hotel.

When we got to our hotel we had a picnic lunch on the terrace overlooking the vineyards.

About 7:45 we drove back to Roccaverano and had a great dinner.

We had a really nice day today. We started with a great breakfast at our B&B,

Then we drove up the valley east of where we are staying almost to the Swiss border in the high alps. It was a wonderful drive narrow, lots of switch backs, one lane roads and stunning scenery.

We wanted to hike to Lago delle Streghe. We hiked almost a mile up the trail but there was too much snow and we decided to turn around.

It was cold, windy and sunny. It was so much fun. On the way back we stopped to enjoy the views and have a coffee.

Back in Varzo we went to the opening of the town festival. Each neighborhood has different colors. All the houses are decorated. First there was a procession to the church to ask the the priest to join the parade, and then to the town hall to invite the mayor to join.

After the procession through town there was a race around a short course through town. Each neighborhood has two men carry a sled with a cut-out of a donkey on it. One team carried the donkey and then the next and so on until all 10 neighborhoods had run. We don’t know who won. But it was a lot of fun to watch. Finally there was dinner and a concert in a big tent. We didn’t stay for that.

Then we went back to Il Negozio where we ate last night and had a wonderful meal.

Today we drove south, then east, and then north to the Ossola Valley on the Swiss – Italian border. The mountains here are so beautiful. Tonight we are just five miles from the border with Switzerland.

Our drive today took us past Lago Maggione. I was at a Sun Microsystems, European wokplace group, management meeting on lake Maggione in 2000. It was Shannon’s 16th birthday so I took her with me. It was fun to see this beautiful spot again almost twenty years later.

Tonight we are staying at a little B&B, Chalet II Picchio in Varzo

For dinner we went to the center of the village and had a marvelous meal at Il Negozio Wine Restaurant.

We were waited on by a very nice woman who I assumed was one of the owners. She gave us a bottle of the same wine that we had for dinner (she said it was from her winery) to take with us. It was a wonderful dinner and experience.