Italy Walk: Days 4 & 5

Up and Down and All Around

View from our window at Villa Pizzini

We woke up early to a nice sunrise on Day 4, Monday, Sept. 30 of our Italy Walk around the Italian Lake Country. We weren’t able to update our blog because of a slow internet and our need to get out on the trail.

We took a photo of the menu from the night before

Betsy loves the Italian tradition of eating something sweet for breakfast

A last look back at Villa Pizzini. We loved our stay there.

 

We walked back up to the top of the mountain. The views were better because it was a clearer day. But, that’s not what made us decide to do an extra uphill climb. It was Alpyland that beckoned. We wanted to experience the thrill of the bobsled/roller coaster again. So, we bought tickets for two rides and down we went. It was so much fun. Especially the second time when we were brave enough to go much faster.

We were the only ones there to ride that early

After the roller coaster, we took another roundtrip on the chair lifts to catch the views.

Then it was time to walk. We had a lot of miles to cover to get to our next stop in Armeno.

Mushrooms were growing everywhere. We also saw a guy foraging for some along the way. We don’t know the edible from the poisonous, so we just enjoyed looking at them.

Had to cross a couple of fields with cows, really big cows. And, as some may know, I have an irrational fear of cows. But, they didn’t pay us any attention, thankfully. There were lots of farms along the way, and churches, and just beautiful scenery. It was a mostly clear day, and quite sunny. That was nice for a change.

It was a lot downhill walking, which sounds easier than it is. The paths were steep and we used our walking sticks almost all day. Also, lots of stones, which meant we had to really concentrate while picking our way downhill. But it was fantastic.

Came across this church along the way. We love peeking inside. The churches here are ancient and well cared for and beautiful.

A pretty hotel and cute cafe. We had just eaten a Kind bar or we would have stopped for lunch.

Another church

After checking into the Hotel Cortese, which was modern and nice, we decided not to eat in the restaurant. The menu looked good, but more upscale. After the fantastic five-star dinner the night before, we wanted something more simple. So we walked about a mile to a family restaurant, Pizzaria Golden Star. Can’t imagine why they named it that, but was such a great place. No English spoken, but we and the owner who took care of us figured out how to communicate. The pizza was delicious, and it was our first taste of pizza during this trip.

The courtyard area of our hotel. We sat outside a bit when we got back from dinner and just enjoyed the weather and the clear sky.

We have seen beautiful flowers on every walk

 Had a fantastic breakfast at the hotel and a good chat with some fellow walkers, a couple from Seattle doing the same walk we are. He’s an orthopedic surgeon and she’s a psychologist who now does some kind of consulting. Really nice people and interesting. Like us, this is their fifth walking holiday. We have only seen them on the trail once, and that was a the beginning of one of our walks. We like walking alone, so that’s perfect. Now, we run into them at breakfast and sometimes at dinner.

This is one of the tracks we walked. Paths, tracks and roads are mentioned in the walking directions and we’ve learned each is an important distinction.

A cemetery behind a church. Very pretty and lots of flowers. We saw an elderly woman placing flowers on graves while we were there.

Day 5 was really varied with lots of uphills and downhills. We liked that. But it was one of the tougher days, too because there wasn’t much flat walking and it was a lot of miles to cover.

The climb to Monte Mesma. Ahead on the right, one of the chapels

 Today’s walk included the towns of Pisogno, Ameno (not Armeno where we stayed last night) and Lortallo. Part of it included climbing Monte Mesma, which is topped by a 17th century church and a convent with two 16th century cloisters. You reach the top by Bia Crucis (stations of the cross), a path with frescoed chapels depicting the life of Christ, crucifixion and resurrection, all set in chestnut woods.

View from the top of Monte Mesma

The convent and an ancient olive tree

A glimpse of our destination for the night

Passing through Legro, a beautiful little town also known as the “Painted Town” thanks to murals painted by contemporary artists and students of an art school on the walls of the houses. The murals represent movies which have been filmed in the area.

We took a rare break and had a drink other than water as our walk neared its destination. When you order drinks here, they always bring some potato chips. It doesn’t matter if it’s a super nice bar or a bar at a train station, like this one. Having had only breakfast and splitting a small Kind bar for the day, we were glad to see the bowl of chips arrive.

The walk to our hotel was so beautiful and right on the shore of Lake Orta.

Doors from our room open onto this pretty terrace.

We will be visiting that island by ferry.

Orta is a picturesque Italian town. Winding streets, pretty buildings, cute shops. We’re looking forward to exploring it all day. We get to spend two nights here, and that hasn’t happened on this trip. It’s a treat not to move.

We walked up the street to find a little dinner spot, and found something small, oddly decorated, but with good food. Didn’t love this salmon mouse (below) so much, but the peach slices were a treat.

Betsy had the pasta with mushrooms (of course), and it was so good. I had pasta with pesto, also delicious. We said no to dessert and headed back to our hotel We planned to sit on the terrace for a while, but it began to rain, followed by a fairly fierce thunderstorm.

Today, we explore Orta and the little island in the middle of the lake. We also hope to ship some of this luggage back to Nashville. We’re ready to be rid of this hiking gear and make room in our suitcases for all the things we plan to buy while we are here.

Ciao!