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THE BREAKFAST
La Cucina
Orto
La cantina
A week of delights, the seven best things to do and see around La Darbia.
I was asked recently what are the best destinations around our Lake d 'Orta, such as the most suggestive itineraries, the most interesting places and the activities not to be missed. Believe me, art, good food, nature, landscape, sport, there is an embarrassing amount to choose from!
Here is a list of my favourites:
The island of San Giulio and the ancient village of Orta
One of the most beautiful places in the world, an enchanted island that emerges from the water with its wonderful Benedictine monastery. Medieval legends surround this magical place, the mystical symbol of the whole lake.
Orta San Giulio
Right in front of the island, the village of Orta is destined to capture the visitor with narrow streets, palaces, churches and alleys that glide towards the lake. A romantic aperitif in the small square, not to be missed!
The Sacred Mount of Orta
Built in the 16th century and dedicated to Saint Francis, the Sacro Monte dominates Orta and offers a breathtaking view. I suggest a walk when the lights of the sunset make the lake sparkle, while the ringing of bells fills the sky.
The Madonna del Sasso
A true balcony overlooking the Cusio, the imposing sanctuary of the Madonna del Sasso built on a granite spur, dominates the western shore of the lake. Sometimes it appears dazzling, kissed by the morning sun, or it emerges wrapped in the lake fog, it always evokes a fairytale scenario.
Stresa and the Borromean Islands
Stresa is the true pearl of Lake Maggiore, with its elegant liberty style hotels and the three Borromean islands that emerge from the water and offer enchanted views. It is no coincidence that great artists of a not too distant past (from Hemingway to Flaubert, from Lord Byron to Stendhal) have linked their name to these places so full of charm.
Mount Mottarone
Mottarone is synonymous with relaxing walks along broom-bordered paths, alpine huts where you can taste polenta, winter skiing along snow-covered slopes. The funniest attraction? The Alpyland amusement park with its rail bobsleigh track.
The gardens of Villa Taranto
Everyone should give up a couple of hours visiting the famous gardens of Villa Taranto, overlooking Lake Maggiore, especially in spring when the park offers an incredible spectacle with thousands of flower beds and a blaze of colourful tulips.
Before saying goodbye, I would also like to remind everyone of the many fun activities that our lake offers, from SUP to canoeing, from boats to daring dives (have you ever tried the great high dive board at Gozzano?) And again: the acrobatic courses at the Adventure Park and bicycle rides (maybe electric ...) through woods and paths.
Maybe, maybe a week is not enough...
Along the Vigezzina-Centovalli railway line Autumn erupts in a blaze of golden colours reminscent of an artist's palette.
credits: ©Christian Guerra
All on board! We are about to leave!
The train master blows his whistle, the doors close, the locomotive moves away from the station dock while I settle down in anticipation of the sight ahead. I look out the window eagerly awaiting the scenery which never disappoints, especially in Autumn. All because this mythical little train, the “trenino delle Centovalli” travels through one of the most beautiful natural environments in Italy along a route connecting Piedmont with Canton Ticino: 52 kilometres of railroad between Italy and Switzerland, a journey that takes about two hours at moderate speed allowing you to absorb at leisure the beauty of the scenery.
credits: ©Christian Guerra
The ancient railway, a masterpiece of engineering, was inauguraed in 1923. It is actually a railroad with a narrow gauge track and, since it operates 365 days of the year, it provides a variety of different emotions in accordance with the changing seasons. Comparable to the images seen in films, scenes of uncontaminated nature appear on the window screen: characteristic villages, bell Towers and chimneys, fields and streams, waterfalls and bridges all spanning the deep valleys. The woods are the single most outstanding feature, which, at this stage of the year, proudly flaunt their intense, lively, and bewitching colours. The miracle repeats itself every year in October: the leaves on the trees turn into a kaleidoscope of warm hues, a dazzling riot of golden shades with such a regenerative capacity that Vigezzo has acquired the nickname of the valley of painters or rather “valle dei pittori”.
credits: @jacopo_de_grandis
Once the station of Domodossola has been left behind and the river Tocehas been crossed by means of a metal girder bridge, he train begins to climb uphill past sunny slopes and vineyards. I immediately catch a glimpse of the medieval tower of Creggio as the locomotive traverses woods of beech and chestnut trees, enters natural tunnels and proceeds along stone viaducts. The train stops briefly at the stations of Coimo, Druogno and Santa Maria Maggiore and eventually at Re, where there is a striking and picturesque santuary dedicated to Our Lady of Precious Blood, the “Madonna del Sangue”. It continues further down the slope towards Switzerland through the wild nature of “Parco della Val Grande” and beyond the border as far as the shores of Lake Maggiore. The line ends in the elegant little city of Locarno, a very popular tourist resort, particularly well-known for its International Film Festival.
credits: @benji.busser
As to how to spend the day, there is a wide choice of things to do: You may stroll around the porticoes of beautiful Piazza Grande or take a walk by the lake, visit the Castello Visconteo or the Pinacotheca in the wonderful building called Casa Rusca, or alternatively you could get the cable car to reach the Sanctuary “Santuario della Madonna del Sasso” in a matter of minutes, from where the view of the city is spectacular. When the light of day fades and evening sets in, the historic little train is there in the station waiting to take us back to Domodossola, making its way once again through the valley amid the spectacular foliage at sunset.
Just as the painter Van Gogh was heard to say:
« As long as the autumn lasts, I shall not have hands, canvasand paints enough to paint the beautiful things I see»
How about a journey through the masterpieces of Baroque art? An itinerary on the trail of Turin's treasures which took shape in the distant “century of wonder”.
credits: @davidelanzaph
Arabesques, precious stuccoes and sumptuous and extravagant decorations. If you have a passion for Baroque art and its precious seductions, know that many Turin treasures were created in the distant seventeenth century when the Savoy dynasty commissioned the construction of a system of royal residences and entrusted the design to the most famous architects of the time. Thus was born the "Crown of Delights", a set of keeps and palaces recognized by Unesco Heritage and today home to important historical collections.
credits: @silviacortigram
If I have already told you about the triumphal beauty of the Reggia di Venaria and the moving grandeur of the Basilica of Superga, other fine buildings await us in the center of Turin. We could start with the sumptuous Chapel of the Shroud, reopened to the public after almost thirty years of restoration following the serious fire that destroyed the structure. Built at the end of the seventeenth century as a project by the Modenese Guarino Guarini, the chapel was commissioned by the Duke of Savoy who wanted a building suitable to house the relic of the shroud, the sacred sheet that according to tradition had wrapped the body of Christ. Guarini succeeded in fully interpreting the spirit of his time, creating an elegant and light dome, which gives the impression of reaching upwards, embellished with black marble, enriched by arches and pillars, enhanced with suggestive plays of light.
credits: @mary_wandermom76
Among the other Baroque jewels we must also include the elegant Piazza San Carlo which represents the real "living room of the city" with its elegant historic cafes overlooking the arcades. In the center stands the bronze statue dedicated to Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia, while the two extraordinary "twin churches" attract attention for their perfect symmetry: even if they were actually built twenty years apart from each other, the church of San Carlo Borromeo and the one dedicated to Santa Cristina appear identical and opposite to the central road that separates them, while their majestic and finely decorated facades dominate the large space of the square, attracting the gaze of tourists and art lovers alike.
credits: @giadaalin
Another iconic and much admired building is Palazzo Carignano, also designed by Guarini and characterized by a beautiful curved terracotta facade: this surface that alternates concave and convex shapes is a true masterpiece and, according to experts, draws inspiration from the drawings that Bernini had made for the Louvre in Paris.
Still in the city center, dominating the very central Piazza Castello, we find Palazzo Madama, a heterogeneous complex with a double aspect: the architect Filippo Juvarra, in fact, was given the task of designing the grandiose façade that completed the original medieval building of which evident traces still remain in the rear part of the building. But it is above all the "Juvarra staircase" that is remembered as one of the undisputed masterpieces of the European Baroque: large and grandiose, it still conveys a feeling of solemn grandeur and luminous nobility, as it knew how to fascinate the travelers of the Grand Tour who visited Turin over previous centuries.
So, dear friends, do not miss the opportunity to savour the baroque soul of the city, walk along the great majestic streets, enter the churches steeped in solemnity, admire the daring domes and visit the fairytale royal palaces. Even in our modern times, made of technology and minimalism, the wonders of the Baroque never cease to amaze us.