Italy: Spring 2011: Day 11: Saturday, May 7: Sulzano

The day starts out sunny but a bit cool…especially in the shade.  But the lake is gorgeous in the morning light.

 The hotel has a spectacular breakfast spread….wonderful fruit, great pastries….and I have no problem getting my cafe doppio con acqua calda (except for a raised eyebrow from the waitress.)  The room is also lovely and light-filled and, in warmer weather, you can have breakfast outside.

In keeping with our leisurely “vacation” plans, we stroll over to the piazza in the middle of town where the ferry docks.  There is a school activity–a tree planting celebration–going on in the park…..scores of children, all of them holding helium-filled balloons in the colors of the Italian flag, as well as their parents and siblings. 

 After the planting of young olive trees and the children hanging name bands on the branches–all the balloons are released, making quite a show as they float up into the sky.  Then–once the signal is given–there is a mad rush to the refreshment table.

After sitting on the lawn in the sun looking at the lake, 

and the geese, ducks and swan that are constantly swimming by

     

we decide to go to the island–Monte Isola–for a walk and lunch.  The ferry to the island runs continuously (like a shuttle)

  

and it is a big day trip destination for Italians.  The ride takes only five minutes and we take the mile walk recommended by the desk clerk at the hotel – from the main town, Peschiera Maraglio, to Sensole.  It is a wide paved path right on the water; it passes by olive groves and there are lots of benches along the way. 

  

The views of the lake and the mountains are beautiful.  We share the “road” with families walking, people riding bikes, a lot of motorcycles that roar past and even an occasional small bus.  

At Sensole, we choose one of the recommended restaurants–La Spiagetta–and have a semi-peaceful lunch…there are two small children at the next table who are pretty active but luckily we don’t mind.  We share an antipasto del lago….several dishes of marinated lake fish plus one whole air dried lake salmon…called “missoltino”–which has a very strong, salty taste but is quite delicious. 

Diana follows with a pasta dish with asparagus and smoked lake fish which she likes and I have a piece of grilled lake fish that is very well prepared.  We have no problem finishing a half liter of white wine (we are on vacation after all) and we are in no hurry to leave…just lingering to enjoy the views.

We stop for a gelato on the walk back and catch a boat back to Sulzano…..Nothing much happens during the rest of the afternoon–Diana is sitting on a lounge chair on the pool deck and I am doing some work and struggling with the hotel’s balky internet connection.  (Nothing can be perfect, after all.)

We have a prosecco and some nibbles as the sun begins to set over the island….it is actually pretty magical.  

      

We walk over to the hotel next door for dinner…although we do have some ideas about skipping it…and we have a very pleasant meal on the terrace of the Hotel Aquila.  I have a big mixed salad to start followed by roast kid (very tasty but very messy) served with delicious grilled polenta (and superfluous potatoes) while Diana has prosciutto and melon followed by a dish of fried lake perch.  The apple strudel is very good and the house red wine is okay.

We are glad to just have a few steps to walk to get back to the hotel…we sit for a few minutes on the lawn looking at the lights on the lake before going to our room.

Tomorrow…who knows?  We are on vacation.

Jim and Diana

Italy: Spring 2011: Day 10: Friday, May 6: Genoa-Sulzano

Departure day from Genoa….I think I have my morning coffee request down pat…..doppio cafe in tazza grande con acqua calda (a double coffee/espresso in a large cup with hot water).

After packing up, we walk up the street to visit the sinagoga. Today is the day of the general strike and we immediately notice that there is much less traffic noise….no buses are running. Certainly an inconvenience for the Genovese and most visitors but certainly easier on our ears.

The sinagoga is a substantial stone building with a low dome set just off the main street, Via Assaroti. The secretary who takes us around speaks very good English and is very friendly. She tells us that the building was finished in 1935, ironically just three years before the passage of the racial laws under Mussolini. There are about 350 Jews in the entire region of Liguria but they usually are able to have a minyan for services which folow the Sephardic rite. We first visit the small sanctuary in the basement that is used for services in the winter (it is easier to heat)

and then we go upstairs to the main sanctuary, which is light and airy with very restrained decorations. The bima is decorated with simple panels symbolizing the ten tribes and the ark has a very lovely cover.

We learn that there is no kosher butcher in Genoa but they periodically order meat from Milan and that they do run a small Hebrew school.

Back at the hotel, we pack the car and start out for the autostrada….but we immediately get caught in a traffic jam. All traffic in the Piazza Corvetto is stopped and a long line of marchers are filling the streets.

With no idea how long traffic will be stopped, we follow many of the cars in the opposite direction and try to find an alternate route out of town. It takes a long time (traffic is a bit chaotic) but we manage to find the autostrada entrance and get on the road to Zibello for lunch at one of our favorite restaurants in Italy – La Buca. A minor navigation error (getting off the autostrada one exit too soon) is compounded because the entrance ramp is closed due to an accident and we can't get back on the autostrada. We (and the GPS) recalculate and find an alternate route on local roads that costs us about a half hour before getting back on the main road.

We don't get to the restaurant until almost 2 pm and we are the last customers but we enjoy our lunch. La Buca specializes in excellent home made pasta and the local cured meat specialty, culatello. We try to come here whenever we are within an hour of Zibello…..Lunch is fine as usual….the culatello (served with butter) and salame are great and the pasta with culatello melts in your mouth.

The ride to Sulzano takes another hour. Sulzano is a small town on the less well known Lago d'Iseo. We are here because I have a client staying at the Hotel Rivalago this summer and, as part of my full service travel consulting, I want to check it out in advance. Also we have never stayed on this smaller lake set between Lake Garda and Lake Como. We are charmed by first views of the lake….blue water surrounded by rugged mountains. The lake is notable because the island in the middle–Monte Isola–is said to be the largest inhabited inland island in Europe.

The hotel setting also impresses us….set right on the lakeshore with a manicured lawn and terrace as well as a large swimming pool and a deck with lounge chairs. Our room has a small balcony overlooking the lake…..we are enchanted. After getting settled, we go down to sit at one of the tables and enjoy the sun and the scenery.

I take a short walk into the village which is very small and, while not charming, seems pleasant. The ferry terminal is close by where ferries serve all the towns on the lake as well as running continuous service to the island which is only five minutes away.

We have dinner at a Slow Food recommended restaurant located up a steep hill over the village…Al Cacciatore. The place is actually busy with many guests from the hotel. Dinner is fine…..I have some excellent San Daniele ham and homemade coppa and salami followed by a local specialty–ravioli-like casoncelli with a local smoked cheese. DIana has a fritto misto of lake fish and vegetables that is beautifully done and a cheese plate. We drink a bottle of a local white recommended by the owner.

The walk back to the hotel is much easier…all downhill and we take a few minutes to look at the lights in the towns all around the lake before going to bed. Tomorrow we have no particular plans…..we are on our "vacation" from our vacation.

Jim and DIana

Italy: Spring 2011: Day 9: Thursday, May 5: Genova

Sunny and warm this morning……after breakfast, we go to the Palazzo Rosso, the other part of the art museum on Via Garibaldi.

 We have a slight drama when we give them the tickets that we purchased yesterday.  The ticket taker tells us that reduced price tickets (for 65 and over) are only good for one day.  We had not understood that this was the case but we just stand there and look bewildered while several other people get into the act.  Finally we are walked across the street to the sales office, where–after more consultation–it is decided that they will take pity on us and issue valid tickets for today.  

The gallery is as grand as its sister palazzo, the Palazzo Bianco.  The collection is heavily Genoese with a a number of Tuscan and Venetian painters scattered throughout.  We are quite taken with a painter named Procaccino whose portraits are very striking

        

but the highlight of the gallery for us is the special exhibition called In Plein Air.

In Plein Air (know as “macchiaoli” in Italian) refers to painting outdoors using natural light; the introduction of paint in tubes helped this movement along.  The show at the Palazzo Rosso features a 19th century painter named Luigi Garibbo who worked mostly in Genoa and Florence.  His paintings–especially his later works–are very delicate and almost impressionistic–and we are quite entranced by them.  

    

We work our way through all six floors of the palazzo–our energy is flagging as we march through some of the furnished period rooms-and we are rewarded when we get to the top floor, which is the apartment of the art curator who lived there in the mid-20th century.  They have kept the paintings she owned and the books that she used for her research.  And, as a bonus, the guard asks if we want to see the “panorama” from the roof, which of course I do.   

We then take the car out to try again to get to the seaside suburb of Nervi….I have done some research and now know where I want to go and where to park.  This time we drive along the water all the way from downtown and it is a much more pleasant trip.  The Corso Italia has a broad pedestrian walkway overlooking the sea and there are restaurants and bars all along the way.  We try to make a stop in the little fishing village of Boccadasse but, with no apparent parking available, we continue on our way.

Reaching Nervi, we pull into the parking lot at the train station and take the path that goes under the tracks to the Passegiata Anita Garibaldi.  This is a mile long pedestrian walkway set between the railroad tracks and the sea.  It is beautifully maintained with benches and steps down onto the rocks where people are fishing and sunbathing.

      

 We start walking and come upon a historic fortification tower, the Torre Gropallo.

 and a hotel which looks very rundown.  But there is a sign advertising their lunch specials and we decide to stop and eat there.  We eat outside on the terrace overlooking the water…with great views up and down the coast.   The food is very good…..a caprese salad and grilled branzino for Diana and an insalata mista and fritto misto for me.  We drink a pleasant white wine and linger after we are finished…..a terrific lunch in a lovely spot.

     

We continue our stroll along the water….past another restaurant which is also very busy and a gelateria that is “under siege” from a school group.  I see a plaque on the wall and am surprised to see that it honors Sholem Aleichem, the Yiddish writer, who spent some time in Nervi when he was suffering from tuberculosis. Diana is a proud graduate of Sholem Aleichem Shul 45 in the Bronx.

We take the long route back to Genoa, climbing high into the hills and driving back along the crests of over 3,000 foot high mountains. 

 

 The views of the city as we descend on a another narrow, twisting road are great but constant vigilance is required where the road narrows to less than car widths.

We eat dinner at a famous old trattoria, Da Maria, which is very close to our hotel. We are looking for something uncomplicated and quick and Da Maria is a no-nonsense place with home cooking, no pretensions and very low prices.  The extensive menu (in hard to decipher handwriting) has lots of local specialties which are served up promptly with little or no style.  I have a dish of okay minestrone (pesto and peas) and a plate of fried baccala while Diana has the trofie with pesto and veal milanese.  I think the food is not all that good but the experience was fine (we are out of there in less than half an hour) and both our meals come to less than Euro 20.00.  It’s a good place for people watching also….the clientele seems to be very eclectic.

    

Tomorrow we leave Genoa for our “vacation within a vacation” at Lago d’Iseo, between Lake Garda and Lake Como.  We have enjoyed our time in Genoa a lot…we think our hotel was in a better location than where stayed on our earlier trip and we were able to avoid the traffic filled, noisy streets for the most part.  

Jim and Diana

Italy: Spring 2011: Day 8: Wednesday, May 4: Genova

It appears to be another bright sunny day….I have to do some travel work before breakfast.

 Our destination this morning is the Palazzo Bianco, one of the city’s art galleries located on the Via Garibaldi in a very grand palazzo.

In some ways, the grandeur of the building and the spectacular galleries overshadow the collection which contains mostly Genovese artists from the 15th and 16th century with a representative sample of other Italian painters and some Dutch and Spanish representatives.  We make a leisurely walk through all the galleries and particularly like two paintings….a Vertumno and Pomon by Anthony Van Dyck (who spent time in Genova). 

We take the time to look up the legend that the painting is based on….a story from Ovid’s Metamorphoses that was very popular among Dutch painters of the 17th century.

From Wikipedia…..

In Roman mythology, Vertumnus — also Vortumnus or Vertimnus — is the god of seasons, change^[1] and plant growth, as well as gardens and fruit trees. He could change his form at will; using this power, according to Ovid‘s Metamorphoses (xiv), he tricked Pomona into talking to him by disguising himself as an old woman and gaining entry to her orchard, then using a narrative warning of the dangers of rejecting a suitor to seduce her. The tale of Vertumnus and Pomona was the only purely Latin tale in Ovid’s Metamorphoses.^[2] 

We also like an altarpiece by the Tuscan, Fillippino Lippi (whose work we had just seen in Prato).

 

Our friend Livio calls as we leave the museum to tell us that he has arrived and is taking a bus to our hotel, so we hurry back and catch up with him on the street as he is getting off his bus.  We sit at the Cafe Mangini, have some coffee and catch up.  We first met Livio on the Compuserve Italian Forum in the mid-1990s and have kept in touch since then, getting together every few years whenever we are in close proximity.  He took the train from Alessandria, about an hour north of Genova.

Livio, who is a great cook and interested in food, has reserved at a trattoria near the port–Vegia Zena (Old Genova in dialect)–that has been recommended to him. We take a leisurely walk through the old city doing a little sightseeing along the way.

The food at lunch turns out to be a bit of a disappointment…the trofie with pesto that we have for a primi is very good but Livio’s baccala’ and my fritto misto are just so-so although Diana’s fried shrimp are excellent.  We sit and talk-mostly about food and politics (Italian and American) and drink wine for a couple of hours, then walk back to the hotel and say our goodbyes to Livio.  The most interesting part of the walk back was passing through the “red light” district and encountering a bunch of prostitutes angling for business.

In the later afternoon, I take another walk in yet another neighborhood near the hotel….a steep uphill route that takes me to a very pleasant neighborhood with nice houses and tree-lined streets.

Tonight we decide to eat lightly, which means pizza.  We walk up the busy Via Assaroti to a neighborhood pizzeria with a wood burning oven…..Invexendo di Pala Davide.  Invexendo is Genovese for noisy (we are told) and Davide makes the pizza.  The pizza is only so-so but we have a ringside seat on the pizza making operation so we do get some entertainment with our dinner.

We take an alternate route back to the hotel, a steep path parallel to the main street but without the car, motorcycle and bus traffic it sort of feels like a country lane in the middle of the city.  On our way, we encounter a group of about 12 men (near a gym) racing up this hill doing wind sprints….what a way to get into shape. Diana says that living (and walking) in Genoa would preclude the necessity of going to a gym.

Tomorrow, we will go to one of the other art museums and then take the car out of town for lunch.

Jim and Diana

Italy: Spring 2011: Day 7: Tuesday, May 3: Genova

A nice morning and I am up early, so I go out for a pre-breakfast walk so I can check out the waterfront for our plans later in the day.

 I cut through the Galleria Mazzini–parallel to the fancy via Roma shopping street.  It is very grand but the stores are nowhere near as high end as the stores on the street.

On the way to the water, I pass by the distinctive Porta Soprana…one of the early entrances to the city…located right next to the purported house of the Columbus family.  (Christopher Columbus’s reputation has had its ups and downs here over the years but all seemed to have been resolved with the big 500th anniversary party held in 1992.)

Also in the neighborhood is the 12th century cloister of St. Andrew.  

  

The narrow, tangled streets of the old city open up suddenly at the waterfront, where as part of the re-development of the harbor, the city put a stretch of the busy street underground.  This ended the separation of the harbor from the city, creating a broad piazza that connects the two districts.  It is all much more pedestrian friendly than when we were last here.

After breakfast, we stroll through the narrow streets of old city….which are filled with people walking and shopping at the many stores of all descriptions.

Reaching the waterfront, we want to take a cruise around the harbor to get a sense of the size of the port and see all the different ships that are docked.  Unfortunately, the ticket office for the cruise is empty and the tourist office doesn’t have any information, but we do learn–by calling the cruise company–that the next sailing is at 1 pm.

In between–it’s now 10:30–we buy tickets for the very touristy Il Bigo….essentially an enclosed observation platform hoisted into the air by one arm of a large crane.

The cabin goes up to 120 feet where it revolves, giving you a panoramic overview of the city and the harbor.  I am a sucker for panoramic views so I enjoy the ride and snap a few pictures while suspended over the harbor.

     

Il Bigo (which is the name for large crane that represents the machinery used in the old port) is part of the redevelopment of this part of the harbor, the Porto Antico.  It was designed by Renzo Piano and includes the world famous acquarium, new museums, theaters, playgrounds, shopping and other attractions…making the waterfront a popular destination.

One of the stars of the complex (at least for us) is the Genova branch of Eataly, the mega-food store that began in Turin and now has branches in several cities, including Manhattan.  The Eataly here is located on the top floor of one of the new buildings and has views over the harbor almost as good as from Il Bigo.  It’s a small branch of the chain, but we spend some time browsing the wonderful foodstuffs…vegetables, fish, olive oil, pasta, spices, meat…all beautifully displayed.   And there are also about a half dozen places to eat …..

   

And there are also great views over the harbor.

A short stroll in the old city takes us past the duomo…St. Stefano…which dominates its piazza with its massive, intricately carved doors and handsome lions. We go inside but are  quickly kicked out – it closes at noon.

  

We pick up some foccaccia, a torta di bietole (swiss chard) and some farinata (a pizza like dish made of chickpea flour) and eat it on a bench while we wait to board the boat for the harbor tour.

The tour is almost cancelled due to engine trouble but after some confusion, they put another boat into service and we get underway.  It’s very nice to be out on the water enjoying the sea breezes on this beautiful sunny day but the tour, while interesting, goes on a bit too long. We also don’t understand much of the Italian narration.  But we do see views of the new tourist port with the acquarium and biosphere, the container port, the ferry terminal, the cruise ship port and La Laterna, the old Genovese lighthouse.

   

One of the other passengers on the cruise–a Russian tourist–passed the time while waiting for the boat to leave skyping with friends in Russia from his laptop.

A quick taxi ride back to the hotel for some rest and work….then out again for a stroll–through the Galleria and down the busy shopping street–Via XX Settembre.  The street is covered with high porticoes and the pavement is beautifully decorated marble. 

 But the buses and motorcycles create a din that makes strolling unpleasant.  We grab a gelato and make for a quieter street for the walk back towards the hotel.

Before going back, we take another break at an elegant cafe on the Piazza Corvetto, Cafe Mangini, to have a prosecco and do some people watching.

Before dinner, I do another scout to check out places and make a reservation at a nice looking neighborhood place called Fuori Orario, about a ten minute walk from the hotel (uphill).  Then I climb a steep flight of stairs (since Genova is so hilly, there are flights of stairs and “salitas” (steep pedestrian walkways) all over as well funiculars and elevators (part of the bus and train system) that enable people to make their way up, down and around the various neighborhoods.  On the way back to the hotel, I pass the Genova synagogue.

We will try to visit before we leave town.

An excellent dinner at Fuori Orari….the food is terrific and the waitress is extremely charming.  Diana has a plate of spicy spaghetti with olives followed by a wonderful filet of branzino and I have an excellent steak tartare and another dish of lasagnetta with pesto.  The wine–a local Vermintino from Luni–is very enjoyable and we split a tasty panna cotta garnished with fresh fruit.

It’s an easier walk downhill to the hotel….tomorrow, we will go to one of the art galleries and meet our friend Livio for lunch.

Jim and Diana