Cities are cities are cities are cities. The MD wrote Como on his itinerary (in the Italian Lake district) but then I found something high up in the mountains about 25 km from Como and it sounded really different – an inn – ‘Albergo Moderno’ @ a fraction of the price of the hotels in (any) city. So from Florence we headed to Fuipiano Valle via Bergamo.
I did not know it at the time, but this tiny, tiny little village is situated right at the top of some mountains, and there is a very narrow road up (and down) the mountain. If there is a line painted on the road, then it means 2 cars can pass. If there is no line it is wide enough for only one vehicle at a time and therefore one has to watch the mirrors on the bends. If a car comes (or the ‘municipal’ bus as in this case) there is usually some kind of sign to show who has the first right of the way and the other one will have to find somewhere to stop even if it means reversing. Italians may drive like maniacs but they can drive. This system will never, ever work in S A.
These snake-like roads really upset Garminia because she saw many of the bends as a U-turn –‘make a u-turn, make a u-turn’. At one stage I thought maybe we got lost because some of the houses in some of the villages on the way were already boarded up for the winter and there seemed to be hardly any people.
When we arrived at Albergo there was nobody in sight except for a cat that got into the car….the doors were open but it almost seemed deserted. I walked round to the back and there was a woman who made a friendly sign that she will call – I think this must have been the owner or the manager. He showed us to our room with a friendly smile but did not say much, I think he could not speak English. After Florence I was a bit apprehensive about hotels but the room and bathroom was extremely comfortable and modern. Somebody spent quite a lot of money building this Albergo.
We usually did not eat at the hotels but here it was so difficult to get up the mountain that we decided to go for dinner – 7:30 – 8:30. A cozy fire was burning and a younger guy (? owner) presented us with a welcome and a menu. We ordered a liter of house wine (by this time the restaurant was filling up – probably a very popular place for week-end guests and a place for the locals to have their celebrations / meals). The food was superb, absolutely *****! The wine was great. They probably order these great vats…..and then decant them into a carafe. And it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening with the best food we ate in Italy.
Just a note on the food in Italy. Anti-pasta is a hors d’oeuvre and pasta is a first course (not a main course like we have here so the meat content is usually limited) and then you have your main course and the salad comes with the main course … I really do not have the capacity for hors d’oeuvre and pasta and a main course… although I do suffer from a condition which my grandmother called ‘Oë groter as jou maag’! (Meaning you eyes are bigger than you stomach, you dish up more than you can eat).So I had the main course and the desert (but of course) only and thank heavens I did not order the other stuff. I really do not know where I would have put it because there were vegetables with potatoes and salad…
For breakfast the Italians always have (apart from some cereal- not always- and yogurt, great, great yogurt,) some fruit juice, breads, cold meat, cheese and sweet cakes! Cakes like we in South Africa would have in the afternoon! And in the nicer places they ask if you would like a cappuccino or …..I’ll take the cappuccino but skip the cake…gracias mucho! Or is it Mucho gracias? Whatever, you know what I mean!
I did not know it at the time, but this tiny, tiny little village is situated right at the top of some mountains, and there is a very narrow road up (and down) the mountain. If there is a line painted on the road, then it means 2 cars can pass. If there is no line it is wide enough for only one vehicle at a time and therefore one has to watch the mirrors on the bends. If a car comes (or the ‘municipal’ bus as in this case) there is usually some kind of sign to show who has the first right of the way and the other one will have to find somewhere to stop even if it means reversing. Italians may drive like maniacs but they can drive. This system will never, ever work in S A.
These snake-like roads really upset Garminia because she saw many of the bends as a U-turn –‘make a u-turn, make a u-turn’. At one stage I thought maybe we got lost because some of the houses in some of the villages on the way were already boarded up for the winter and there seemed to be hardly any people.
When we arrived at Albergo there was nobody in sight except for a cat that got into the car….the doors were open but it almost seemed deserted. I walked round to the back and there was a woman who made a friendly sign that she will call – I think this must have been the owner or the manager. He showed us to our room with a friendly smile but did not say much, I think he could not speak English. After Florence I was a bit apprehensive about hotels but the room and bathroom was extremely comfortable and modern. Somebody spent quite a lot of money building this Albergo.
We usually did not eat at the hotels but here it was so difficult to get up the mountain that we decided to go for dinner – 7:30 – 8:30. A cozy fire was burning and a younger guy (? owner) presented us with a welcome and a menu. We ordered a liter of house wine (by this time the restaurant was filling up – probably a very popular place for week-end guests and a place for the locals to have their celebrations / meals). The food was superb, absolutely *****! The wine was great. They probably order these great vats…..and then decant them into a carafe. And it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening with the best food we ate in Italy.
Just a note on the food in Italy. Anti-pasta is a hors d’oeuvre and pasta is a first course (not a main course like we have here so the meat content is usually limited) and then you have your main course and the salad comes with the main course … I really do not have the capacity for hors d’oeuvre and pasta and a main course… although I do suffer from a condition which my grandmother called ‘Oë groter as jou maag’! (Meaning you eyes are bigger than you stomach, you dish up more than you can eat).So I had the main course and the desert (but of course) only and thank heavens I did not order the other stuff. I really do not know where I would have put it because there were vegetables with potatoes and salad…
For breakfast the Italians always have (apart from some cereal- not always- and yogurt, great, great yogurt,) some fruit juice, breads, cold meat, cheese and sweet cakes! Cakes like we in South Africa would have in the afternoon! And in the nicer places they ask if you would like a cappuccino or …..I’ll take the cappuccino but skip the cake…gracias mucho! Or is it Mucho gracias? Whatever, you know what I mean!
1 comment:
Reading this the second time round is even better than the first...
really nicely written
:)
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