e-borghi travel magazine: 03 Parks and villages

PARKS

Digital travel magazine about villages and slow tourism

Issue 03 2019 Free edition

www.e-borghitravel.com

DI

ER

SCOV

Click on the “discover� icon when you find it to deepen your reading and find out more details from the e-borghi.com website

Do not miss any issue of e-borghi travel.

Subscribe to the newsletter and you will unlock the download of the magazine!

Parli italiano?

Leggi la versione in inglese

e-borghi travel 02 www.e-borghitravel.com Publisher Salvatore Poerio direzione@3scomunicazione.com Publishing coordinator Luciana Francesca Rebonato coordinamento@e-borghi.com Art director Ivan Pisoni grafica@e-borghi.com Editorial office Simona Poerio segreteria@e-borghi.com With the collaboration of Antonella Andretta, Alessandra Boiardi, Simona P.K.Daviddi, Oriana Davini, Renata Giolli, Cinzia Meoni, Marino Pagano, Luca Sartori, Joni Scarpolini Translation Beatrice Lavezzari Promotion and Advertising 3S Comunicazione – Milano Cosimo Pareschi pareschi@e-borghi.com Piersilvio Volpato volpato@e-borghi.com Giovanna Fiori fiori@e-borghi.com Editing 3S Comunicazione Corso Buenos Aires, 92 20124 Milano info@3scomunicazione.com tel. 0287071950 – fax 0287071968 The use of our website and our on-line magazine is subject to the following terms: all rights reserved. Any section of www.e-borghi.com can’t be reproduced, recorded or broadcasted in any form or by any means, be it electronic or mechanical or through photocopies, recording or other systems without a previous written authorization by 3S Comunicazione. Although a careful check of the information that are contained in this issue has been carried out, 3S Comunicazione won’t be considered responsible for any mistakes or omissions. The opinions being given by contributors are necessarily the same as the ones given by 3S Comunicazione. Unless different directions, the individual copyrights belong to the contributors.

All efforts have been made to track down the owners of the photos’ copyright in case they were not taken by our photographers. We’re apologizing in advance for possible omissions and we’re available to enter further clarifications in the next issues. © 2019 e-borghi

ditorial

eLuciana Francesca Rebonato facebook.com/lfrancesca.rebonato

O

mne trinum est perfectum. That is “every trinity is perfect” at least according to the Medieval dictates and the Pre-Socratic philosophers’ beliefs. That’s the way I’d like to introduce the third issue of e-borghi travel which is entirely dedicated to the parks, the chests of treasure to be discovered in all their beauty. Villages and territories that are perched between the sky and the mountain peaks or on the top of the cliffs overlooking the sea, the icons of Italy that look like the confetti spread over the countryside areas, the lakes or the rivers’ shores and are framed like perfect paintings in the open air when they portray the details that are highlighted by the different shades of the light and their personality. We are using this amazing palette of colours to describe the National Park of Gran Paradiso in Valle d’Aosta and the protected areas of Ossola in Piedmont, to capture the light from the rocks of the Ligurian Sea and the National Park of Cinque Terre. On the East there’s the regional Park of Mincio softened by the shape of the streams of the slowest Lombardy while on the Lazio coastline there’s the National Park of Circeo. Along the coast of Puglia we’ll lead you through the National Park of Gargano then we’ll go through the Park of Gallipoli between the Tyrrhenian and the Adriatic Sea and we’ll also explore the Little Dolomites from Lucania- Basilicata and we’ll reach Civitella Alfedena in the National park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise. Finally the National Park of Nebrodi will be the protagonist in Sicily, it is the biggest protected area of the ancient Trinacria. Let’s jump from the masterpieces of nature to the masterpieces of art through the exhibition “The nature of Arp” scheduled from the 13th of April to the 2nd of September at the Peggy Guggenheim’s Collection in Venice: we’ll offer you a preview of the different aspects of the symbolic and suggestive art of Dadaism. We aim at giving you suggestions and ideas for your next holidays or a week-end in the name of the slow tourism in the most charming Italian parks surrounded by the beauty and the nature. So let the adventure begin.

Luciana Francesca Rebonato Publishing coordinator

Summary Civitella Alfedena

Nebrodi

Circeo

Mincio

Ossola

The nature of Arp

Delicacies from the parks

Cinque Terre

Gargano

Gran Paradiso

Discovering Lucania

Crossborder: Austria

Out of place holidays

Legends

Curiosities

Review

The backpack

Luca Sartori

twitter.com/LucaSartoriIT

Aquila, Abruzzo

Civitella Alfedena: The Middle Ages, the wolves and the wildcats

The most unusual Sicily and the Park’s routes

Y

ou don’t expect this type of Sicily if you are in the Nebrodi valleys, it’s a wild area featured by a lush vegetation and thick woods.

There are two main routes that offer different kind of excursions at different levels of difficulty. The Nebrodi Ridge is really beautiful, it links Portella Dagara (Floresta) to Serra Merio (Mistretta) from the East to the West side along 70 kilometres through the protected area and up

to the unspoilt mountains and some important humid territories like the lake Maulazzo and the lake Biviere. On the other hand the Castro Rocks are a group of limestone rocks that feature the territory of Alcara Li Fusi, Longi, Militello Rosmarino and San Marco d’Alunzio that can be reached on an excursion that enable you to see the particular rocks’ shapes and the wide views as well as the griffins in the sky.

The park, the villages, the food

T

he Parks and its villages are featured by a remarkable artistic heritage that can’t be missed. San Marco d’Alunzio stands out, although being a tiny village there are 22 churches that belong to different historical periods. Mistretta, Troina, Capizzi, Cerami and Cesarò deserve to be discovered too since they feature beautiful buildings that are embellished by the use of the local stone. Randazzo and Bronte, two municipalities at the bottom of the Etna are parti-

cularly famous: the former for its wine and the latter for the pistachio. If you make your mouth water thinking about the pistachio, the Nebrodi Park will give you many satisfactions around the table as well. The dishes prepared by using the black pork meat are typical from this area together with the cheese, the salami and also the olive oil, the honey, the nuts, the berries that are used in many recipes that still represent the old, simple rich culture of peasants.

The events

A

mong the many popular festivals that are related to the celebrations of the patron saints

that are held all through the year the most interesting ones are listed below:

• On the last Friday of March there’s I Babbaluti in San Marco d’Alunzio (the Crucified Feast and a procession with some people wearing particular blue habits) • The Holy Week (The Jews in San Fratello, The Magdalene in Militello Rosmarino, U Scontru in Longi) • 24th June U Muzzuni in Alcara li Fusi (it’s the oldest feast of Italy that celebrates a good luck ritual in honour of Demetra) • 7th-8th September I Gesanti in Mistretta (some huge papier-mache characters walk near the Lady of Light on procession).

09 - 11 FEBBRAIO FEBRUARY 2020 FIERAMILANOCITY | MICO

HAPPINESS IS A JOURNEY.

Sleeping, tasting and buying Luca Sartori

T

he regional park of Nebrodi stretches from the Northern cost to the slopes of the Etna, it’s the widest natural area of Sicily. You can reach 1847 metres of Mount Soro from the coastline, it’s the highest peak of the region and it’s featured by the lush vegetation and the humid habitats. The sea is the main protagonist of the seaside hotel La Playa Bianca of Santo Stefano di Camastra, the village of pottery. The hotel is equipped with modern rooms with balconies and the owners organize guided tours of the Eolie islands, Messina, Agrigento, Taormina and Palermo. The seaside hotel Za’ Maria of Caronia is equipped with single, double and family rooms and it’s located in a village that matches the elegance with the art of pottery and the typical products. In Sant’Agata di Militello, a well-known sea place with a view on the Eolie islands you can find the farmhouse Villa Luca, an ancient residence immersed in the green, in a panoramic area with twelve rooms including one for disabled people,

the tile floors and the furniture in the Sicilian style.

The protagonist of the tables at the restaurant L’angolo di Manueliana in Santo Stefano di Camastra is the meat from the local breeding while you can taste the typical food at the restaurant Monte San Giovanni of San Marco d’Alunzio where they serve the delicious pappardelle (sort of tagliatelle) with the white and black pork sauce, the baked sausages with the porcini mushrooms and the fried lamb with potatoes. At the restaurant La Petrusa of Longi the home-made maccheroni (a type of pasta) with the black pork sauce from the Nebrodi area, the grilled meat, the cheese and the salami are the main dishes. Your shopping destination is Santo Stefano di Camastra with its tiny pottery shops. In the shop belonging to Caruso Giuseppe you’ll be impressed from the several pottery creations like the lamps, the plates and the centrepieces and in the Antonio Piscitello’s awarded artistic pottery factory the local art meets a 330 years old history.

DI

SCOV

ER

Ente Parco dei Nebrodi Tel 0941 702524 www.parcodeinebrodi.it info@pecparcodeinebrodi.it

BACK TO THE SUMMARY

Antonella Andretta

facebook.com/antonella.andretta

Luca Sartori

twitter.com/LucaSartoriIT

ER

Antonella Andretta

SCOV

DI

a mosaic of nature and history

Lazio

National Park of Circeo,

I

t’s never easy to describe a place and you know that images often say more than words. It’s even more difficult to describe the National Park of Circeo since even the most beautiful photographs can’t convey the whole history, the mythology and the literature that is hidden behind this coastline in the province of Latina in Lazio. Let’s start with saying that this park is really unique, it was set in 1934 and it was the first park to include an island in its protected area in 1979

thus preventing the old forest of Terracina that was stretched up to Cisterna from being completely deforested. One of the consequences of this wise choice was the decision to start a deep clean-up of the of the Agro Pontino area in the 1930s. Although its reduced dimensions, around 9.000 hectares, the Park of Circeo includes some extremely beautiful places that are featured by different types of environment. Let’s discover them together.

A park for everyone (really for everyone)

T

he park includes a promontory that is the most characteristic element of this area; it’s an amazing sequence of dunes that stretch along 22 kilometres and go up to 27 metres, there are four lakes (Fogliano, Lake of Monks, Lake Caprolace, Lake Paola); more than 3.000 hectares of plain forest (the forest of Circe) that belongs to the Unesco heritage and an island (Zannone) that geographically belongs to the archipelago of the Ponza islands. Besides all that there are also some villages, the ancient towers and the archaeological area of Villa Domiziano. Such a variety ma-

kes the park an outsdanding tourist destination featured by many different aspects that are also sided by many educational activities that can be performed. They are organized by the Body of the park and there are also many l food specialties to be tasted. This park has another peculiar aspect that must be considered, it is set on a plain so the disabled people can also go there. A park that aims at being available for everyone, easy to reach (one hour from Rome and two hours from Naples) and perfect to be lived throughout the whole year.

Starting point

L

et’s try to understand which are the best routes to travel. The park is perfect for cyclists but you can also walk, you can go horse-riding, you can go canoeing or you can go sailing and there are many different entrances. First there is the visitors’ centre in Sabaudia which is based in via Carlo Alberto 188: the facility includes the Museum that provides interesting suggestions and information, a projection room, a library and an outdoor educational area. Another perfect starting point for your excursion is Cerasella, in the

heart of the forest: it’s an equipped area with a fenced space for the animals mainly the deer and the boars. Another interesting entrance is on the Northern side of the park where the village of Fogliano is located, it’s featured by some buildings dating back to the 18th century: there is also an educational lab specialized on the humid areas and an ornithological museum as well. There’s also a botanical garden with a route for blind people that can be visited by booking in advance.

The forest in the park

L

et’s go deep into the park to describe the five different environments that feature it. Let’s start with the forest of Circe, this forest has a diverse ecosystem and the so called “pools”, the marshy areas that are naturally filled with rain and the groundwater are very particular. The forest became a Reserve of the Biosphere within the Unesco MAB project in 1977. The forest can be visited by crossing the pedestrian and the cycle tracks that are stretched along 21 kilometres through an ama-

zing route that offers incredible views. There are different levels of difficulty along these tracks, they are very well marked according to the standards requirements of CAI and the Body of the Park is reorganizing the whole tracks network. You can reach many interesting places through this network like the historical centre of San Felice Circeo, the coast fortresses of Torre Paola and Torre Fico that date back to the 16th century or the Napoleonic outpost of “Batteria” at the bottom of the ridge.

Cape Circeo

A

ccording to Omero it’s the place where the witch Circe used to turn her prisoners into pigs: Circeo, the ancient Eea island is a land of myths, the landing of the Saracens, the shelter of the Templar knights, the manor of the noble Caetani and the papal stronghold. This territory was much different 50.000 years ago and the level of the sea was lower. The caves along the promontory were all reachable from the mainland and were inhabited by the ancient tribes (in the Guattari cave a Neanderthal skull has

been found), the hyenas and the bears. The fastest way to visit this area is driving along the road that connects San Felice al Circeo with Crocette or Punta Rossa: the view is unique, the sea surrounds the promontory and the view on the Gulf of Gaeta and the Pontine islands is amazing.

If you want to see both sides with a look you can walk up towards Torre di Paola and reach the peak of Mount Circe at 541 metres, an excursion for skilled hikers who can also find some useful information on the official website.

ENJOY THE BEAUTY OF ITALY

*Subject to the rates applied by your telephone operator.

WITH MAGGIORE

Touring the Bel Paese is a pleasure when you rent a car from Maggiore.

A romantic weekend, an outing with the family or simply taking time off on a business trip. There are so many reasons to rent a car. And we offer the rental deal to match your needs: unlimited mileage, insurance coverage for your peace of mind, child seats, SAT NAV and much more.

This month Maggiore suggests a truly extraordinary self-drive tour: Praia a Mare to Matera. A tour of 189 km of extraordinary beauty from Calabria to Matera, the 2019 European Capital of Culture.

Rent a car on maggiore.it and enjoy the beauty of Italy.

maggiore.it - 199 151 120*

The dune

A

nother peculiarity of the park is the long coast dune that stretches from Sabaudia up to Capo Portiere and it’s almost 30 metres high in some points towards the promontory. The colours and flowerings are amazing in Spring from the rock roses to the orchids, the Hottentots’ ficus and the juniper, the myrtle and the lentiscus together with other vegetable species that live in a difficult environment because of the wind, the dry soul and the salty soil. The dune is a changing

environment and the plants that grow there are called the pioneers since they are the only ones that can stop these changes thanks to their roots that can make this dry environment liveable. The seals, the rabbits, the lizards and the beetles are spread everywhere and the dune is their habitat. The several wooden walkways that cross the dune aim at protecting it from the trampling of the people who go to the front beach and keep the environment unspoilt.

The humid areas

F

rom the top of the promontory the four coast lakes (di Paola, dei Monaci, di Fogliano and Caprolace) are an unforgettable view: actually they are ponds, not very deep (around two metres) and they are connected to the sea through some canals that assure the changing of the water. These pools of water and the swampy areas nearby host more than 260 different species of birds in Spring.

They can find their shelter and food here during their long migration from Africa to Northern Europe. The main species are the grey herons, the

knights of Italy, the storks and the flamingos but there are also the hawks, the mallard ducks, the cormorants and many other species. You can see them quite easily, particularly in the “Pantani d’inferno� between Caprolace and Sabaudia, along the Sacramento road and by the lake of Fogliano: near the village in the area of Cicerchia there are also some birdwatching huts. The humid areas host many other animals as well like the rare lake turtles and you can also come across the buffalos that graze surrounded by the birds.

The Zannone island

Z

annone belongs to the archipelagos of Ponza’s islands. Besides being the nearest to the coast it is featured by a big variety of rocks that are the oldest of Italy. The island is only 102 hectares, it’s uninhabited and it is surrounded by a lush vegetation: it’s a staging point for the migrating birds that find the suitable environment to nest especially the seals and the shearwaters in a unique and protected ecosystem by the coastline where there is only one landing

in a place called Varo. From this landing there is a track that goes through the forest and reaches a Belvedere with a view on Ponza and Palmarola then it goes down towards the lighthouse and up to the Mount Pellegrino. Along this route you can see the ruins of the Benedictine monastery that later became a Cistercian Abbey in 1246 but there are no gathering points or facilities so you’d better be organized and equipped with water and suitable shoes.

Between the past and the present

M

any thousand years of myths and history crossed the area of Circeo which is considered a very interesting archaeological site to be slowly visited in order to discover the epic charm of the past. If you go up towards Le Crocette you’ll see the famous Cyclopic Walls dating back to the III century B.C., they are huge Megalithic blocks that were assembled without using any mortar. The first smaller ring of walls surrounds the acropolis on the plain of the promontory; the second ring of walls is bigger and it was included in the foun-

dations of the historical centre of San Felice. The area surrounding the lake di Paola is particularly interesting, this place was once loved by the Roman centurions, the rich Patrician families and the emperors too. The ruins of the Domiziano’s Villa (I century A.D.) is laid on the lake’s shores and it’s the most interesting archaeological area of the park, it was a “domus imperiale” and it had the Thermal baths and some huge tanks that were the core of a complex water system, an incredible Roman engineering work built in the harbour-canal of Paola.

Hospitality and good food

T

he entire area is an ideal destination for you relaxing holidays that can include going hiking and walking along the green routes and spending some relaxing and quiet days on the beach surrounded by beautiful colours, the nature and equipped facilities, visiting the villages or going horse-riding along the paths (the horse farms aren’t missing). There are several farmhouses, hotels and camping sites in the park or in the surrounding areas. If you spend your days in the open air in the park you’ll be delighted by the good food that is offered in this land between Lazio and Campania. There are some delicious pro-

ducts like the buffalo’s bresaola made by using the best parts of the animal, the sausages, the speck and the carpaccio that is sometimes seasoned with a particular type of lemon caviar (Finger Lime) and top quality oil. In this area you can also find the oysters, the mussels and the clams.

The Circeo Doc is the main protagonist of wines, there is also a biological production nowadays in Borgo Grappa and there are also other local perfumed wines to be matched with the buffalo mozzarella cheese and the buffalo scamorza cheese (DOP traditional products) or to the fish soup.

S

aporetti beach along the sea promanade of Sabaudia has a half century history. Half a kilometre of fine sand, two bars and its popular restaurant make it one of the most appreciated places along the Ulisse’s coastline. Saporetti also means a wide range of water-sports like the beach volley, the soccer-tennis together with the possibility to go canoeing, surfing, doing stand-up paddling, windsurfing and the possibility to rent the surfboards and take classes as well. Gino Saporetti was a pioneer and a champion of this sport and he succeeded in inviting a true myth of the surfboard, Robby Naish who came straight from the Hawaii to show his

DI

ER

Saporetti

SCOV

performance on the coastline of Lazio. The restaurant is the flagship of this facility, it’s managed by the Saporetti family and it’s considered a temple of taste of the Southern coast of Lazio. The spaghetti with calamari and courgettes, the paccheri (a type of pasta) with the yellowtail’s pulp, the broken cod and the clams are only a few special dishes that are made in this restaurant by using the fresh fish from the Tyrrhenian sea that is sold at Claudio’s fish shop. Other delicacies enrich the menu like the pasta in the “checca” way. The Mount of the witch-goddess Circe, Torre Paola and the very long dunes of Sabaudia do the rest.

Sleeping, tasting, buying Luca Sartori

T

he National Park of Circeo stretches out in the deep Southern Lazio in the area around Latina.

It is one of the most ancient natural protected areas of Italy. If you want to visit it you can find your accommodation in Sabaudia at the Hotel Le Palme, a few steps away from the centre, it has 33 rooms, five for the families and an exclusive restaurant that is specialized on the Mediterranean dishes.

In Sabaudia there is also the hotel Le Dune, at the bottom of the characteristic dune, it has 78 rooms and some bungalows for an easier and more informal stay. The four-stars Hotel Maga Circe of San Felice Circeo offers rooms with a breathless view on the cliff and on the sea and an outdoor panoramic terrace as well, a porch for your business meetings and a big party room. The gourmets’ destination is the Restaurant L’Argonauta of San Felice Circeo with its beautiful terrace overlooking the sea where the fish is the protagonist together with the very good wine that is usually served. In the restaurant Rendez Vous of Sabaudia they serve the skewers

of squid and shrimps, the risotto with scampi, the linguine (type of spaghetti) with the seafood, the fillet of brill with potatoes, mixed fried or grilled fish while at the restaurant Il Grottino in the historical centre of San Felice Circeo, good fish dishes and also a good pizza are served. You can do your shopping at the Wine-shop Sant’Andrea in Sabaudia where you can find the best wine from Lazio like the DOC White Circeo, the Moscato from Terracina, the white sparkling wine. You can also buy your favourite products at the farm Ganci of Borgo Grappa between Sabaudia and Latina, surrounded by the fertile plains where you can find some bottled wines like the IGP White Greco from Lazio and the IGP Cabernet Sauvignon, the bulk wines among which the Malvasia, the Merlot and the Trebbiano. The Ganci Farm takes part in the events “Cantine Aperte” (open wine cellars) and “Calici di Stelle” (glasses and stars) aiming at advertising the activities, the products and the traditions that have been featuring the farm’s history.

BCK TO THE SUMMARY

DI

ER

SCOV

Parco Nazionale del Circeo Via Carlo Alberto, 188 - 04016 Sabaudia (LT) Tel 0773/512240 www.parcocirceo.it segreteria@parcocirceo.it

Mantua, Lombardia

DI

ER

SCOV

Parco del Mincio: a river runs through it

Simona PK Daviddi

Simona PK Daviddi

facebook.com/simona.pk.daviddi

Luca Sartori

twitter.com/LucaSartoriIT

Stefano Mariga

stefanomariga.com

Luca Ghidorzi

lucaghidorzi.it

T

he Mincio Park covers an area of more than 15thoiusand hectares in Lombardy between the lake Garda, the Po river and the wonderful Mantua. This territory is crssed by this river and the biodiversity, the art and the hisotry make a perfect balanced match to give the visitors and the tourists a unique experience that is lived following a low pace.

It belongs to the Unesco heritage and it is featured by unspoilt natural breathless landscapes that are inhabitited by protected animal spoecies and plants. It is not by chance that

the the Mincio territory, this is the “brand� of this destinations and specifically the humid area which is important at an International level with its villages of Grazie di Curtatone, Rivalta sul Mincio and Soave have been entered among the thirty Italian Eden (acronym for European Destinations of Excellence) since 2009 because of the natural importance of the area. Actually there are three hundred species of birds among which different types of herons, the cormorants, the coloured beeeaters and the kingfishers.

The Mincio’s valleys and their villages

T

he natural reserve of the Mincio’s valleys is the heart of the park and one of the most important areas of natural interest. It is shaped by the Mincio river that is branched into several streams that run through the cane fields in a landscape that reminds the Eastern ones that finally converge into the three lakes of Mantua.

Whether you decide to cycle or walk in order to explore this area there are many equipped tracks and cycle routes that run across the canals and the pools of water surrounded by beautiful loto flowers, floating islands and water lilies. The navigation on the river Mincio is beautiful as well, you can leave from the pier of the tiny fishers’ village of Grazie, a bunch of narrow houses gathe-

red around the sanctuary of Beata Vergine Maria dating back to the 14th century that was born as an ex-voto during the plagueperiod. The nearby Rivalta deserves a visit too, you can see the church dating back to the 18th century that was built on the ruins of a castle, the Arrivabene Court, a Patrician house inhabited by the local Earls, the interesting ethnographic museums of trades and the characteristic pear from where you can leave on exciting excursions by ship or canoe. There’s another interesting park area to visit that is the Garden of Bertone, on the trees tops the white storks have been nesting and between April and May you can admire the incredible “flight tests” of the baby storks.

T

he most romantic people can’t miss the visit to the Medieval village of Castellaro Lagusello which is laid down on a tiny lake with the shape of a heart and it’s surrounded by huge walls and dominated by a clock tower that keeps some interesting boards that explain the rich mosaic of habitats of this area. Water is once again the protagonist, you can go on peaceful walks along the village and you can also walk around and be ama-

zed by the variety of the biodiversity of the natural reserve along tracks and wooden walkways that enable you to reach the humid area by the lake and the canals and see the plants and the animals.

If you are lucky enough you’ll be able to see the kingfish “having lunch” on the southern shore of the lake. All around there’s a chain of hills covered in forests and fields where you can easily see some precious wild orchids.

DI

ER

Back to the Middle Ages: Castellaro Lagusello

SCOV

Cycling? Yes, please!

T

he cyclo-tourism is becoming more and more popular thanks to its slow pace that relieve your stress and mainly because of the amazing views that you can see when you cycle so you can organize your cycling holidays. Whether you are “professional cyclists” or “Sunday cyclists” the Mincio Park offers a wide range of routes that cross different landscapes that are all worth to be experienced. So the “greenest highway of Italy” is unmissable; 37 kilometres that connect Mantua

to Peschiera del Garda surrounded by breathless views: walkways on the water, forests, villages, vineyards and canals where the time has stopped.

The Roman country church of Massimbona and the nearby Medieval mill that is still working are unmissable stops as well as Volta Mantovana with its castle dating back to the 10th century and the Renaissance Gonzaga palace together with Monzambano dominated by a castle dating back to the 9th century.

Sailing on the river: the slow charm

I

f its shores hide incredible surprises the sailing along the quiet river will be an unforgettable experience too whether you decide to go canoeing from Pozzolo to Mantua stopping at the three tranships by their artificial dams then have a stop in Goito, the city of Bersaglieri (the riflemen)or if you chose the more comfortable electric ferries or the ones that use the solar energy or even the bigger motor-vessels that reach Mantua. The theme excursions by boat are really interesting too, you can follow the herons or you

can go on an excursion along the Mincio river by following the memories of the great Italian poet Virgilio and you can also sail along the different lakes that are spread in this area. A cocktail on the shores of the Lake Superior in the Summer evenings is a must in one of the many outdoor locals where you can sip your drink in the sunset surrounded by the view of the landscape of the humid valleys of Mincio. From the Lake Inferior on the other hand the postcard view is guaranteed above the skyline of the city of Gonzaga.

Last but not least

T

he Mincio area still has an ace in the hole: there are still some places of interest that can’t be missed. Starting with the archaeological sites and their Celtic, Etruscan and Roman findings as well as the Neolithic settlements then there are the several castles and strongholds that are spotted in the park (a few names besides the ones that we have already mentioned?

Cavriana, Pozzolengo and Valeggio sul Mincio); then there are the Habsburg fortresses, there are still 16 of them! – and the water mills too. Finally you can’t leave without tasting the typical

delicacies from this area: the “tortelli di zucca” (pasta filled with the pumpkin), then capunsei, the fuiade with the venison sauce, the bigoi (a type of pasta) with sardine sauce but you can also eat in the restaurants along the river and taste their main courses like the pike with the sauce or the fried catfish and you can drink the Lambrusco from Mantua and taste the other red wines that are produced in this area namely the merlot and the cabernet and the white chardonnay and pinot hand in hand with the queen of sweets, the Sbrisolona cake.

Sleeping, tasting, buying Luca Sartori

T

he lands of the regional Park of Mincio stretch along th Padana plain between the Po’ river and the Garda Basin. History, art and nature are mixed to offer the visitors deep feelings and silence, interesting routes to cover and the slow flow of the water. You can breathe the whole history of Mantua at the comfortable and elegant hotel Broletto which is located near the cathedral, Piazza delle Erbe and the Doge’s palace, it has double rooms, family rooms and junior suites while at the hotel Il Granaio of Porto Mantovano which is located in a building dating back to the 18th century and it’s furnished in a style dating back to the early 20th century you can have lunch in the open air.

There are seven rooms, one for the disabled people at the hotel Paradiso of Borgo Virgilio, four kilometres far from Mantua, it is furnished in a retro style and it has a beautiful garden where you can relax. The area of Mantua offers the food lovers a wide range of good dishes mainly the pumpkin tortelli, a typical pasta filled with the pumpkin. The pumpkin tortelli is one of the special dishes that

is offered at the restaurant Canossa as well; it is located in the square that has the same name and you can taste the typical “sbrisolona” cake there.

Then the risotto, the pumpkin tortelli with butter and sage and the salted ricotta cheese, the mezze maniche (a type of pasta) with the pumpkin and the salted ricotta cheese and the cod fish are some of the specialties that are offered at the old restaurant Cento Rampini of Piazza delle Erbe in Mantua while at the restaurant Antichi Sapori of Borgo Virgilio you can taste the soup of agnolotti (a type of filled pasta), the bigoli (a type of pasta) with the sardines, the stewed donkey meat with polenta and the pike cooked with a typical sauce from the city with the grilled polenta. If you want to bring these tastes home there is the food shop Il Tagliere which is located under the arches of the Ariston Theatre where you can buy the typical salami and cheese as well as the ready-made dishes like the tortelli, the stewed meat, the brazed meat, the sauces, the wine and many other products belonging to the local tradition.

BACK TO THE SUMMARY

DI

ER

SCOV

Ente Parco del Mincio Piazza Porta Giulia, 10 - 46100 Mantova (MN) Tel 0376/391550 www.parcodelmincio.it info@parcodelmincio.it

Oriana Davini

facebook.com/oriana.davini.7

Luca Sartori

twitter.com/LucaSartoriIT

DI

Oriana Davini

Piedmont

Ossola

ER

The protected areas of

SCOV

H

igh peaks and low valleys, old tracks, rivers, mines, peaks and passes, mills and furnaces, mountain pastures with very old dairy traditions: that’s what the protected areas of Ossola keep in their treasure box set in the core of the Alpes. The richness of this geographical area is a gift from nature: the Devero mountain, the Veglia mountain and the high Antrona Valley are all gathered under the protection and the management of the Agency for the protection of the Ossola’s region. They are three different

areas according to their territory, their environment, their culture and their history. If you knock at their door you must be ready to go on three different journeys: you can go along the ancient tracks between Italy and Switzerland that are the heritage of the Walser culture. Some tracks cross delicate landscapes, bogs and alpine plains, others run across the pastures and the fields where the dairy farms are spread. There are several available tracks for the skiers and for the snow-shoes lovers from Winter to Spring.

The natural park of Veglia-Devero

T

he Natural Park of Veglia-Devero is set in the Western Leopontine Alps, it’s surrounded by the villages of Baceno, Crodo, Varzo and Trasquera: it’s an amazing open book that has been written by the nature to tell us about the Alps and it is pictured by the colours of an environment that is never boring.

This area is rich and varied thanks to the geographical position of its mountains and the morphological and geological variety of the land and the nearby Swiss border has an important role as well. One of the most classical route is around the lake Devero fe-

atured by some views that are no way inferior to the landscapes from the Great North: you can go from the dam of Codelago to the lake of witches, from the lake Aino to the lake Bianco. The route of cheese is highly appreciated, it runs along the alpine pastures where the Bettelmatt is made, the herds are taken to pastures, the woodchucks quietly stay there and there’s the panoramic Flowers Track, a long route that reaches the basin of Veglia. There are also the very well-known Thermal Baths of Premia whose natural hot water has been documented since 1556.

The natural park of the High Antrona Valley

I

n the natural Park of the High Antrona Valley there are two remarkable villages: Antrona Schieranco and Viganella. From Villadossola the Antrona Valley goes up towards the mountains and the passes that have little-known names like Peack Andolla and the Pass of Sass, two special panoramic terraces that offer an incredible view on the giants of the Pennine Alps: the Monte Rosa and the Weissmies. It’s also the valley of water, of stones and the ancient gold and iron mines.

The mule tracks and the paths go up towards the industrial centre and the tiny villages, the alpine pastures and visitors can take their time to discover some places that still show some vital features of their past and a proud mountains easiness.

The village of Antrona whose ancient origins are related to the Walser people from Saas-Grund in Switzerland was partially destroyed by a huge landslide in 1642 that clogged up the Troncone river and formed the lake Antrona. From this area

which is the highest of the park you can reach the Loranco and the Troncone valleys: it’s a huge territory that is featured by a highly natural landscape on the border with Switzerland. The Loranco Valley is dominated by the Andolla Peak which is 3.656 metres high and Chieggio is the main village while the Troncone Valley is featured by the big artificial lakes of Campliccioli, Cingino and Camposecco, the old larches and the huge pastures where wild animals graze nowadays.

The Eastern side of this protected area goes from the valley floor to the border with the Anzasca Valley: it’s like diving into the green here, into the history, into the wild forests and the rural architecture, into the art and the mysticism. The tiny core of the village is perched on a hillside that goes down towards the Ovesca river in the Antrona valley surrounded by the natural terraces that show what’s left of the old well-known vineyards of the Ossola Valley.

Cycling along the narrow streets and the mule tracks

C

ycling along the narrow streets, the dirty roads, the mule tracks and the low-level paths is an exciting experience: the bicycle is perfect to wander around and visit the natural beauties, the historical sites, the villages, the pastures and the ancient features of the rural mountain civilisation. The protected areas of the Ossola region offer quite easy routes and rings and also a bike sharing service if you don’t have your own bike. In order to discover the rich area of Ossola together with its historical, cultural and natural richness

you can cross the Possette Pass in the Divedro Valley, the alpine pastures of Varzo, the Tour of Solcio, the Ring of Trasquera, Bugliaga and you can hike up to Veglia. In the Devero valley there are some cycle routes like Il Grande est (the great East) of Devero, the lake AgĂ ro and the Squettar route that deserve to be challenged. If you are in the Antrona valley ask about the routes that cross the pastures of Montescheno or the tour of the lakes in the valley: Cheggio, Antrona and Campliccioli.

Tasty parks

T

he natural parks aren’t only the perfect habitat of the wild nature and animals but there are also plenty of ancient food and wine traditions that have reached us with their cheese, wine, honey, bread, sweets and typical dishes. So the protection of these tastes and these traditional working methods together with the traditional working of different types of flour and the breeding of cattle to produce milk represent a priceless heritage for the tourists. If you are gourmet

people, a good reason for organizing a trip to the Ossola areas is the event called “the park’s menu” which is held every year on the 24th of May, this date has been chosen as the European Day of parks so in all the parks in Piedmont the restaurants that take part in this event offer their traditional dishes. Thus it’s the best time to put down your bikes and your backpacks and discover the Bettelmatt, the black bread together with the best wholesome food from this region.

The cuisine from Ossola

Y

ou can taste the typical dishes in many hotels and restaurants mainly the polenta, the potatoes, the pork meat and the dairy products. The “pasta rustia” for instance, it’s a type of short pasta served with crunchy potatoes or the ‘Serpentone’, a roll of pasta from the High Antrona Valley which is filled with the veal roast, the pork loin, the cabbage and covered in the meat sauce or butter and sage. Another traditional dish is ‘La cuchela’, it was made when the pig was killed and it’s made of boiled potatoes with bacon and little pork sausages.

The cooked polenta served with the whipped cream can’t be missed as well as the gnocchi, a type of pasta that is filled with the yellow pumpkin, the potatoes and the chestnuts and it’s seasoned with butter, sage and rosemary. Before going back home don’t forget to buy the typical products: the Bettelmatt and the Ossolano cheese, both featured by a unique taste that is given by the alpine herbs then the rhododendron honey, the typical wines like the Prunent, Tarlap, Cà d’Maté and Terra di Pietra.

The furnace of Progno and the mill of Sasso

T

he rye is an ancient ingredient from the alpine valleys and it has been the protagonist of rituals, exchanges, traditions and infrastructures for many centuries in the Antrona valley: there were the mills, the furnaces, the washtubs, the canals, the natural terraces, the tracks, the staircases and the tiny chapels. This is a network of historical assets that has been recently rediscovered. Two of them deserve a visit: the furnace of Progno and the Mill of Sasso, they are both districts of the village of Montescheno. The former one is an ancient

furnace built in the mid-19th century and used by the local peasants until the first years of the 20th century: thanks to the restoration works that have been carried out it is working again and on the 13th October it pops out more than 500 loafs of bread on the Festival of rye. The Mill of Sasso is a kind of building that was quite widespread in this region because of the great amount of water that was available in this territory. It’s a working mill and it keeps some descriptive boards and an exhibition of ancient milling tools.

Be part of the mountain

T

he mountain environment is unique and it deserves to be properly treated. That’s why the awareness of a balanced, informed and respectful tourism must be underlined in order to protect the environment since this balance can be threatened by the Winter sports. In order to meet these needs and arise the awareness in the travellers and help them to become active guests Alparc, the Network of the Protected Alpine Areas has launched “Be Part of The Mountain�, a communication campaign

to provide the needed information to the hikers and outdoor activities lovers about the importance of their behaviour and the impact it could have on the natural resources and the protected areas.

Thanks to the cooperation with some Ong organizations, the public Bodies and the alpine clubs the initiatives that are held in the different areas can be easily advertised so that useful information can be exchanged and the awareness and the spreading of information can be improved.

The rules of the tourism in the parks

W

hether it’s Summer or Winter, whether you are cycling or skiing or hiking in a natural park you must know how to behave properly in order to guarantee the protection of the animals’ habitat. The Body in charge with protecting these areas has written down a list of easy rules to follow that are important in all seasons: • Check the signalling and the notices • Follow the Protected Areas of Ossola on the Social Networks to get the most updated information • Carefully organize your excursions, choose the

•

• • •

right routes and the right equipment, check the weather forecasts and get fit Be sustainable tourists at home as well: go deep into the impact of your activities, choose a sustainable mobility, correctly separate the wastes and manage correct relationships with the local people Choose the least crowded periods to visit the protected areas of Ossola: Fall gives amazing views and clear days Avoid sudden loud noises Keep your dog on a leash

Sleeping, tasting, buying Luca Sartori

T

he Ossola area stretches along the deepest Northern Piedmont: there are big mountains and forests on the border with Switzerland, a paradise for hikers and for the food lovers as well. There are the salami, the cheese and several nourishing typical dishes from the valleys. If you fancy spending a few days in this area there is the bed & breakfast del Viandante of Vogogna, a nice village near the valleys’ parks where you can taste the jam, the cakes and the home-made bread for breakfast or the hotel Miramonti which is very near the railway station of Santa Maria Maggiore, it has ten rooms where you can also sleep on the biological pillow made of hay and healing herbs that is a perfect solution if you suffer from insomnia. The restaurant Villa Gina is in Goglio di Baceno, it is set in a sort of basin at 1092 metres of altitude very near the Veglia Natural Park of Devero: there are 22 rooms with two, three or four beds and a big dinner room. You can taste the salami, the steam artichoke with parcel and the quail sauce while the tagliolini (a type

pf pasta) with the porcini mushrooms, the parcel and the cardoncelli mushrooms or the duck’s breast covered in honey and vegetables are served at the restaurant Le Colonne of Santa Maria Maggiore. At the hotel-restaurant del vecchio borgo in Vigogna you can eat good cheese, the polenta and the soups and at the restaurant La Motta in Domodossola you can enjoy tasty dishes like the Walser carpaccio with oil and hay, the soup of black bread, the chestnuts with the Bettelmat cheese, the tagliatelle with the trout and the trout stewed into the red wine. For your gourmet shopping there’s the sweets shop Doria of Domodossola where the sweets are sided by creative chocolate delicacies but you can also visit the wine-bar Cantine Garrone near the historical centre of Domodossola where you can buy high quality types of wine and choose from a rich election of liquors and there is also the Dairy Vigezzina of Santa Maria Maggiore where you can buy the butter, the local cheese and the yogurt from the local producers.

DI

SCOV

ER

Ente di Gestione delle Aree Protette dell’Ossola Villa Gentinetta, Viale Pieri 13 28868, Varzo (VB) Tel. 0324 / 72572 www.areeprotetteossola.it info@areeprotetteossola.it

BACK TO THE SUMMARY

DI

ER

SCOV

Alessandra Boiardi

twitter.com/aleboiardi

The nature of Arp on exhibition at Peggy Guggenheim’s Collection

Jean (Hans) Arp Classical Sculpture (Sculpture Classique), 1960 Bronze 50 1/2 × 8 3/4 × 8 in. (128.27 × 22.23 × 20.32 cm) Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, given in memory of Mary Seeger O’Boyle by her family and friends 1966.13.FA © 2019 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn / © Jean Arp, by SIAE 2019

The nature of Arp on exhibition at Peggy Guggenheim’s Collection

«T

he first thing I bought for my collection was an Arp bronze, it had been cast and I fell so in love with it that I asked to have it in my hands.

The instant I felt it I wanted to own it». These are the words used by Peggy Guggenheim in her biography A life for art (Rizzoli Publishers, Milan 1998), where he writes about her meeting and her sudden love for “Head and Shell” (Tête et coquille). It happened in 1933 and this sculpture is one of the main protagonists at the exhibition The nature of Arp hosted at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection from April the 13th to September the 2nd . The exhibition is organized by Catherine Craft and the Nasher Sculpture Centre of Dallas, it exhibits the production of the French-German artist Jean (Hans) Arp (1886–1966), the founder of the Dada Movement and the pioneer of abstraction. He has made some important wor-

Portrait of Arp, ca. 1926 Courtesy Stiftung Arp e.V., Berlin/Rolandswerth

ks of art by using different types of materials and different shapes and he has made drawings, printouts, collage, fabrics, painted carvings and sculptures. After Head and Shell Peggy Guggenheim continued adding other works of art to her collection and there are seven works that can also be found in the The Nature of Arp. The match of the patron and

Jean (Hans) Arp Gnome, also called Kaspar, 1930 Plaster 19 3⁄4 × 11 × 7 1⁄2 in. (50.2 × 27.9 × 19.1 cm) Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden, University of California, Los Angeles, Gift of Madame Marguerite Arp Courtesy of the Hammer Museum © 2019 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn / © Jean Arp, by SIAE 2019

DI

Jean (Hans) Arp Awakening, 1938 Réveil Erwachen Plaster, painted green 18 5/8 x 9 1/2 x 9 in. (47.4 x 24 x 23 cm) Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau Gift of Marguerite Arp-Hagenbach © 2019 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VG BildKunst, Bonn / © Jean Arp, by SIAE 2019 Photo: Jörg Müller/Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau

the Arp has produced lots of exhibitions of contemporary sculpture that have been organized by the art collector. The relationship between Arp and Patsy Nasher wasn’t very different, she bought a bron-

ze by Arp for her husband’s birthday in 1967, the name of the sculpture was Torso with Buds dating back to 1961 and this work became a fundamental work of their modern collection.

The nature of Arp on exhibition at Peggy Guggenheim’s Collection

Jean (Hans) Arp Three Disagreeable Objects on a Face, 1930 (two views) Plaster Overall, 7 1/2 x 14 1/2 x 11 5/8 in. (19 x 37 x 29.5 cm) Museum Jorn, Silkeborg, Denmark © 2019 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VG BildKunst, Bonn / © Jean Arp, by SIAE 2019 Photo courtesy of Museum Jorn, Silkeborg

ER

SCOV

The nature of Arp on exhibition at Peggy Guggenheim’s Collection

BAK TO THE SUMMARY

DI

ER

SCOV

The exhibition: discovering the nature of Arp

A

rm aimed at representing nature as a way to find a wiser and effective strength than the human arrogance in the world torn apart by the First World War and the title The nature of Arp actually shows the role of the nature according to the artist. Arp’s personality shines through the exhibited works, his inclination to struggle against the status quo pushed him to reach the neutral Switzerland

The exhibition will be accompanied by a structured program of free collateral activities, open to the public.

when he was 28 in order to distance himself from the carnage of the war and underline his refusal of militarism. There are 70 works on exhibition in The nature of Arp. Besides the seven works belonging to the Venetian museum there are chalk, wooden, bronze and stones works as well as wood paintings, collage, drawings, fabrics and picture books coming from some important European and

Jean (Hans) Arp Objects Arranged according to the Laws of Chance III, 1931 Oil on wood 10 1/8 in. x 11 3/8 in. x 2 3/8 in. (25.7 cm x 28.9 cm x 6 cm) San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Purchase © 2019 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn / © Jean Arp, by SIAE 2019 Photo: Katherine Du Tiel/SFMOMA

Jean (Hans) Arp Plant Hammer (Terrestrial Forms), 1916 Painted wood 24 ½ x 19 ½ x 3 1/8 in. (62 x 50 x 8 cm) Collection of the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag © 2019 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn / © Jean Arp, by SIAE 2019 Photo courtesy Gemeentemuseum Den Haag

Jean (Hans) Arp Head and Shell, ca. 1933 Polished brass (cast 1930s) Height: 7 3⁄4 in. (19.7 cm); length: 8 7⁄8 in. (22.5 cm) Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice © 2019 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn / © Jean Arp, by SIAE 2019

on the face dating back to 1020 from the Jorn Museum in Silkeborg. A group of works made in cooperation with his wife, the artist Sophie Taeuber-Arp is remarkable and the wooden sculpture called Marital sculpture dating back to 1937 from the Stiftung Arp in Berlino/Rolandswerth can also be highlighted. The exhibition comes with a big catalogue that contains an essay by the exhibition organizer Catherine Craft and some contributions from established and emerging scholars: Lewis Kachur, professor of History of Art at the Kean University in New Jersey; Walburga Krupp, lecturer at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste of Zurich; Tessa Paneth-Pollak, lecturer of History of Art at the Michigan State University.

The nature of Arp on exhibition at Peggy Guggenheim’s Collection

American museums and from a number of foundations and private collections too. Plant-hammer (Earth Shapes) is one of the most important works belonging to this collection dating back to 1916 coming from the Gemeente museum Den Haag in the Netherlands among which there is also the first Dada embossment. The three multiple exhibitions dating back to the 1930s, the reimagining of the shapes without the plinth invite the visitors to interact with the moving details: Sculpture to be lost in the forest (three-shaped sculpture, dating back to 1932 from the Tate Modern, London, Two thoughts on a belly button dating back to 1932 from the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Strasbourg and Three disturbing objects

craiweb.it craiweb.it

Renata Giolli

Delicacies from the Northern and Southern parks

Delicacies from the parks

T

hick forests, stony ground, lakes and bogs then mule tracks, pastures, valleys and amazing landscapes often with a sea view. The quantity and variety of the Italian parks are unique. One life is not enough to know them well and the same goes for the food specialities you can taste in the villages that are spread around them.

There’s nothing better than ending an enjoyable excursion by tasting the local food and buying the best products in the local tiny shops. We haven’t decided to describe a tasting route in this pages by chance. We aim at helping our readers to discover the specialties that really deserve to be taken home after an excursion or a holiday.

Delicacies from the parks

Delicacies from the parks

A tasty heaven L

et’s start from the North, from Gran Paradiso, the beloved hunting reserve of the Savoia family, they ironically saved the ibex from extinction in order to deprive the inhabitants of the valley of the local wild animals to keep them for their hunting passion. The two specialities from Valle d’Aosta we are mentioning are two types of sausages, the mocetta and the boudin. The first one, also called “motzetta” is similar to bresaola and it was once made by using the ibex flavoured with garlic, aromatic herbs,

salt and pepper. They still use the same technique but the main ingredient is the farmed meat: bucks, sheep and cattle. The second one was originally a very nutritious blood sausage that was made by mixing the pork’s or the roar’s blood with potatoes, the beet, the lard, the nutmeg, the juniper berries and the perfumed herbs and it was either cooked or raw. The recipe passed on to generations and it has been changed in order to comply with the food laws. It is now a spicy violet sausage made of beet.

B

efore moving to the centre of Italy let’s have a walk in the park of Cinque Terre along the terraces that connect the villages of Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso. Our basket will certainly contain the anchovies from Monterosso, so simple yet so liked. They are made in Summer: the anchovies are gutted and covered in salt and arranged in layers in the chestnut barrels or pottery vases. After the se-

asoning they are put into the jars and they are ready to be tasted. Which is the best way to taste them? On toasted bread with a bit of butter while sipping the white wine of Cinque Terre mainly the Sciacchetrà although the wine waiters suggest it as a wine for desserts. It’s really smart, it’s a raisin wine that is produced from grapes that are cultivated on the hills where the soil has been taken from the rocks and the stones.

Delicacies from the parks

In the core of taste

Delicacies from the parks

Delicacies from the parks

Delicacies from the parks

Icons of tastes T

he park of Gran Sasso is the right place if you love cheese. Three or four products can’t miss on the breadboard to highlight these wonderful tastes: the caciotta cheese from the Mounts of Laga in the surroundings of Accumuli and Amatrice then the pecorino cheese from Farindola, a cheese that has the taste of the forest, of the grass and the hay. Which is its peculiarity? It’s made according to an old recipe that implies the use of pigs’ rennet.

The marcetto cheese is good too, it is flavoured with the worms from the area of Castel del Monte. Honey is

the best topping for this kind of cheese, the best ones are made from one single type of flower that grow in the mountains near Santoreggia and Stregonia. Moving towards the South the Pollino park is our last protagonist with its typical “biscotto a otto di Latronico”.

It is not a dessert, it’s made of the flour from the Carosella wheat, some water and some salt: it’s a “scaldatello” (a bit warmed up), it is put into the hot water then it is baked. It has a symbolic shape that reminds the infinite and it was traditionally served at the end of the meal dipped into the wine.

Photo from southwestbasilicata.it

Delicacies from the parks

Delicacies from the parks

BACK TO THE SUMMARY

Delicacies from the parks

Luca Sartori

twitter.com/LucaSartoriIT

with a sea view

Liguria

Cinque Terre

I

t was once a handful of fishers’ villages. They are one of the best known and the most loved tourist destinations in Italy. They were acknowledged by the Unesco Heritage in 1997 because of the beauty of their landscape, their perfect mix of nature and characteristic constructions and their unique lifestyle that has always been the same. The lands have been touched without changing their original beauty and their uniqueness. It is an amazing

protected area, it has been part of the protected Marine Area since 1998 and the National Park of Cinque Terre was also founded in 1999. This area includes the villages of Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso and a district of Levanto and La Spezia. A rugged coastline area where the coloured houses of the villages and the little harbours are interspersed with the vineyards and the terraces that overlook the sea.

The village of pastels

I

t is a route between the hinterland and the sea that connects the five tiny villages of the park that are surrounded by the nature and unexpected views, the vineyards and the old drywalls. The first village on your way is Riomaggiore, not far from La Spezia, it’s a vertical village that stands out between two steep terraced hills. On the other hand, Manarola is on the cliff. The multicoloured typical houses offer a wonderful view, the village has been developing steadily and it is one of the main areas for the production of wine and oil. Corniglia is on the top of a promontory, of Roman origins it

is featured by the vineyards and its typical terraces that can’t be reached from the sea. It was even mentioned in the chronicles of 1080 since it was a fortified village and a busy Marine Base. Venazza is a jubilation of light colours, a charming handful of narrow streets. Monterosso is the biggest and the oldest village of Cinque Terre, there’s an old district and a new one. It was loved by the Italian writer Eugenio Montale, the harbour is surrounded by the typical narrow streets (carrugi), it is the most characteristic district of the village and it’s spread with wine-bars, focaccia bakeries and restaurants.

Along the Way of Love

I

t’s the most famous and amazing blue footpath of the park. It has been tracked along the centuries by the people who used to move to and from the different villages, it sometimes become a mule-track too. It’s a little more than 12 kilometres that connect the village of Riomaggiore and Monterosso, and it was already known under the Republic of Genoa when Vernazza was the main trading destination. The way of love is a part of the Blue Path overlooking the sea that connects Riomaggiore and Manarola, it’s an amazing panoramic view that can be covered by anyone. The

park is spread with tracks that leave from every village and enable you to reach the hinterland and the most beautiful coastline areas. One of the best loved footpaths is the one that reaches Voltastra from Colle del Telegrafo along the Road of the Sanctuaries and the footpath that goes up to the Madonna di Sovione from Monterosso is a beautiful tourist route too, it’s an historical mule-track between the village and the sanctuary of Santa Maria di Sovione and the route that connects Corniglia and Cigoletta is very demanding and it perfectly suits the skilled hikers.

Geckos and terns

O

nce there were the oak forests then the human work, the construction of the terraces, the trees logging for the wood changed the landscape. The following reforestation and the growing of settling areas made the changes even more evident. Nowadays the park’s vegetation has the typical features of the Mediterranean forest. There are the maritime pine trees, the chestnut trees, the holm oaks and the Aleppo pines, many different types of bushes like the sea fennel, the laurels, the rosemary, the helichrysum flowers, the thyme, the

lavender and the capers. The cliffs, the vegetation, the forests, the rivers are the habitat of a number of different animal species like the roars, the badgers and the foxes among the mammals, the wall lizards, the gecko lizards, the green lizards among the reptiles, the terns and the peregrine falcons among the birds and the frogs and the salamanders in the humid areas. The rocky seabed is inhabited by a number of vegetable species like the Neptune grass and the cymodocea plant and by some fish like the groupers, the squints and the sea breams.

The basil and the Sciacchetrà

T

he food is rich and varied in this area. The focaccia with onions or with cheese, the farinata made of chickpeas flour, the trofie or the trenette (types of pasta) with pesto sauce, the pansoti (type of pasta) with the nuts sauce, the salted anchovies, the fried ones or the pickled ones or the typical vegetable soup are only some typical delicacies you can find in the restaurants and in the bakeries of the park’s villages. There are also many gifts from the soil among which the very good basil which is the basic ingredient

of pesto, the flavoured herbs like the marjoram, the thyme, the rosemary, the honey, the lemons that are used to make the liquor and the jams and the very good olive oil. The typical white wine from Cinque Terre is called Sciacchetrà, it is made from the grapes that grow on the typical terraces in the park, it is a very good wine to sip while you are eating the typical traditional dishes that also include the some very good fish that is served in the villages’ restaurants overlooking the Ligurian Sea.

Sleeping, tasting, buying

T

he Park of Cinque Terre is the wonder of the sea that meets the hills, the water that strokes the coast, the sunny land terraces that look at the horizon. You can stop there just for a lunch or a dinner, you can spend an entire day or your holidays. If you fancy a holiday there’s the Albergo degli Amici (the Hotel of friends) in Monterosso, three minutes’ walk from the seaside in an area that is spread with tiny restaurants, shops, arches and narrow streets.

The bed & breakfast 3 Passi dal Mare is in the historical centre of Corniglia, its rooms overlook the gulf and the cultivated terraces. The hotel Gianni Franzi in Vernazza offers different types of rooms, the most of them have a sea view as well as the garden which overlooks the sea. The most typical product of this area is the focaccia: a stop at the Focacceria Antonio of Monterosso is a must to taste the focaccia with the rosemary, with the anchovies and the oil or the farinata with the stracchino che-

ese or with the truffles cream. The octopus salad with potatoes, the anchovies in the Gambero Rosso way and the pansoti (a type of filled pasta) with the nuts sauce are some specialties that are served at the restaurant Gambero Rosso of Vernazza while at the Trattoria Dal Billy of Manarola you can taste the salted anchovies, the mixed sea starters, the tagliolini with the sea food and the peppers, the trofie (a type of pasta) with the pesto sauce, the fried or grilled fish and the fish in the oven too. You can shop in the many farms that are spread in the area between the land terraces and the villages. At the Possa farm of Riomaggiore you can buy the typical wine called Sciacchetrà Cinque Terre DOC and a lot of honey that is produced in this corner of Liguria perched on the sea while at the Farm Terra di Bargòn in Riomaggiore you can visit the vineyards and the wine cellars and you can buy a good bottle of Sciacchetrà Cinque Terre DOC.

BACK TO THE SUMMARY

DI

ER

SCOV

Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre Via Discovolo snc - c/o Stazione Manarola 19017 Riomaggiore (SP) Tel. +39 0187/762600 www.parconazionale5terre.it info@parconazionale5terre.it

Puglia

The Gargano Park, the triumph of biodiversity Cinzia Meoni

Cinzia Meoni

facebook.com/cinzia.meoni

Luca Sartori

twitter.com/LucaSartoriIT

I

t’s heaven for the bio-diversities with 120.000 hectares spread with plenty of different habitats. Surprises are endless in the Gargano National Park where a number of protected areas among which the Marine Reserve of Tremiti Islands are set while the last edge of the Umbrian Forest lays in the sun in the hinterland. There are many tiny villages in this park in Puglia and there is also 35% of the whole botanical species that are present in Italy thanks to the different habi-

tats that make it a unique place to be explored throughout the year. You can go deep into the colours and the scents of nature and enjoy good food or you can walk along the different paths and the unusual tracks of the pilgrims. The white rocks plunge into the deep blue Adriatic Sea while your glance gets lost towards the hinterland that is featured by the lush forests, the castles, the monasteries, the crypts, the cathedrals and the rural churches.

Walking, horse-riding or going on two wheels

T

he Gargano National Park, “the spur of Italy” is a park to be lived, to be slowly sipped along every single path and track where you can go cycling, horse-riding and take your time to be amazed by the beauty of nature and the surrounding architectural jewels. The network of paths is endless: there are more than 350 kilometres that suit every skills and every preference, you can use your bicycle, you can go horse-riding along the 50 kilometres of horse-tracks and along the eight kilometres that connect the rural landscape featured

by the ”tratturi” and the drywalls and San Simeone and Monte Sant’Angelo. There’s an amazing view of the coastline and the hinterland from there.

From San Giovanni Rotondo, famous all around the world as the home of Padre Pio, you can leave on the Great Crossing of the Gargano Area along a route of two-hundred kilometres that reaches many villages and different area like the Fratta Valley, the Spinapulci forest where the hawthorns blossom and the Carbonara Valley where the coal holes, the farmhouses and the farms stand out.

Land of love and religion

S

everal Saints crossed these lands, Padre Pio wasn’t the last one. One of them is celebrated all around the world by everyone even by the ones who have never set foot in a church: Saint Valentine, the patron saint of Vico del Gargano, also known as the “village of love”.

Every year on February the 14th this village dominated by the castle of Frederick II of Sweden dresses up for a great party and wears beautiful wreaths of oranges that have been produced in this Area for a thousand years (the oranges from

Gargano are an IGP product) while the statue of Saint Valentine is kept in the Matrice church and it is taken in procession along the village’s streets. The most famous street is “Vicolo del Bacio” (the street of kisses), it is so narrow that hugs can’t be ignored and there are also lots of street markets all around where the typical products are sold. According to the local legends, the juices that you drink on the 14th February that are made from the holy fruits of the Saint are a real love potion.

The villages among the lakes, the lagoons and the sea

T

he villages look out on the Adriatic Sea along the coastline: the sea is clear and the trebuchets, the ancient wooden constructions once used for the fishing recall a distant past.

In Vieste the long golden beaches are followed by the beautiful reefs, the marine caves and the rocky archways like the one of San Felice.

The white beaches, the white lime houses outline Peschici, a tiny village along the coastline that is dominated by the so-called Rocca Impe-

riale that was built as an outpost to check the arrival of the Saracens. Apoiale and its lagoon and sea views near lake Varanois is a charming place too. Torre Mileto deserves a visit, it is the bathing side of San Nicandro Garganico and the Varano island and its maritime pine forests where the hoopoes and the herons find their shelters is a nice place to go. You can reach the Varano island through the bridges that connect it with the mainland.

Between sacred and profane

F

ood is the protagonist in this area because of a number of very old traditions to be discovered that bring the memory back to the villages where the time has stopped. In Monte Sant’Angelo, a religious centre that developed around the sanctuary of San Michele Arcangelo which is one of the most ancient of the Christian Age (Unesco heritage since 2011), the bread and the “ostie ripiene” (filled wafers) are made, they are crunchy sweets made of fruit, almonds and honey. The village of Carpino gave its name to a bean that has been

acknowledged by the slow food organization while in the Lesina lagoons the eels are bred and the “paposce” are baked, they are a sort of bread rolls made with the pizza dough and filled with the pecorino cheese, vegetables and seasoned with the oil produced from the old olive trees of this area.

In the Umbrian Forest the truffles won’t be missing as well as the mushrooms, the spontaneous herbs and the magliatello (goat meat) and a glass of good Macchiatello from Gargano or San Severo Doc from Apricena will conquer your taste.

Sleeping, tasting, buying Luca Sartori

I

t’s the green lung of Puglia and it’s surrounded by the sea. The National Park of Gargano is one of the most beautiful areas of the Adriatic coastline. It’s a highly requested tourist destination, it offers a wide range of hotels and restaurants by the sea and in the hinterland. The hotel Piccolo Paradiso is surrounded by a beautiful green area, it has 30 rooms including two rooms for disabled people and a restaurant that is specialized on meat and fish. The Hotel Riviera has a private beach and it’s 400 metres from the historical centre of Rodi Garganico. It has the standard room, the comfort room with a sea view, the family room with two adjoining rooms and the Suite with the hydromassage bathtub and the terrace with a sea view. The Palace Hotel is an elegant four-stars hotel in the centre of the main town of Gargano; it’s an historical building in the Liberty style dating back to the XVth century that offers standard double, triple and quadruple rooms, a junior suite and the suite. Tastes are a landmark of this area where you can enjoy the traditional dishes

and a good glass of wine. The restaurant La Taverna of Peschici used to be the shelter of pirates and seamen in the past, it’s a combination of tradition and charming atmosphere where they serve the sea appetizers of the pirates, the spaghetti with the sea urchins, the orecchiette (a type of pasta) with the porcini mushrooms, the clams and cuttlefish with potatoes cooked in the oven. The venison, the barbecue and the salami are some specialties from the wine bar Sapor Di Vino of Ischitella where wine is the main protagonist while at the restaurant Il Trabucco of Peschici the first drink is directly served on the trabucco, among the main specialties there are the seafood cocktails, the grilled fish, spaghetti with the seafood and fried fish. For your shopping you can visit La Massaia, a cheese shop in Vieste where you can also buy the olive oil, the caciocavallo cheese, the cacioricotta cheese, the pecorino cheese and the mulled wine then you can go to the oil mill La Collina del Sole, in Vieste to buy the very good olive oil from the Gargano area.

BACK TO THE SUMMARY

DI

SCOV

ER

Ente parco nazionale del Gargano Indirizzo: Via Sant’Antonio Abate, 121 - 71037 Monte Sant’Angelo (Fg) Tel +39 0884 568911 www.parcogargano.it info@parcogargano.it

Piendmont - Aosta Valley

Gran Paradiso… …the Garden of Eden

Luca Sartori

twitter.com/LucaSartoriIT

T

he history of the National Park of Gran Paradiso is bound to the Savoia family’s one.

Under the King Vittorio Emanuele II it became the “Royal Game Reserve” in 1856 and this contributed to the saving of the ibex from extinction, its surface was wider than the present national park. It’s the same animal that appears on the emblem of the oldest park of Italy that was founded in 1922 with the decree signed by the King Vittorio Emanuele III. The

establishment of the royal reserve enabled the valleys and the mule tracks that connected the villages with the hunting lodges to develop and the king and his court could easily move around the reserve and the routes that still shape the park. The valleys, the forests, the glaciers, the streams, the rivers, the lakes, the waterfalls, the green fields feature this amazing mosaic of the Alpes where the only Italian mountain higher than 4000 metres is set.

The five valleys

T

he Soana valley and the Orco valley in Piedmont and the Cogne valley, the Rhêmes valley and the Valsavarenche in the Aosta Valley are the five valleys of the National Park of Gran Paradiso. There are hardwood forests, several tiny churches, chapels among which there is also the famous sanctuary of san Besso – there are the lakes in the Soana valley among which the Serrù, there are peatlands and marshes in the Orco valley, there are waterfalls mainly the Lillaz and amazing views of the glaciers in the Cogne valley. The Rhêmes valley’s lowland is full of tracks while the Valsavarenche is featured by wild landscapes an many alpine huts. All these

valleys are featured by rocky peaks and eternal glaciers. From the highest peak (4.061 metres) you can go down and reach the peaks of the Grivola, a bit less than 4000 metres high and the Herbètet (3778 metres). On the Piedmont side the Ciarforon stands out against the sky, it’s 3.642 metres high, the Tresenda, a bit higher than 3.600 metres and the Becca of Monciair which is 3.544 metres high. Then there’s the Torre del Gran San Pietro (Tower of the Great Saint Peter), the Becchi della Tribolazione, Punta Galisia, Tre Levanne, the Granta Parey, the main landmark of the Rhêmes valley, Punta Lavina and La Rosa dei Bianchi, all higher than 3 thousand metres.

Villages with a view

T

here are six municipalities belonging to the park in Piedmont and seven to the Aosta Valley. The upper Orco valley widely belongs to the municipality of Ceresole, it’s a perfect environment for the excursions, for the hiking activities, the cross-country skiing, the skiing and the climbing. Ronco is the main village of the Soana valley, it is featured by a beautiful historical centre by the right shore of the Soana river and it’s surrounded by fir woods and beech woods. Cogne, the heart of the valley is

surrounded by wide meadows, there are many restaurants, handicraft products, traditional food and breathless views over the glaciers and the starting point of many excursions. Rhêmes-Notre-Dame in the upper Rhêmes valley is the perfect destination for the lovers of the Nordic skiing. It’s a highly appreciated destination because of its unspoilt landscapes and the conservation of its artistic heritage.

The Valsavarenche is the paradise of hikers crossed by the High route n° 2 of the Aosta Valley.

Wild tracks

T

here are more than 500 kilometres of tracks in the park, there are routes for everyone and different levels of difficulty. The Gran Paradiso Park-tour is one of the most beaten tracks that run across the royal hunting roads that were built in the 19th century by the Savoia family, the High Canavesana Route, the ring with 12 stops that starts and finishes in Pont Canavese and the ibex track which is an amazing 40 kilometres route across the woods, the meadows, the bogs and the stone quarries. It’s an ideal place to relax and

see the ibex, the groundhog and the eagles. This network of tracks is also enriched with the cycle routes among which there is the Ingria ring in the Soana valley, the amazing ring of lake Ceresole in the Orco valley, the route of the Nivolet hill on the border with Piedmont and Aosta Valley and the one in Valsavarenche. The National Park of Gran Paradiso is one of the best tourist areas of the Alpes thanks to its trekking, cycling, hiking facilities as well as the several excursions you can chose with the support of a skilled guide.

High cuisine

T

he most served dish is the polenta, it is made in many different ways either in the valleys of the Canavese area or in the Aosta valley. One of the most typical recipes is the polenta concia, covered in butter and fontina cheese, the typical Dop cheese of this valley; you can match this dish with one of the best wines from this area, the Enfer d’Arvier. The salami that are served in the alpine huts and in the restaurants are very good too, you can taste the mocetta, the potatoes salame from the canavese area and the boudin, the sausage made with the pork’s blood, the boiled pota-

toes, the turnips or the red sugar beet, the bacon, the salt , the black pepper, the garlic, the cinnamon, the nutmeg, the sage, the rosemary and the juniper berries. The tegole (tiles) are good sweets to be tasted, they are the typical biscuits from the Aosta Valley, they are made of wheat flour, egg white, nuts, sweet and bitter almonds then there is the mecoulin, the bread raisin that is made in the sweetshops of Cogne and you can’t miss the Nivolet cake, you can buy it in the valleys of the Canavese area, it’s made of flour, starch, butter, sugar, eggs, chocolate and génépy.

Sleeping, tasting, buying

T

he National Park of Gran Paradiso is a land of great mountains. You can come out here to explore, to breathe in the open air, to enjoy the colours and the scents of the nature, to relax and taste the local specialties. DISThe park hosts some beautiful alpine huts and elegant hotels. Besides the historical hotel Sant’Orso of Cogne with a view on the group of mountains of Gran Paradiso and the panoramic swimming-pool of the Lebois Spa in the new wellness centre there’s also the alpine hut Santa Pulenta of Locana in the district of Cambrelle where the two rooms are matched to the local dishes mainly the polenta. In Valnontey there’s the hotel Petit Dahu built out from two ancient houses in the core of the village. There are seven bedrooms, the breakfast room, a sitting room with the fireplace, a children’s corner and a garden. The restaurants and the alpine huts’ dishes are very hearty. At the Osteria dei Viaggiatori of Noasca, on the Piedmont side you can taste the fried tomini (little cheese rolls), the salmon trout with the sauce and the meat from Alba with

a sauce of almonds and truffles. Among the first courses there are the agnolotti (a type of filled pasta) with the spinach and among the main courses there is the meat in the losa way that is served on a stone at 300°. At the restaurant La Rocca of Sparone the typical food from Piedmont is reinvented in a modern way, there are the tagliolini (a type of tagliatelle) and the “plin” agnolotti (a type of filled pasta), the gnocchi and the ravioli (a type of filled pasta), the fry-up and the river fish. At the restaurant La Brasserie Du Bon Bec located in the centre of Cogne they serve the classical polenta, the pierrade, the grilled meat. For the shopping lovers there’s the bottega di Gibi (the shop of Gibi) of Cogne, it’s a workshop where they work the leather to make beautiful bags, belts and other interesting items. If you love wine, the wine-bar Cave des Onze Communes in Aymavilles is a must, it is close to the castle and you can buy the best white and red wines from Valle d’Aosta like the Torrette, the Torrette Supérieur, the Black Pinot and the Black Chardonnay.

BACK TO THE SUMMARY

DI

ER

SCOV

Parco Nazionale del Gran Paradiso Segreteria turistica: Via Pio VII, 9 10135 Torino Tel 011-8606233 www.pngp.it info@pngp.it

Marino Pagano

facebook.com/marino.pagano.3

Basilicata Turistica basilicataturistica.it

The ParK of Gallipoli Cognato, discovering Lucania

G

reen unspoilt nature, charming historical village: it’s the territory of the Park of Gallipoli Cognato in Lucania, an area which is becoming an important tourist area, the symbol of the South of Italy that is starting to trust itself more and develop its cultural potential.

The park covers 27.027 hectares and includes the municipalities of Accettura, Calciano, Oli-

veto Lucano in the province of Matera, Castelmezzano and Pietrapertosa in the province of Potenza. It’s the core of the region, it’s an area rich of streams and a great biodiversity: the Forest of the so-called Dolomites of Lucania, the mountain of Caperrino, the forest of Montepiano (Accettura) and the archaeological site of Mount Croccia.

Calciano and the quiet witnesses from the past If we imagine a perfect and effective route through the park we can’t help starting with the area near Matera and mainly the villages of Calciano and Accettura then reach the jewels of the Dolomites: Castelmezzano and Pietrapertosa. Calciano is the smallest village in the area of Matera and it’s the door to the Park at 400 metres of altitude featured by a landscape where the olive trees act as lords. It’s perched on a small hill where the main church is set, it keeps some remarkable paintings. You can slowly stroll around

the quiet Medieval village, the “Paese di Pede”: you won’t be bothered, you’ll just hear the sounds of the far animals thanks to the echoes.

Caucium is the First village, it keeps the ruins of an ancient stronghold dating back to the dark age, the Church of the Norman Fortress and the ruins of the historical church of Saint Catherine.

The caves where the first inhabitants decided to live, maybe they were hermits: the painted walls showing the images dedicated to Saint Catherine and the cave churches.

Accettura, the village of the trees wedding Accettura represents the age-old archaic Lucania. The silence of the woods is magic, trees are cut and brought to the village for the famous mystic wedding. The famous May of Accettura and its rituals is a real attraction. But what does the ritual imply? The “May� tree is chosen in the forest of Montepiano on the Sunday after Easter; in the forest of Gallipoli-Cognato in the Dolomites of Lucania there is the best holly Peak. According to a number of researches the

aim is convincing them to be married as a wish for the fertility. So we can celebrate the nature that wakes up when the pagan culture and the Christian one came together. Accettura is a nice village with its main church which is set in a position from where you can enjoy a nice view of a wide part of Lucania. In the museum dedicated to the rituals of trees the images and the stories tell about these traditions and their everlasting identity.

Castelmezzano, rocks and brightness Castelmezzano in the province of Potenza isn’t far from the main town, it’s a land that stretches between the rocks and the villages. Houses look out on the stones thus giving an evocative unique view. The village is elegant in its details and other similar villages are spread in the Apennines where every detail is carefully checked in the name of beauty. Beautiful flowers and coloured feelings: a peaceful air. The ritual of the wedding of trees happens in Castelmezzano as well: deep feelings of the most ancient Lucania. The village is very small, there are only 800 inhabitants, a real candy-dish of the heart. There are the ruins of a fortress and a main church that keeps some artistic treasures. There are many traditions that are carefully kept and the bread is very good, it deserves to be tasted in the old furnaces of the village.

DI

ER

SCOV

Pietrapertosa, feeling the landscape Pietrapertosa is the Dolomites of Lucania, it’s the highest village of the whole region and the park.

There’s a particular way to feel the landscape in the sky between this village and: it’s the famous flight of the angel, the possibility to float in the air in a safe harness to boost your adrenaline.

The tiny village offers the chance to take fairy photographs. You can go to Pietrapertosa in the evening when your thoughts are at rest. So the silence falls. An old woman looks out through the window from her warm house. She’s an old woman from Lucania. The visitors meet up and the enchantment welcomes them. It’s easy to

understand why tourists love this village, it gives them many interesting historical hints belonging to the Saracen domination: there is the Arabata, the Arabic district on the top of the village. The tiny Swabian-Norman castle has been well kept too. The food is excellent in Pietrapertosaa: the famous “rafanata” is a tasty omelette made of the roots of the radish plant and it is seasoned with the pecorino cheese. So it’s time to leave the Park of Gallipoli Cognato and the Dolomites of Lucania, the beauty, the landscapes, the history and the food. Thus you know that by necessity you’ll have to come back to this land.

DI

ER

SCOV

BACK TO THE SUMMARY

Tyrol, villages, culture and nature

Crossborder: Austria

Marino Pagano

facebook.com/marino.pagano.3

Crossborder: Austria

T

he South Tyrol on the border with Austria is an amazing territory, Innsbruck is the main landmark of this region but there are also many villages that have many interesting stories to tell. It’s not only about the very famous Winter tourist destinations, it’s not only about the eclectic and elegant city where the patriot Andreas Hofer is buried or the skiing facilities that are at your disposal where two

Olympic Games have been held but it is mainly the land of wonderful tiny villages where the air is clean, the nature is unspoilt and plenty of historical artistic places deserve a visit and many cultural traditions are still alive. We’ll go through some interesting historical places that we warmly recommend. Don’t think this adverb is inappropriate since the Innsbruck area is always charming in all temperatures!

The villages of the urban area

Y

ou may get lost among all these beauties.

There is Rum on the way from Innsbruck to Hall. It’s featured by the characteristic Gothic church, the big Karwendel park, many tracks, an absolute wonder. Down in the valley there is the Inntalradweg cycle route. You can’t skip Kematen and its tiny village spread with the old original farms. Their barns are famous and there’s a beautiful Gothic church here as well, many sports areas are available in Summer while the ski tracks are the main attraction in Winter. Afling is along the Compostela route: we really suggest it. Then

there’s Völs, an ancient village that is famous for its ski facilities, it is connected to Innsbruck by the underground. The well-known soccer tournament is organized here but also a number of important ice-skating competitions. The Olympia SkiWorld in the surroundings is the paradise for skiers. Then there is the lake on the Western side of the area that will surely catch your attention.

Zirla deserves a stop too. The natural reserves, the public pools, the wonderful railways, the handcrafted presepi (Nativity Scenes) on Christmas time feature the entire area.

Crossborder: Austria

Crossborder: Austria

Crossborder: Austria

The landscape around lake Natterer

I

f you want to understand the beautiful landscapes of Tyrol, their endless charm and the magic of silence you must go to the lake Natterer. It’s a lovely quiet place where you can relax and contemplate the beauty of nature and quietly swim. Of moraine origin, it is fed by high quality water at 830 metres of altitude. There are many different possibilities to live the lake, it is a special place for the couples but for the families as well. There are plenty of facilities for all tastes. Axams is 10 kilometres from

Innsbruck, it’s famous for its traditional cultivation of linen and it offers the big skiing facility of Axamer Lizum. Many Olympic competitions have been organized there. Your relaxing and leisure time is guaranteed at the Axamer Freizeitzentrum: it’s a facility with indoor and outdoor pools, a beach volley ring and some wellness areas. If you love the art you can’t miss the church of Saint John. Then there are many horse-farms where kids will have a great time with the famous pony horses.

Crossborder: Austria

The Southern Innsbruck villages

T

here are five main villages in this area: Aldrans, Prockenhöfe, Wiesenhöfe, Rans and Herzseet, they are all by the lake. They are in the area of Aldrans. There are tracks, an old abbey and the peculiar Herzsee, the lake with the shape of a heart. This area is near the important city of Hall in Tirol. Don’t miss the beautiful Rinn on the highland with its historical Judenstein church in the Rococo style. In Winter the kids can have great fun at the “Kinderland Rinn” centre. Ampass, along the ancient salt way will impress you too. It’s a very characteristic villa-

ge, there’s the lake Taxerhof nearby. These areas are well-known for the therapeutic properties of their landscapes because their views will certainly ease your mind. Lans is 8 kilometres from Innsbruck, it is set by a tiny lake and it features a nice recreational area. Finally there is Sistrans, Southwest of Innsbruck. Many legends about the Tyrol come from this place, there are tracks that celebrate the heroes of the past and plenty of skating rings and the Sistiger Bannzaun, a drywall which is 600 metres long that separates the village from the nearby Aldrans.

Crossborder: Austria

Crossborder: Austria

Crossborder: Austria

A mix of attractions

W

e also suggest you to visit Gries im Sellrain, 22 kilometres far from Innsbruck: it’s in the Sellraintal valley. You can enjoy some beautiful walking tracks, taste the good cheese and the typical speck. There are many tracks and ski paths and many facilities. Then you can set off to Kühtai near Silz in the Stubai Alps. It’s poorly inhabited but it’s really charming, it’s maybe the smallest village of Tyrol. There’s an ancient farmhouse here, these characteristic farmhouses where the typical home of the peasants from Tyrol. The famous cableway

called “of the three lakes ” goes up to the three beautiful tiny lakes. Then you can’t miss Sellrain with its famous little church of Saint Quiricus and Oberperfuss whose tracks offer you an amazing view of the mountain peaks. Unterperfuss has a well-equipped excursion area called “Rangger Köpfl” and Ranggen is featured by the characteristic meditation track called “Weg der Befreiung”, (the track of freedom), we must also mention St. Sigmund and the village of Praxmar where you can do many Winter sports like skiing and snowboarding.

BACK TO THE SUMMARY

Crossborder: Austria

Antonella Andretta

facebook.com/antonella.andretta

e c a l p out of

S Y A D HOLI I

A stroll in the city

n the ancient times from the Middle Ages until the XVIIth century the urban public green areas were not taken into any consideration except the private gardens and parks belonging to the aristocratic buildings or the monasteries: that’s why you can’t see any green areas in the most ancient historical centres. This is the reason why we have decided to describe many city villages as the counterpart of the parks in the previous pages: these places are the keepers of history, arts, shopping, locals and restaurants but they are also the places where many events are held throughout the year so they are the ideal excuse to leave on a journey in any seasons.

out of place HOLIDAYS

A stroll in the city

L

et’s start with the North-Western area in a city that was founded two thousand years ago: Aosta. The core of the city is the cathedral square that was built on the ancient Forum that you can reach through Porta Pretoria, it is a long-lasting example of the Roman engineering skills also in the nearby archaeological park. The Medieval group of Sant’Orso isn’t far from there, it features some very nice carved capitals: the ancient handicraft festival of Sant’Orso is held every year in the surrounding area on the 30th and 31st January. The Summer version of

the same festival is held on the first week of August and it’s called Foire d’été (the Summer Fair). In the Northern area of Italy Bergamo Alta deserves a visit as well, it is perched on a hill and it’s surrounded by the panoramic Venetian walls. You can reach the top or the hill by taking an exciting ride on the cable car or you can walk and cross Porta San Giacomo. In the old square there is the Palazzo della Ragione, the civic tower and the palace of the Library. If you cross the square you’ll reach the Cathedral square that is sided by the Colleoni Chapel, the Baptistry and

A stroll in the city

out of place HOLIDAYS

A stroll in the city

out of place HOLIDAYS

A stroll in the city

out of place HOLIDAYS

A stroll in the city

out of place HOLIDAYS

the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore. The exhibition “The Masters of Landscape” deserves to be seen, it’s a festival dedicated to the landscape design that is held every year in September, the city and the square become a very charming garden.

Let’s move to the centre of Italy to visit another village surrounded by the walls: Lucca. The huge walls are untouched, they are 12 metres high, four kilometres long and 30 metres wide! They were turned into an amazing walking route in the XIXth century and you can see the towers and the red roofs from the top of the walls. An architectural urban jewel is the

square of the amphitheater, it has an oval shape that reminds the ancient theatre that was set there in the past: thanks to the bars’ tables, the weekly street market and the many tourists who stroll around the city centre is always vibrant. The Cathedral dedicated to San Martino deserves to be seen as well, it keeps the funeral monument by Ilaria del Carretto, she’s really touching in her eternal serenity. One of the main events that is held in Lucca is Lucca Comics&Games, an exhibition dedicated to the comics, the role-plays and the fantasy world that is held each year between October and November:

A stroll in the city

out of place HOLIDAYS

A stroll in the city

out of place HOLIDAYS

it’s considered one of the most important exhibitions in Italy in this sector and it is the one of the most important in the world. Let’s jump to the South of Italy in Basilicata, in Matera, the European Cultural Capital for the year 2019 that features a long list of scheduled events. The main attraction is represented by the “stones”, a Unesco heritage, they are a group of ancient shelters that were carved into the mountain, they were inhabited in the ancient times until the 1950s. They have been recently restored and they are the

favourite destination of many tourists nowadays. Our last stop is in Sicily mainly Siracusa to sip a cocktail on the Ortigia island, a sort of fortress-town overlooking the sea: no excuses are needed to enjoy a walk along the narrow streets to reach the Cathedral Square that was built on an ancient pagan temple then you can set off to the Aretusa Source and stop in one of the many locals along the Alfeo seafront to enjoy the climate and a mojito with basil instead of the mint and the Sicilian Sambuca liquor instead of Rum!

A stroll in the city

out of place HOLIDAYS

A stroll in the city

out of place HOLIDAYS

BACK TO THE SUMMARY

A stroll in the city

out of place HOLIDAYS

Ivan Pisoni

facebook.com/pisoni.ivan.7

Legends in the parks

Legends in the parks

The legend of the ghosts of the Parco della Tesoriera I

n every foggy evening, when all is silent and the park’s gates are closed, a man dressed in black is riding his horse and he’s chasing a woman with long hair.

They are the ghosts of the Park of Tesoriera in Turin. This legend goes back to the Sabaudian Age when Aymo Ferrero from Cocconato, the treasurer and advisor of his state was accused of stealing from the king and all his estates were confiscated including his house, Villa Tesoriera. When Aymo saw the guards

coming towards him he got furious and he started looking for his wife Josephine who was hiding in a wardrobe. When the guards broke in they found the remains of Aymo set on fire under the fireplace but they could never find his wife. The treasurer preferred dying rather than leaving his estates‌ but what happened to his wife? This story split the public opinion and the ghost treasurer is still looking for his wife in the park in Turin for some reason

The legend of Majella, the mother of all the people from Abruzzo M

aja was the oldest and the most beautiful of the Pleiades nymphs. She was the daughter of Atlas and Pleione, even Zeus fell in love with her and he gave her a son, the giant Ermetes. Maja had to run away from Frigia to save her son’s life who had been wounded in the battle. She crossed the sea up to Ortona then she hid herself in the mountains of Gran Sasso. Maja was looking for a magic plant to cure her son but when the snow started to fall down she couldn’t find it anymore so Ermetes died and she was left in despair. Maja

buried him on the mountain’s peak and the day after the mountain became even bigger, it looked like a “sleeping giant”. The nymph’s sorrow was so deep that she died. Her relatives buried her on the mountain facing the Gran Sasso on a very sad day so the mountain got the shape of a woman, bent on her grief looking at the sea. Someone says that on windy days the people from Abruzzo can hear the cry of a painful mother. Thus that mother, the symbol of the land’s fertility… Maja became the mountain Majella.

Legends in the parks

Legends in the parks

The legend of the king of ibexes, the bleeding and the Gran Paradiso W

hat a pain for that nomadic marine tribe that once arrived to the Iron mountains (Monti del Ferro)! They used to go fishing and the were used to being surrounded by the sea waves so they were impressed by the very cold temperature and the hardships of the nature. After they had wandered around for many months they reached a place where they would never be sent away. Salaxo was the chief, he was brave, proud and he was sorry for his people. Salaxo decided to visit the Men of

Iron to ask for permission to live there.

The Men of the Iron were miners and traders, they had a lot of iron and gold but Salaxo could give them only necklaces made of the shells from his original land. Although he was so worried he gave his gifts and they were accepted by the men of the iron who gave him food and friendship in exchange. Salaxo told about his people’s desire but the witch doctor told him he had to get the permission from the king of ibexes.

Salaxo was up for anything and set off

BACK TORNA TO AL THE SOMMARIO SUMMARY

in front of him, it was like being above the clouds. “I’m in Heaven!” he said in his moving soft voice. “Yes!” a voice next to him replied it was the magic animal.

“If you want to settle in this land you’ll have to call it “Gran Paradiso” (Big Heaven). You’ll have to respect it and bring the peace. “ The king of ibexes recognized Salaxo’s pure soul and he said that the people who would come after him should be like him, Salassi (bleedings) and he promised that no-one would never kick them out from that ... “Gran Paradiso” (Big Heaven).

Legends in the parks

on his mission holding his sword. When he reached the sacred place Salaxo saw the king of ibexes. It started to jump up towards the top of the mountain followed by the astonished warrior. “Where are you going? Don’t run away!” Salaxo screamed while he was running after the noble animal that was almost reaching the peak. The vegetation disappeared as they went higher and higher: there were just rocks and snow until the king of ibexes disappeared. Salaxo was alone, bleeding from his knees and almost breathless but a magic view was

Ivan Pisoni

facebook.com/pisoni.ivan.7

Did you know that...

Did you know that... parks

T

he giant snake of Milan, the symbol of the city is actually a dragon! There are several legends about this giant snake. One of these goes that a dragon called Tarantasio arrived in the surroundings of Milan and found a shelter by the lake Gerundo in the mid-4th century. People thought that this dragon used to eat kids.

After many attempts to kill him Uberto Visconti faced the monster and he defeated it before it could swallow the last kid. Uberto, the legendary progenitor of the Visconti family wanted to capture the event so he had the monster reproduced on his shield and on his helmet.

I

t is forbidden to spread the ashes of your loved ones at Disneyland. It sounds that a certain interest has been arising about spreading your loved ones’ ashes into Cinderella’s garden. The mother whose son was violently killed has recently decided to respect his son’s last will to become a ghost of the Californian park haunted house.

R

egarding Disneyland it seems that the body of Walt Disney the father of Mickey Mouse is kept into one of his amusement parks in California after a cryogenic process. It’s incredible, isn’t it? Yes, it is! But it’s a fake news, mainly inspired by two books: “Disney’s World – A Biography” (1986) and “Walt Disney – Hollywood’s Dark Prince” (1993) that suggest that the genius of comics started to be interested in the cryogenic techniques when the illness started to deteriorate him.

BACK TO THE SUMMARY

L

et’s stay on the topic... If you think about parks which bear comes to your mind? Yoghi, sure! That naughty bear that swallows plenty of picnic baskets together with his inseparable friend Bubu. The name Yoghi was born at the end of the 1950s in America, it reminds me the Yoga. Maybe there’s a connection? More or less. The famous bear seems to be related to the New York Yankees team’s baseball player Peter Berra who used to be sitting cross-legged like the bear with the tie. One of his team-mates nicknamed it Yoghi after he had seen a movie about India but Berra didn’t like it in the long run and he sued Hanna and Barbera’s Studios that won the dispute by saying that it was just a “coincidence”... Can you believe it?

P

icnicking is a noble medieval habit. The word picnic sounds deriving from the French word “pique” (take) and “nique” (knick-knacks). As we know it nowadays this leisure activity started to spread towards the end of the 18th century and it was related to a frugal meal but it became a trendy activity in the Middle Ages especially among the aristocratic people who considered it an “outdoor meal” after a hunting trip.

DI

ER

SCOV

Did you know that... parks

L

et’s boast of having the Park of Monsters! I’m talking about the park of Bomarzo (Viterbo), a park dedicated to the myths, the fantasy and the grotesque.

The park provides a unique experience, a stroll around incredible sculptures. Two sphynxes will welcome you then the giants and the water lilies, Neptune, Pegasus, the boogeymen, a hanging house and much more. In order to make this tour even more exciting the first sphynx shows the writing “Chi con ciglia inarcate et labra strette non va per questo loco manco ammira le famose del mondo moli sette” (He who does not visit this place with raised eyebrows and tight lips will fail to…….understand the seven wonders of the world)

Review

B

W

N UY O

The Truth WeBury

by Barbara Taylor Siasel

A

window, a park, a lot of mysteries.

This famous novel by the American writer Barbara Taylor Sissel “The truth we bury” (La finestra sul parco)has all the needed ingredients for a perfect thriller.

A quiet atmosphere is torn apart by blood and evil and a park in the background highlights the apparently quiet aura that is afterwards melt away by a number of bloody facts. The writer’s style is introspective and catchy. She lives between the Hawaii, the Midwest and an amazing Texan farmhouse, her novels have been translated into many different languages all around the world, Newton

Compton has been her editor for many years and she has published the novel “Crooked little lies” (Una fredda mattina d’inverno) in Italy as well. Lily Isley, the protagonist of “The truth we bury” lives in a setting that sounds perfect: this fact already contains what it’s going to happen, it is a classical pattern for these kinds of stories. Here is what disturbs a place that could otherwise be very quiet. The core of the story is embodied

by Axel, Lily’s son, a decorated marine about to be married to his love: this human familiar environment is wounded by a number of violent deaths that happen in Alex’ flat. The mystery gets thicker and it becomes more clear at the same time: the boy is missing. There’s also a side story that is inspired by motherhood. It wouldn’t be fair to disclose the jumble of the plot. We want to tell about the deepest soul of the story: the love of a family and a mother that goes beyond everything starting from the awareness of grief, of guilt and the awful responsibilities. The son always sounds innocent

BACK TO THE SUMMARY

Marino Pagano

facebook.com/marino.pagano.3

and the thrilling consequences of the events, thanks to the dialogues that clearly show the painful efforts the human beings make in many circumstances. It’s a story that goes beyond its plot and its suspense. It’s definitely a beautiful novel.

Review

even against the obvious: so there is love in a dark atmosphere featured by unspeakable secrets and a bitter reality that is true although it is unsaid. Readers can be enriched from this novel because of the vibrant dimension of the story-telling

The backpack

OW

Y BU N

Zeph pop up waterproof two-person tent

With a 3 seconds automatic opening this waterproof tent is wide inside, it has big windows and it assures a suitable ventilation. € 69,99

Y BU N

Katliu unisex multi-use barefoot shoes

These original shoes provide a natural walk and they are perfect for the trail running, the running, the fitness at the gym and the diving, they quickly dry-up.

From € 19,99

OW

OW

Y BU N

Ofkpo professional survival kit

It’s small and light and you can bring it with you wherever you go. It can also be used as a first-aid kit and it includes a firefighting device, the scrapers, the compass, the Swiss card, the electric torch, the whistle, the tactical pen, the led light, the penknife, the emergency blanket, the paracord bracelet and the black box. € 30,99

Ivan Pisoni

facebook.com/pisoni.ivan.7

Multicoloured kite Van Der Meulen Tribe

126x55 centimetres, this dynamic kite is made of nylon and it is suitable at any age. € 25,41

OW

Y BU N

OW

Y BU N

Folding adjustable umbrella hat

Your hands will be free in the rain if you wear this hat which has a diameter of 90 centimetres. It’s perfect to go fishing, to take pictures, to do the gardening and when you go for a walk € 22,07

OW

Y BU N

This comfortable sleeveless vest is waterproof and it quickly dries up.

It has a strong SBS zipper and it is suitable for all outdoor sports like the skiing, the camping, the hiking, the running, the golf, the haunting, the fishing and when you travel as well.

From € 23,99

The backpack

Fast Track unisex pile sleeveless vest

The backpack

BACK TO THE SUMMARY

Y BU N

OW

OW

Y BU N

Sunglasses with camera – 1080P video camera

These glasses have a hidden camera that will enable you to catch the best moments of your excursions also at night. Thanks to two buttons they are user friendly and they have a resolution of 1920x1018 pixel. € 31,99

Set of 2 trekking poles Songmics

100% carbon fibre trekking poles, ultralight, telescopic, perfect for your outdoor adventures. With an ergonomic handling and a carrying bag. € 47,99

OW

Y BU N

Scientific monocular telescope for birdwatching, suitable for your smartphone

Portable, durable, equipped with an optical glass, it guarantees high quality images and it can be used with all kinds of smartphones. It is also waterproof, anti-dust and chock-proof. € 43,99

OW

Y BU N

Backpack Hamper refrigerating cooler backpack for picnic for 4 people

all-in-one picnic backpack with four pockets including a cutting board, a cheese knife, a bottle opener, 4 plates, 4 wine glasses, 4 cotton napkins, 4 knives/forks/spoons and two salt and pepper containers, It also include a bottle carrier and a removable cooling device besides a big waterproof 115x135 centimetres picnic blanket. € 31,29

Y BU N

Particular perfumed bananas with a fresh and natural fragrance. They neutralize and prevent bad smell by absorbing the stink and sweat from shoes after spending an entire day doing sport or hiking. € 17,80

Suunto unisex Core All watch

The perfect tool to be with you when you hike in the mountains or you walk in the park. It’s a digital watch, it’s very resistant and it’s equipped with an altimeter and a depth gauge for snorkeling down to 10 metres, a compass and a weather glass with time alarm. € 149,99

The backpack

Bananas moisture absorbers

OW

OW

Y BU N