That sound you hear is...cow bells in the valley...not the Tour de France

That's right. The settlement of La Balma mainly consists of a B&B and a dairy farmer's house and barn. The main sounds you hear are the cow's bells and the wind, with an occasional dog barking.

Unfortunately, the blog doesn't allow videos, so you have to imagine the sound of cow bells. With all of the cows in the valley (altitude 1,750 meters), one is assured of fresh milk, butter, and cheese.

La Balma...perhaps you could say "La Calma". 

 The dairy farmer milks some of the cows on the Main Street 

Our visit to Veglia (Parco Naturale dell'Alpe Veglia) was the first one since 2000, when we accompanied Giovanni & M. Giovanna on their honeymoon (along with my niece, Julia, and other friends). Their summer cabin is in the settlement called Cornu; and next to their house is another dairy farmer, Signor Zanola.

Here's the view from a guest bedroom at 6:00 am. That's Mt. Leone (altitude 3,553 meters, or 11,657 feet)

There are a dozen or more hiking destinations in Veglia. We did two hikes that are considered to be relatively easy...about 3-4 hours round trip, with an elevation increase of about 600 meters or 1970 feet; up to about 7,500 feet. The views are spectacular; but since the trail is very narrow and rough (no park rangers here to smooth out the trail) one must carefully assess each step; so at least for Virginia and I, the going was slow. 

Our hike to Lago d'Avino was rewarded with a view of a beautiful lake at the foot of Mt. Leone. We stopped for lunch at the lake (altitude around 2,200 meters, or 7,200 feet). During lunch on a rock above Lago d'Avino, Giovanni told me about the 20 km. rail line, in the Sempione (Semplon) tunnel from Italy to Switzerland (from Varzo to Brig). The tunnel runs right under the place we stopped to have lunch at the lake. That is, 2,000 meters below our location. The rail line starts and ends at an altitude of about 625 meters...and was built from about 1898 to 1905. 

Lago d'Avino & Monte Leone

Giovanni has hiked these mountains since he was giovane (young), and he knows the trails like any Piemontese  knows his or her Barolo, Barbera, or Dolcetto. 

The intrepid hikers: M. Giovanna, Giovanni, Virginia, David, and Oliviero (photo by James, not shown).

On our last day in Veglia, we didn't hike, but we enjoyed the beautiful day with one of Giovanni's cousins and other friends that have nearby cabins. Both Giovanni and Virginia were wearing giallo (yellow) sweaters; that was enough of a reason to snap this photo.

Giovanni and Virginia wearing maglioni gialli 

Giovanni, Oliviero and his friend from North Carolina, James, and Virginia

Alas, after the last 4-5 days in Veglia on our month long trip, we took the special low-gear 4WD SUV down the mountain to Domodossola, where we caught a bus to Malpensa/Milano airport. From Milano we had a United Airlines connecting flight

from Munich to Washington/Dulles. But we had a bonus experience: our flight trajectory was at a far north latitude, and we flew over Iceland and the southern tip of Greenland. 

Iceland from 35,000 feet

FINE

Lago Maggiore, July 17-18

Although we're back home in Washington, D.C., there are a few more posts to do after our departure from Torino to Stresa, a small town on Lago Maggiore. Then perhaps another on our stay in the Parco Naturale dell'Alpe Veglia, where our friends, Giovanni & M. Giovanna have a summer cabin.

Lago Maggiore is one of the larger lakes in Northern Italy, in Lombardia (Lago Garda is larger), but perhaps the most beautiful since it has picturesque islands that you can easily visit from Stresa. 

David & Yi at Lago Maggiore with Isola Bella 

There's Isola Bella, with its Baroque Palace and gardens, replete with white peacocks wandering around. We had been to Isola Bella some years ago, so we didn't visit this time. Another close-by island is Isola Superiore dei Pescatori; as the name implies, this was (and still is to a lesser degree) an island of fishermen. It has narrow cobblestone streets, and is loaded with tourists since it is only about a 5 minute boat ride from the lake shore. Again, we had been to Isola dei Pescatori in 2000, so we didn't visit this time, but our boat ride to Villa Taranto stopped at these two islands to drop off and pick up passengers.

Isola Bella

Isola Superiore dei Pescatori

Our lake cruise took us to Villa Taranto, where there is an incredible garden with everything from hydrangeas to Sequioas. The garden is in Verbania-Pallanza, which made headlines a few months ago because the world's oldest woman, Emma Morano, lived to the age of 117; she died on April 15, 2017. Having stayed in Stresa for a few days, I can certainly say that Lago Maggiore is a tranquil place; I think this had something to do with Emma's longevity.

The garden, Giardini Botanici Villa Taranto was developed by a Scotsman, Neil McEacharn, and opened in 1952. The gardens include 3,000 species of plants. 

Villa Taranto Garden

Wrapping up loose ends in Torino

A bit of a time warp here...we left Torino two days ago, but I didn't have time to post a few events and photos. For example, we visited the Palazzo Reale and the Risorgimento Museum last week.

The Palazzo Reale, or the Royal Palace, is in the center of the city; indeed, part of it is built over a Roman Theater, and  Roman walls. Built in the 16th century, it was a Royal Palace of the House of Savoy. After WWII, it became a state property and is now a museum with a UNESCO World Heritage site.

An impressive stairway entrance to the Palazzo Reale

The Palazzo includes the Sabauda Museum/Art collection, and an impressive armory collection.

Who knew that the Savoy opulence could rival that of Lois XIV? The Throne room of the Palazzo Reale

The armory

Italian unification, the Risorgimento, is more complicated than I could recount, but during our visit to the Museo del Risorgimento, housed in the Palazzo Carignano, I picked up a few basics. 

Palazzo Carignano...houses the Risorgimento Museum

Apparently the French Revolution in 1789 triggered anti-monarchical movements in other European countries. And just as there were reversals in the march for French freedom and democracy, there were similar setbacks in attempts at Italian freedom in Italy...from 1815 through to 1861, when the first Italian Parliament was held, and Vittorio Emanuele II was proclaimed King of Italy...to 1871 when Rome became the capital. Another key figure in Italian unification was Giuseppe Garibaldi. He had cut his teeth as a freedom fighter in South America, and in 1860 lead a thousand volunteers to Sicily to overthrow the King of the Two Sicilies (Palermo and Naples), which had been ruled by either the Spanish or French. Garibaldi's "red shirts" we're successful, and he found his place in Italian history alongside Mazzini, Foscolo, Rossetti, Menotti, Cavour...

A portrayal of Garibaldi at the Risorgimento Museum

Asti--in the Piedmont wine country

Asti is a small town southeast of Torino, and is surrounded by vineyards in the nearby hills. Asti was settled by the Romans in 124 B.C.E, and is known for it's Asti Spumante sparkling wine (made from the Moscato grape, and a bit too sweet for my taste). However, during our stay here in Piedmont, we learned about a great, light, Piedmont wine for the summer: Grignolino. It's a red wine that is light, and not too expensive. 

Grignolino del Monferrato--a good red that may be hard to find in the USA

And although not as well-known as the Palio of Siena, the Asti Palio pre-dates Siena's Palio. The horse race is in late September, coinciding with truffle season, so that would be an added reason for a Fall visit. Although our visit yesterday was not the right season for truffles, we did find a great restaurant that was serving fresh porcini mushrooms. 

One of two Roman towers that guarded the eastern gate of Asti (this one is the only extant tower) known as the Torre Rossa, First century CE.

There are several other Medieval towers in the city, similar to those found in San Giminiano in Tuscany. 

Since Asti still has some Romanesque buildings and is loaded with Medieval archicture, it has a very different feel than Torino (apart from the size). There are winding, narrow streets, whereas Torino's streets are straight, and for the most part, follow a grid pattern.

The Asti Cathedral, built in the 13th and 14th centuries in Piedmont Gothic style

La Sindone, or The Shroud of Turin

Although people in Turin (Torino in Italian) are not, understandably, celebrating the French National Holiday this 14th of July, we remember that one year ago, in Nice, tragedy struck. And thanks to our good luck, these attacks didn't happen two years ago, because we were in the exact place where the 2016 attack occurred.

I digress. After our last class today, we visited the Cathedral, or Duomo of Torino. It's one of the few Renaissance buildings in Torino. That's because Torino was a small, unimportant city until about the 1600s since the Savoys had been ruling from France. So the main architectural style is Baroque, or later, such as Classical Revival. I digress.

So, yes, the Sindone, or The Shroud of Turin, is in a Chapel (Capella Della Sindone) in the Duomo. The Shroud was the cloth used to wrap the body of Christ, and archeological research seems to point to the image of the body of Christ, showing, for example, where blood from the Crown of Thorns stained the cloth where an image of the face of Christ appears. The Shroud covered the whole body, so the cloth has an image of the whole body. Unfortunately, the Shroud is only on view about every 10 years; the last Exposition of the Shroud, granted by Pope Francis, was in 2015. The Shroud was first thought to have reached Edessa, present day Urfa, in Turkey, in 544. In 944, it was transferred to Constantinople. Long story short, it was placed in the Duomo in 1694.

The Shroud is in this this case in the Chapel of the Duomo 

I can't believe that two weeks went by so quickly in Torino

These past two weeks have really flown by as our Italian language studies finished today. Our classes were about four hours a day, so even though we're on vacation, it also involved quite a bit of work. But it's very satisfying, knowing that we may have, at least for now, developed a better understanding of the subjunctive mood. Not to mention "verbi pronominale"! Since we only had three students in the class, and we had the best teacher, Caterina, we covered a lot of ground. Caterina and her sister, Rosaria, are the founders of the school, and both are bravissime!

Rosaria, Virginia, David, and Caterina

History Matters

Oops...I forgot to mention that on Friday night, we attended a concert at the Piazetta Palazzo Reale, next to the larger Palazzo Castello, probably "the" main square in Torino. The Torino orchestra played Gershwin and Bernstien. Mainly tunes from Porgy & Bess and West Side Story. The best bit was the encore of America!, from West Side Story. Makes me want to listen to the whole album again. 

On the morning of Sunday, July 9, we found ourselves toiling away at our weekend Italian language homework (verbi pronominali--don't ask!) We finally took a break around noon and had lunch at a historic Caffé, Il Florio, on Via Po. Then we took a tour of the Palazzo Madama; it was the first Senate of the Italian Kingdom. The Palazzo still has some elements of the main Roman gate to the city. The Palazzo now houses the City Museum of Ancient Art, which includes some artifacts dating to Roman times, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, to the 18th Century. The Palazzo has large rooms with sumptuous decoration. Maybe not quite as impressive as Versailles, but still worth a visit while in Torino.

Here's the major extant Roman structure, the Porta Palatino, from the 1st Century BC, with a statue of Cesar Augustus 

While browsing the decorative art collection in the Madama, where there are several displays of glass objects dating from the Roman era, I came across a few small, delicate-looking glass objects. I had to re-read the description notes a few times because there were some place names that seemed to me, to be totally incongruent with these beautiful glass vials and glasses with sophisticated decorations in polychrome enamel and gold. They were from Syria...Damascus, Aleppo, and Raqqa, in the 12th and 13th Centuries. What a revelation for me to realize that these cities had this rich history; but during the past several years, these cities have been associated with ruin and despair. And the realization that so much of Syria's cultural and historical heritage have been lost made viewing these pieces more poignant.

Glass objects from Damascus, Alleppo, and Raqqa from 1160-1260 Common Era