Orta San Giulio
May marks confirmation and first communion season throughout much of Italy so we headed south for a long weekend. My girlfriend's extended family lives in the northern lake region of Italy that borders southern Switzerland about 40 km (25 miles) northwest of Milan. There are several beautiful lakes in this region including Lago Maggiore, Lago di Varese, Lago di Lecco, and of course the most "famous" due to George Clooney - Lago di Como. I have to hand it to Mr. Clooney, homeboy has good taste. This part of Italy is amazingly picturesque with the Alps to the North reflecting into the pristine waters of the mountain lakes.
Lago di Orta to the west of Como is not as well known but it is certainly an enchanting place to visit. At first, you feel a little cheated because certain aspects of the miniscule town scream "Tourist Trap!" with certain stores selling their "drunk/stoned" variations of cheap T-Shirts alongside home-made pasta, gourmet food wares, and local wine. But the small cobble stone streets and surprising number of boutique art galleries ("free") filled with local artists works quickly win you over. You realize that without tourism, a small old town like this could no longer exist. The romanticism of the place is hard to deny. I thought to myself that if I ever decided to run away and write a novel, I would rent a place here for a few months to do it.
Transported back...
Spring bloom
Apparently I haven't been the only one with this idea. German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, French novelist Honoré de Balzac, and English Poet Robert Browning were all inspired by their visits here. Nietzsche believed that the experience changed his life forever, inscribing the date "von Orta an" ("from Orta onwards") as a preface to his masterpiece Thus Spake Zarathustra. I checked out the real estate and you can buy a house on Isola San Giulio for a cool 700,000 Euros. Right now the exchange rate is favorable to the dollar so if you are interested, now might be a good time to check it out...
Isola San Giulio
As you make you way through the main street, it empties out into a square surrounded on three sides by some beautiful architecture with outdoor cafes and restaurants. The fourth side is open to the lake where in the near distance, you can see the 275 meter (900 feet) x 140 meter (475 feet) Isola San Giulio. This is basically a rock in the middle of the lake with a tiny town built on top. For a small fee, you can take a boat ride around the island where it deposits you onto the front steps of the largest building on the island The Basilica of San Giulio named after a local saint Julius of Novara.
Those Catholics sure know how to build a church. Wow! You would think that such a tiny church built on a rock would be somewhat average. Not this place. Ornate frescoes, hand-carved wooden alters, gold plated everything, and a catacomb filled with a coffin that looked nice enough for the pope. I was just blown away by how fancy and ridiculously well preserved everything was. I wish I could have taken pictures but pictures could never capture how luxuriousness of the church. There is a single path that leads around the island which takes about ten minutes to walk. Spread throughout the path are these metal signs with words of wisdom.
I thought Confucius said that...
After a quick boat ride back to town, we had to have some gelato as we checked out these sculptures by artist Rabarama which are spread throughout the town. A quick hike (or drive) up the mountain takes you to Sacre Monte di San Francesco, a national park. Spread throughout the park are 20 small chapels dedicated to the life of St. Francis of Assisi. Each chapel contains a scene of his life made out in sculpture. This was interesting but for a heathen like me, it felt a little creepy.
Sunday was the confirmation which was Mass at 3PM followed by dinner. When your girlfriend is half-Italian, you better learn how to eat and to love food. Dinner was a 6-hour affair with 6 courses:
Course 1: Antipasto to start: prosciutto, salame, cantaloupe with shrimp, zucchini octopus shrimp salad, anchovy bruschetta, and prosciutto with goat cheese.
Course 2: Fish plate: Scallop with an interesting curry sauce, a fried piece of fish (I don't know what kind), grilled shrimp, fish cakes.
Course 3: Primi piatti: gnocchi with 4 cheeses: gorgonzola, fontina, emmentaler, and parmigiano.
Course 4: Primi piatti (the second one): penne with herbs, zucchini, and sturgeon.
Course 5: Secondi piatti: veal cutlets with smoked scamorza and sauce with a side of oven potatoes.
Course 6: Dessert: really light vanilla cake and espresso.
Of course dinner also came with all the red and white wine you could drink. Needless to say, I was drunk and stuffed by the end of the night. Good Times!