Lake Maggiore isn’t the largest of the Italian Lakes, but it is the longest, stretching about 40 miles from Sesto Calende at the Italian end to Magadino at the Swiss end.  The east side of the lake is in the Lombardy region and the west in Piedmonte.  The lake area is considered pre-Alp, and the area surrounding it is a mixture of hills and mountains that eventually lead to the Alps.

Around the lakes are numerous little town (or communes), each with its own flavor and ambience.  Most of the towns are quiet and casual, although their are a few that have rather opulent hotels and cafes.  I much preferred the casual, laid back spots, drinking coffee and eating where the locals were.   There is, however, most likely a town that will appeal, no matter what your preferences are.

With a location that provides a steady supply of wind, Lake Maggiore is also a popular spot for windsurfing and sailing.

Photo credits:  personal collection

Post from: Fly Away Cafe

Now I know what you must be thinking. . . “MJ, you’re not a backpacker.”  Well, that might be true enough, but there’s all sorts of things backpackers can teach the rest of us about travel, and one of those things is how to enjoy things off the beaten path — like spending a day is the French countryside.

Not south enough to be Provence, nor north enough to be Alsace or the Vosges, this tiny corner of France hides between two massive mountain ranges – the Alps and the Jura – and is so off the beaten path you often only get here by accident.

Except if you live here, as I do, a big-city transplant to this most rural and proud region of France.

How can such a tiny beautiful pocket be only 45 minutes from Geneva, 1hr 15 each from Lyon, Grenoble and Chamonix, and an hour from the vineyards of Burgundy?

Welcome to the Bugey, where the grand Rhone River winds powerfully south.

It’s a calm day today. The snow has settled, turning the seasons upside down. Last week we were planting lavender and cleaning the kayaks. This week we’re shoveling snow.

I shouldn’t have worried. My neighbor, Patrick the wine-maker, beat me to it, unasked. He ran his tractor around the front of my house, piling the snow off to the side to allow me to drive out of the barn – my own personal snowplow.

Last week, before the snow fell, a horse appeared in my field. These things happen. The young farmer down the hill tells me it belongs to the mayor’s nephew and that my field is green and good for food. Seems to make sense.

The next day some plastic electrified fencing cropped up. Keeps the horse from running away. Makes sense too. Two days later, the horse, the fence and the greenery were gone.

In the afternoon I returned home to the sound of chainsaws. My neighbor thought (rightly) that my brambles had grown out of control, so he decided to cut them. Makes sense.

Continuing reading for more about life in Bugey. . . .

Today is market day, so time to shop. We have a supermarket, of course, what French town doesn’t? But many of us prefer the markets. The supermarket is good for cleaning products, hardware or cat food. For people food, two local markets feed us, rain or shine – or snow. As farmers clear the snow from their tables, we lift, squeeze, smell and yes, even taste, what’s on offer.

Today it’s fresh Brillat-Savarin, a local soft cheese that tastes like a mixture of butter and cream (and has at least twice the calories). And vollaille de Bresse – Bresse chicken, so tender you cut it with a fork and so tasty smothering it with a sauce would be a crime. A few berries have started appearing, and it’s a good time for squashes and pumpkin. No exotics here, thank you Monsieur le Maire.

It’s Saturday, and in this land nothing opens on Sundays. For those of us who work away in the city, Saturday is the only day for administrative chores: la poste to pay bills, la banque to get money, and la mairie – the town hall – to pick up electoral papers and find out what happened to the mayor’s nephew’s horse. Of course most chores can be done on the Internet – we do have fast connections here too. But few people do.

A quick trip to the bank – horror, my favorite bank teller has been moved to another town because she’s been too nice with customers. As one of the customers guilty of exchanged gossip and warm smiles, I cringe. But she’s happy with the change: her new boss doesn’t mind her being nice – he thinks it might be good for business.

When I first moved here I paid a courtesy visit to the winemaker’s restaurant down the hill. Madame Fagot immediately gave me her home number.

“We have strong men here, you know,” she said. “If you ever need anything, anything at all, you just give us a call. We’ll come up the hill.”

Madame also told me I had chosen a ‘good color’ for my shutters, a very local color, and that my roof was coming along nicely. My brambles, on the other hand, were another story.

You can’t live here if you have secrets. This isn’t a place, it’s a way of life, a slower life, away from the week’s noise and messiness and a step back into the past, into a life that hasn’t changed much since everyone’s parents’ parents’ time. And a life every other villager will know about.

Photo credit:  flickr

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Post from: Fly Away Cafe

Oh sure, I think snow and ice are beautiful, providing a magical kind of feel to everything.  But it’s a feeling best experienced (by me at least) from the comfort and warmth of indoors looking out.

Another of my “endearing” personality traits is curiosity.  I like checking things out for myself, trying new places and things, and exploring and learning.

It can only be that latter trait that explains my interest in an igloo hotel.  That as well as the fact that I want to go to Europe, and that’s where these hotels are.

Right now, it’s just a lot of pristine snow, but on December 24th it will be an igloo village resort.  Five igloo village resorts will be built across Europe:  Engelberg, Gstaad, Zermatt, Zugspritze, and St. Moritz.  Each igloo village will have igloo hotels, igloo bars, as well as saunas and hot tubs.

The villages provide easy access to the ski slopes, but also feature a variety of organized social events.  You can try your hand at building your own igloo, go on a snowshoe walking tour, watch a movie, or just hang out at the ultimate ice bar.

Igloo stays can be booked through Hostel Bookers.

I know that I have lots of readers, as well as friends, in Europe, so PLEASE ““ someone check this out and let me know what it’s like!!!

Photo credit:  wikimedia

Post from: Fly Away Cafe

Maggiore lies between Switzerland and Italy, with the lake forming the border at the northeastern end, however, virtually all of the shoreline is in Italy. (Even in the Swiss part the local language is Italian. Most people think that French is the main language in Switzerland, but in fact it is German, with approximately 20% of the population speaking French and another 20% speaking Italian.)

The towns around Maggiore are extremely picturesque, and the road around the lake makes for an interesting drive, without being scary. Although it’s Italy, the locals drive reasonably.  There’s virtually no opportunity to overtake, and this seems to have instilled an unusual calm in the bellies of the inhabitants. There are quite a few tunnels, as the area is rich in volcanic rock, and the steep sides of the lake provide impressive and dramatic backdrops in many places.

Ascona and Locarno, home of the film and rock festivals held each summer, are the two main attractions on the Swiss side.  They are much loved places to live in (because everything works), but for the real Italian experience head south.

Cannobio is the first town that you’ll encounter driving along the north coast from Switzerland. It’s steeped in history, being effectively a border town, and the piazza by the lake is quite exceptional. It’s an ideal place to stop for coffee, and to watch the boats go by. A number of buildings date from the 1600s, but the cobbled streets can make walking difficult for those that have taken advantage of the shoe shops offering reasonably priced high heeled works of art. Manolo Blahniks they may not be, but they are still great quality.

We stayed at a hotel featured in one of Herbert Ypma’s ‘Hip hotel’ books, the hotel Pironi. It’s a converted monastery, complete with fading murals, and despite it’s recent rise to almost cult status, it  is still inexpensive.  

On Sunday mornings, Cannobio has a fine market offering delicious foods and an interesting array of leather goods. If you’re only in the area midweek, Luino is famous for it’s Wednesday markets and attracts thousands of visitors.

It’s almost rude not to dine al fresco down by the lake, and rather than recommend anywhere to eat, I’d suggest you read the menus and let your appetite make the choice.

Further round the lake we stayed at the Lido Palace in Baveno, another classic hotel, ideally situated to catch a boat out to the Borromeo Islands. 

Intra, on the northern shore, connects to the southern town of Laveno by car ferry.It’s twenty minutes across the lake, and it’s a magical experience.  While it’s not the same as a gondola ride, it’s still a good way to get out on the water and enjoy the views.

The real secret of Italy is exploring on your own. Of course, there are guide books to point out the highlights, but the area is so rich in natural and historic attractions that I think it’s best to just stop when you see something you like.  Let it be about the journey, not the destination.

Post from: Fly Away Cafe

Current location:  Zurich, Switzerland.

Where did you go on your last vacation:  Vacations are often spent in the UK visiting family and friends.  Last autumn we spent some time in Devon and Cornwall, the south west of England, which has great beaches and dramatic coastlines – great for walking. There are also some great restaurants down there; our favorite was Rick Stein’s in Padstow – he’s a big celebrity chef in the UK and once you’ve eaten there you can see why.
 
The last real vacation we had was in Tuscany, Italy – a villa in the mountains with nobody else around. We’d spend a day at the pool and then the next day sightseeing:  Assisi, Orvieto, Siena and so on. I really love Italy.
 
Where do you plan to go on your next vacation:  Other than a short trip to the UK to play golf in the New Forest, we’re aiming to spend a week or so in Spain. My wife’s favorite singer, Rufus Wainwright, is playing at a couple of festivals near Barcelona in July and I bought her tickets for our wedding anniversary. It’ll be a bit of reminiscing – I used to work in Barcelona just after leaving school – plus sightseeing. We’ll take in the Gaudi architecture, and, of course, an attempt to rediscover the old Grand Prix circuit in the Montjuic Parc. Then we’ll head down the coast for some sun. With Rufus playing at either end of the trip, it should be fun.
 
If you were on a five-hour flight, whom would you want to be sitting with:  Max Mosley. He’s the president of the FIA, the body in charge of Formula One racing. I’d love to ask him why they keep implementing stupid rule changes, explain my ideas for improvements, and then try to persuade him to give me a highly paid consultancy role as a representative of public opinion.
 
Do you have a travel tip that you’d like to share:  To avoid jet lag, set your watch to the time zone of the area you are traveling to. And then break with common practice and drink vast quantities of alcohol and no water. But please don’t get rowdy and annoy other passengers or the cabin crew. (Thanks Geoff, I appreciate your adding that!)  The logic is quite simple. You will feel terrible when you arrive, but it will just seem like you’ve been at an all night party, and your body will forget to worry about the time difference. Just recover from the hangover and off you go!
 
Name five destinations that are on your “must see before I die” list: Taj Mahal, Spa Francorchamps (the race circuit in Belgium), Indianapolis (for the 500), Grand Canyon, and An African safari.
 
Window seat or aisle: It all depends. Usually I don’t have a preference. My favorite option is to go with a special person and go on a plane that lets you get a window and an aisle next to each other, like the three rows of seats at the back of a 747. Or get upgraded to business!
 
All time favorite vacation experience: I’m afraid this is predictable, but I spent a week learning to drive a single-seat racing car at Magny Cours in France once. The combination of driving on the circuit, French food and wine (in the evenings only!) made it an unbeatable experience.
 
Most embarrassing travel experience:  I guess that would be the time I was flying back to the UK to drive in a race and couldn’t find my passport or my crash helmet. A phone call to my wife resolved the passport issue (after establishing that it would still have been possible to travel with a temporary one) but the crash helmet proved elusive. It was only when I thought to ring Lost Property at Zurich airport that I discovered I’d left it there on the way home from my previous race.
 
Is traveling about the journey or the destination:  Well, they say that Life is a journey, so in that case it’s definitely not the destination!  I’d say that if I’m flying to Barbados, it’s about the destination. If I’m traveling the route of the Mille Miglia through Italy, or exploring the vineyards of Bordeaux, then it’s about the journey. As you can see, I’m not a Black and White person!
 
Favorite airline:  Virgin Atlantic. The cabin crew is always great fun, and I must confess to liking the uniform! But then I haven’t flown your airline yet.
 
Favorite hotel:  La Source in Grenada. It’s a resort more than a hotel, but there’s so much to do, great body treatments, superb food, I’d go back any time.
 
If I am in Zurich, and have a spare four hours, what would you recommend that I do:  The thing that’s special about Zurich is just being there. It’s not that you have to visit one of the cathedrals, or the art gallery or the Opera, or even the shops. It’s best just to take a relaxing walk down Bahnhofstrasse, be astounded by some of the jewelry for sale, and stop at Sprünglis for a hot chocolate in winter, or a beer at one of the outdoor cafes in the Niederdorf in summer. Or perhaps start with a glass of champagne at the Jules Verne bar. It’s in an old observatory and up on the tenth floor it’s way higher than the rest of Zurich and looks out over hundreds of years of rooftops. No skyscrapers here. And of course, there’s the lake. If you’re lucky you might be able to see the Alps in the distance, but that’s quite unusual. Zurich is all about quality of life, so just enjoy the architecture and do what feels good to you.

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Geoff Colllins is at home in Zurich, Switzerland where he writes for Pit Pass, and blogs about Formula One at Zurich Gnome.  When he’s not working or writing, he’s traveling, enjoying fine food and wine, or dreaming about racing.

Post from: Fly Away Cafe