Mike getting congratulated by the head coach of his school.
Literally immediately after this, we packed up the bike and headed to Chiavenna, Italy, to shoehorn in a wee little celebratory weekend for our 11th anniversary, before Mike had to head to the US. We took the same scary pass over which we rode last time, but as it wasn't raining and slippery and cold on this particular day, it was far more pleasant. Pretty, even. I even managed to get in a photo or two, which helped keep my mind off the fact that the valley floor was actual thousands of feet below us (and which makes me a mite queasy even thinking about it now).*
The dam which makes the lake at the top of Splügen pass. On the other side of it, the world just drops off.
These were everywhere.
Some serious hairpins. (This road is just a wee bit winding.)
Finally back in lovely Chiavenna, with the mountains and San Lorenzo's bell tower and all the ridiculous food.
Our villa! This is smack in the middle of town, and if I had a million and a half Euros lying around, I just might plunk them down on this place. (Built in 1900, 900 square meters plus a 1,400 square-meter garden and orchard, two balconies, a wine cellar or two, and this tower. Just look at it.) I can't decide, though, whether I'd turn it into a museum and snooty-event venue, or just a place to hold classy parties for the whole town. (To win over the locals, and all.)
These soapstone lintels are scattered throughout the town. They're all old, and they were all manufactured locally. (Soapstone quarrying is an ancient tradition 'round here, dating back, they think, to the Romans.)
The Mera river runs through town. I can't believe people live in places like this. Sigh.
Painted fanciness and sweet little window boxes in Piazza Rodolfo Pestalozzi.
This is where we had dinner (Piazza Santa Corbetta).
Naturally, I will now describe the aforementioned dinner to you, dear readers, although I want you to know that, primarily, I write down all this foodie stuff so that I can remember it myself. It is not any sort of attempt to rub your noses (ew) in the delicious things on which we have dined and you haven't, although that's sorta my secondary motivation here: to lure you all to come visit. (Come, friends, and at the very least, you'll eat tremendously well.)
Anyway, dinner. Trattoria Uomo Selvatico, where Mike started with asparagus soup with potatoes, bacon, and croutons, and I went for the salad with goat cheese and raspberry balsamic. Next up for Mike was a plate of crepes (crespelle, in Italian) stuffed with cheese and bresaola (Chiavenna's unbelievably buttery and delicious dried beef), topped with more cheese, and a red sauce (there was only a little, so we had a hard time identifying it amongst all the cheese); and I went for nettle ravioli with tomato oil. For the main course (which we usually share while in Italy, because, sadly, one just does not have the physical space to down the antipasti, first plate, second plate, cheese, and dessert!) we opted to share the plate of local meats and cheeses, with prosciutto crudo, bresaola, a really good salami, some other type of dried beef, thinly-sliced lardo, and a bit of herbed goat cheese...and then we split dessert, too, which was a nice, dark, fudgy chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and strawberry sauce. (Yup, we still managed to eat too much, but you try saying no to the food in Italy. Can't be done.)
Day two, Via Dolzino, the main shopping street. I heart that little tunnel through the building on the left.
I'm fairly certain I've taken this photo before, but it's just so insanely quaint and atmospheric in Chiavenna.
And then we did something new! We decided to check out the Parco Paradiso, which is a botanic and archaeological park right on the edge of town. It's spread out over two small, but quite steep, hills (Paradiso and Castellaccio), and is a crazy blend of interesting plants interspersed with lots of historical soapstone carvings. And some fortress ruins (yay!).
Some neat old mile markers at the park entrance.
One of the many, many, many stone mantels scattered throughout the gardens.
There were lots of these urn-y things, too.
Remnants of the fortress, which was first documented in 955, but is, of course, older than that.
Lathed soapstone scraps used to make the walking paths through the gardens.
Valchiavenna from Castellaccio hill.
Fortress ruins at the top of Castellaccio hill. The fortress was partially destroyed and rebuilt and expanded several times, and was in use until 1639 by various Swiss, Milanese, and Spanish groups.
As it turns out, you can also go down into the Caùrga--the gorge which runs between the Paradiso and Castellaccio hills--which was a Roman soapstone quarry later used for defensive purposes.
Quarrying marks on the walls of the gorge.
After clambering around the Parco Paradiso for a while, we headed for the Parco delle Marmitte dei Giganti (which means something like "the potholes of the giants," and is actually the larger park of which Parco Paradiso is merely a small portion). There, we encountered some rather unexpected creatures staring down at us from the rocks.
The park's hosting some sort of art exhibition...there were interesting little creatures and sculpturey things all over the place. There's nothing here for scale, but this guy is at least 4 feet across. And, I have to say, the least terrifying gigantic spider I've ever seen.
At this point, I must, publicly, apologize to Mike (sorry, hubby!): there ain't much information out there about this park--trust me, I researched--and so I really had no idea how long of a hike we were in for...and it turned out to be way longer than I anticipated, and with far less payoff. (Sorry, giants, but your potholes just aren't that numerous or impressive.) In the end, we didn't have a lot of water, and it was hot and muggy out there, so we sweated through our clothing entirely, and it was utterly disgusting. A beautiful hike, yes, but disgusting. And long. I had no idea. But now we know, and so do you, dear reader.
That having been said, however...I do recommend a visit to the Marmitte dei Giganti, if you're in the neighborhood, providing you have water and maybe some snacks, and several hours to really see everything interesting. (Lots of old stone [and other miscellaneous weird little] buildings; some alleged petroglyphs; the marmitte themselves, of which I can only hope there were lots more further on; lots of glacially-carved rocks [and bright green/blue rocks, too!]; another old soapstone quarry; and some excellent scenery and lovely views over the valley.) The trails are really nice and mostly shady and well-marked, and it is just on the edge of town, which makes access really easy.**
And now, back to the photos.
One of the aforementioned lovely views.
One of many weird little structures built into the rocks.
"Glacial phenomena," as they were labeled throughout the park. (Lots of weirdly-rounded giant rocks and cliff faces scattered about.)
And finally, the marmitte... I think this was one of three we saw the whole day. My bitterness aside, these things were pretty neat (if way sparser than one is led to believe): they formed during the last ice age, when glaciers sliding down the valley trapped rocks and water in the streams underneath, creating a tumbling effect which carved out these crazy rounded holes.
Here's the giant "pothole." This thing was probably ten feet tall, and about as far across. We couldn't figure out why the water in these puddles was bubbling until I got really up-close and personal...
...and discovered zillions upon zillions of tadpoles! So that was neat.
Old stone buildings and crotto on the way out.
After we'd returned to town and cooled off (and cleaned up a fair bit, I don't mind telling you), we headed over to the church complex of San Lorenzo, which was immediately behind our hotel. (One of the things I love most about Chiavenna: it's so packed with interesting stuff, and yet so small--everything is within a few minutes' walk.) San Lorenzo was yet another thing we'd missed last time around, and I absolutely had to remedy that, seeing as how that place is old. From what I can gather, bits of the current building date to the 11th century, but it has certainly been remodeled/repaired/expanded over the centuries.
The church complex from Paradiso hill.
Interior of sanctuary, a combination of the original Romanesque structure and enlargements made in 1719. The frescoes date to 1759.
Lots of trompe l'oeil going on in here. The lighting is just dim enough to make you believe most of this stuff is actually sculpted. Pretty amazing.
Courtyard and bell tower, which was finished in 1603 (and was built to replace the original from the 12th century).
Massive soapstone baptismal font made in 1156. Locally quarried and carved from a single piece of stone. (For scale, this thing is just over waist-high on me.)
The detail here is insane. (This guy has fingernails.)
We also paid a visit to the treasury museum at San Lorenzo, where--sadly, but not unexpectedly--one can't take photos. It's a teensy little museum, but packed with interesting stuff--various pieces of silver (religious and otherwise) from the 12th through 18th centuries; an 11th-century piece of sheet music; a large collection of fancy vestments (which aren't on display, but the lady behind the desk pulled out for us!!), 15th- and 16th-century paintings and wooden carvings; and the star of the show, the "Pace di Chiavenna," which is the cover for an 11th-century edition of the Gospels, and a piece of mind-blowing medieval goldsmithery. No one knows who made it, or why, or where, or even how it got to Chiavenna. What they do know is that it is comprised of 23 gold leaves layered over a walnut tablet...and that it contains 17 filigree medallions with gems; 4 hammered gold panels depicting the symbols of the Gospels; and 16 minutely-detailed enamels, all of which includes around 97 pearls and 95 gems, a few of the largest of which are carved with tiny figures.***
Next, we spent a little time roaming the streets. The gorgeous, gorgeous streets.
Remnant of a 15th-century defensive wall.
Utterly empty and quiet little pedestrian street. (Can't believe people live here, either. Too charming.)
Chiavenna's main piazza, Rodolfo Pestalozzi.
Thirteenth-century bell tower of San Pietro, which was closed in 1798.
Dinner on day 2 was at Crotto Ombra, one of the many little restaurants here built around the crotti, which are natural cellars formed by ancient landslides against the cliff faces. (Stop me if you've already heard this one...which I know you have, but I thought a wee refresher might be helpful.) The crotti maintain a steady year-round temperature of 8 degrees C (about 46 F) due to the sorel, a constantly-circulating air current that creates ideal conditions for the storage and/or maturation of wine, cheeses, and the dried meats and salumi for which the region is famous. The crotti are found throughout Valchiavenna, but Chiavenna itself has the highest concentration, and frankly, I'd be happy to try them all. So, dinner at Ombra. Mike started with a plate of bresaola and pickled veggies, and I went for the tasting menu, which also began with bresaola...although mine was stuffed with goat cheese (yesssss). Next for Mike was a plate of pizzocheri (buckwheat pasta) with cabbage, potatoes, and sage, and I had manfrigole, a slice of thick buckwheat crepe rolled with cheese, fried in butter, and topped with bacon (holy wow). Then came my main course, which we shared--an enormous skewer of salty grilled beef with roasted peppers, zucchini, potatoes, and polenta (yes, we did see other people having just this plate for dinner). Next came dessert, which we also shared: the torta rustica, which is a mildly sweet buckwheat cake with a layer of blueberry filling in the middle, served here with fresh, unsweetened whipped cream and blueberry sauce (so good). Finally, there was coffee--espresso, naturalmente, with biscottini di prosto, the local shortbread-like biscuits. Yup, way too much food, as always, but totally local and really, really good.
Day 3 was supposed to start with a visit to a spectacular Renaissance palace nearby, but we didn't quite make it during the opening hours (lots of stuff around here opens at 10:00 and closes at 12:00, why do they bother?), so we went to check out the Aquafraggia waterfall nearby.
Passed this view on the way out of town. Sheesh.
My photos couldn't quite do it justice...this thing is big and impressive and thundery.
On a whim, we then drove up the hill to Pianazzola, a little village which, from the valley and Chiavenna, looks almost inaccessible--way high up on the side of the mountain. As it turns out, Pianazzola is entirely pedestrian--in fact, it has no streets--and is this crazy little jumble of stone buildings hanging off the side of the mountain. It is amazing. I could have stayed there for hours just to photograph all the tiny little alleys and old buildings. (Oh yeah, and the views...!)
One of Pianazzola's "streets."
Between the buildings. Want to explore.
Wee piazzetta between the stone houses.
View from Pianazzola. Yowza.
And then we rode home, and, of course, it was pouring rain in that stupid valley around Bellinzona--I think we've ridden that way maybe once without getting rained on. Yeah, sure, it's pretty and there are waterfalls and castles, but cold rain + motorcycle = no fun. (Normally, we'd ride over the pass to avoid the 17-km-long Gotthard Tunnel--it gets super hot in there on the bike--but in this case, it was a nice way to dry out. Ugh.)
Next up: a little housekeeping--some things I've entirely forgotten to write about--and my new absolute favorite Swiss festival.
*This non-debilitating, but still irritating, fear of heights is only something I've really only developed in my thirties, and I do not appreciate it one bit.
**Here's some more of that information that was really hard to find: trail entrances. In my own experience, there are two entrances to the trails from town: one is a path that starts at the rear of Chiavenna's cemetery and goes east into the woods from there, and the other begins on the road skirting the northern edge of Parco Paradiso, between the park and the river--Via Poiatengo, I think. If you stay to the right, it turns into a stone path which winds east through some beautiful little alleyways and runs smack into a gigantic rock wall. Here the path makes a sharp left, takes you past some lovely crotti and their outbuildings, then leads to one of the park trails (it's marked with a small, brown sign), which heads off to the right and up the hill into the park. You're welcome, would-be hikers.
***After poking around, I've found a couple of nice photos here, and, if you're really into it, a video here, in Italian--but at 0:56 and 06:35 you can see one of the carved gems, and at 02:25, 02:40, 04:23, 08:40, 09:36, and 10:56 there are some nice close-ups. It's spectacular, which is why I watched the entire video for you people.
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