In particular, we headed for “Valle Brembana", about 25 miles north of Bergamo and two hours outside Milano, which Max knew as a teenager when his family, like most Milanese, would escape the dreary metropolitan winters by fleeing to the mountains.
(view webcams at http://www.orobiemeteo.com/eventi.html )If you’re like me and had spent most your Italian vacations in the wine-country valleys, coastal villages, and historic cities of a Fodors-esque travel guide, you might be surprised to discover how much the alpine culture permeats “la Dolce Vita”, lying tantalizingly just beyond the reach of most Italian itineraries. Honestly, if you’ve been able to hack day-tripping through places like Tuscany or Sicily, your next adventure should be treking through the “Prealpi” mountains which ring the northern borderlands with Switzerland and Austria. The trails are fantasically marked and frequented even in winter, when walking sticks and hiking boots give way to “sci di fondo” (cross country skis) and "ciaspoli" / "rachette di neve" (snow shoes).
Best of all, because this it Italy, you don’t have to worry about packing trail-mix or power bars for lunch because - although this ain’t the only place in the world with snow capped mountains - this is the only place that I know where they come covered in polenta!
I’m talking about the Italian “rifugio”. As the name “refuge” implies, I imagine they came about as places to hunker down when the elements would kick up a fuss. Of course, these simple rustic buildings with bunk rooms and wood burning stoves are found above the tree line in many places other than Italy. But, leave it to the Italians to carry the point that if the purpose is to be out of the nasty, then you might as well be enjoying yourself! So in Italy, the word “rifugio” conjurs up steaming mounds of polenta, "pizzoccheri" (broad, buckwheat flour pasta), braces of roasted meat, stewing pots of “brassato” (beef braised in red wine), and other hearty mountain fare served with wine and finished with a cafe' and grappa - that is, not just a place to dry out your wet socks.
Ok, I know that you've already peeked ahead and I really can't add much commentary to these views; so, I'll let you get back to the picture book stuff ...
Here's getting to the end of the valley "Val d’Arera", to the east of "San Pellegrino"(yes, that where the bottled water comes from) and just beyond the town of "Oltre il Colle". We're headed to the center peak, "Pizzo Arera" ... the refugio where we'll have lunch is just above the snow line.
Keep in mind, we were only at mid-November so you're looking at just the first snow-cap dusting of the season. About an hour and a half of easy up-hill hiking found the first patches ...
... and really started to open up the views.
While Max gives you the lay of the land, listen in the background for the church bells chiming down in the valley.
Our immediate destination was the rifugio "Capannna 2000" (you can see it in the bottom right as the starting point of a ring of 12 rifugi along which you can trek & overnight - like a constellation of rustic B&B's, all above 5,500 feet). The "2000" means that Capanna is at 2000 meters (6500 feet) ... and after lunch we'll press on to 8000 feet up the slooping peak behind it.
( http://www.vallibergamasche.info/rifugi/rifugi.html )But, as you've heard me say said before, that goes along with figuring out what to do between meals; so, first things first ...
The headliner on the menu was "stinco di vitello" (meaty veal shin bone) served with polenta. We took a plate of local cheeses along side and, adding to the homey feel of the place, drank the house red wine in used-up Nutella jars, festooned with cartoons. (We'd come back to enjoy the ricotta and chocolate torte after burning a few more calories.)
... and fortify our return into the cold ...
... for another hour's trek up the ridge ...
... where these views waited for us to the North,
... East,
... South,
... and West
Yep, not a silvered olive grove, vineyard covered valley, Roman ruin, or soaring (man-made) cathedral in sight ... so, I hope these impressions help you open a new mind's eye view of "nostra Italia".
