Chianti, Maggiore

Bevano, Lago Maggiore

Chocks away, some tanks filled and others empty, we hit the road northward - back to where we picked this little truck up – Tuscany, specifically the Chianti area.

Rows of vines stretching up the hillsides, pencil cypresses and the occasional umbrella pine are standard issue in the Chianti area. We made for Greve, a place we had previously enjoyed. It is known for Chianti Classico, demarked on the bottle with a black chook. The dark red wine is made from the Sangiovese grape and is very velvety and plummy. 

That evening we ate outside a restaurant offering typical Tuscan fare. The evening air was warm and we spent a little time chatting with other diners – Aussies, but when they speak your lingo, conversation comes easily. A nice change from my stuttering ‘mi dispiace, non parlo Italiano’ hoping the poor person can understand what I want.

Chianti area

Two nights in one place already! It meant time to move; wallets opened as we clicked through various toll gates on the motorway (autostrada). Quibbles have to be put aside as traveling any long distance in Italy without using the autostrada is like being in your own never-ending story.

The speed limit is 120km/hr, and in some places trucks are assigned to the inside lane, so the passing view is a wall of trucks. The autostradas need full concentration as stuff is happening everywhere, bum clenching time (for me).  I have seen a truck driver weaving across lanes as he concentrates on his smartphone – one foot on the dash. Generally though, things are orderly.

Lake Maggiore in the far north of Italy was glinting when we finally caught sight of it. We stopped in the vain hope of finding a light-weight blanket. No blanket, but Stuart found a length of plumbing pipe in a diameter not available in NZ. It was sawn in half and stowed in the small ‘garage’ at the back of the truck. It will be used to repair an “oops” that happened to Chausson on the Molesworth Road in NZ.

The Maggiore lakeside road passed spectacularly grand hotels and elegant Italian villas, similar to what I imagine George Clooney lives in, on Lake Como. The lake has steep craggy mountains streaked with snow as a distant backdrop and in the foreground are inhabited islands that have beautiful gardens and buildings.

The camp we stayed at in Baveno backed onto the lake and was close to a ferry landing, it was very full. We didn’t realise we had arrived during a series of holidays, but Miss Campground showed us where we should park and where we should face. The spirit level that lives in Stuart’s head said we should face the amenity block (as it usually does) but Signorina Campground said we need to face the lake and back a few inches and over a few inches . . .  the floor in the truck was on a bit of a slope and the spirit level wasn’t happy …..

Even your old bike needs a good lock

Isola Bella is the most beautiful island on the lake and has a palace that is open for visits. We had a leisurely stroll through it admiring the rooms and sculptured gardens compete with strutting white peacocks.

I walked around an elegant room with a ceiling 3 stories high  It held a conference of high representatives of Italy, France and the United Kingdom in April 1935, resulting in the agreement known as the Stresa Front, which was an attempt to avoid WWII. The town of Stresa is just a short ferry ride away. Princess Diana and husband as well as Napoleon and Josephine had also been hosted at the same palace.

We finished our visit to Maggiore with a ferry trip up to Locarno in Switzerland and caught a couple of trains, including a narrow gauge panoramic train through part of Switzerland back to our campground. A spectacular firework display was launched from a barge on the lake to celebrate Republic Day.

There is no particular plan of where to go next but we do need to fill up with GPL (gas) and head in the direction of the French Alps.

The Italian Lakes are a film makers ideal of a honeymoon destination.