An Easter Holiday like no other

And here we are, Easter holiday weekend 2020 just came and went. I’m in UK where I live and work and by now, had it all been business as usual, I should have been in Italy with my family and friends. But, I’m sure you heard, we are in the middle of a pandemic and this is the second trip I had to cancel this year. In the middle of March I had planned a week-long break in Tenerife to explore some of the hiking trails on the island but I decided to cancel it by my own accord the night before leaving… that was March 12th, just a few days before shit officially hitting the fan here in UK (can I write shit? Oh, yeah…that’s my blog…)

This lockdown is getting to me in a certain way and since I haven’t got any travel story to tell you I though I might as well take you for a little trip to Sanico, the small village in Lombradia‘s pre-Alps overlooking lake Como where my home is.

I won’t get too much into how I ended up buying a place up here when I was about 20 years old, that is a story of a few monumental train crashes in my early life that ended up in mortgage-sized impulse buying, a lot of parties and ultimately a positive turn in my personal story. Perhaps a story worth of its own post.

My house was build in 1788, so says an incision on the key-stone of the front gate, and it is, in size and architecture, unusual for this area. Frazione Sanico (Frazione indicates it is part of another village, Vendrogno, which sits some 200 meters below) is a small village, sitting at 975m above sea level, composed by mainly small buildings made of local stone and rarely exceeding two storeys whereas my home is a four storeys building and it is big, as in very big.

The story suggested by a couple of books where my house is cited, points to the time where this area was relaying on the iron mining industry in nearby Val Varrone. At that time La Serenissima (the Republic of Venice in other words) needed iron to build its armaments and ships and, it is said, that one of the Venetian traders in charge of that was so often in the area that decided to build his own house. I can’t confirm the story any further and the symbols above the gate’s key-stone refer to a local family but some features of the house suggest a rich person/family beyond its commissioning. For example, after crossing the gate, you enter the courtyard with the stairs leading to the first floor in front of you and, at the other end of the courtyard, there are two doors giving access to two separate cellars. Near the right cellar’s door, embedded in the wall, there is a well. Not sure but I guess that a private well inside your house was quite posh in 1788 considering that the water could be pulled from the well up to the first floor through a shaft built into the wall of one of the dining rooms.

From the cellars’ level there are other three storeys. The second and third floor at the moment are all bedrooms (10 in total) except my room which is in reality two adjacent rooms, the first one being a little “lounge” and the second the bedroom. My plan is to re-purpose the majority of these rooms from bedrooms to other use, for example a commune lounge, a “creative room”, a studio and so on. For sure there is one room I won’t change for anything in the world and it is the kitchen!

My kitchen is not big by any means but there is a built-in full size wood oven and, sorry for bragging, you can’t beat that. A metal plate on top of the oven’s door says “1927” so I assume it is only 93 years old. Talking to locals that were born in this area they have stories of when this same oven was used to bake for the entire village during the war. There are also stories of partisans hiding in the well whilst chased by the retrieving German troops. Apparently during war time the house belonged to one of the local families which was strictly connected to the clerical community and did a lot to help how they could.

A lot took place in this house and who knows how many other forgotten stories there are in its walls, talking of which… I’m convinced there are ghosts but they seem good ones to me. They don’t do much but they seem to have their favourite rooms and they like a stroll once in a while. They also seem to be more active when there is somebody they don’t like in the house. There is a friend of mine which is weary of them and he is adamant that every time he comes up here they are after him. Well, if you ever come to visit me there and my ghosts don’t like you, then you can use the tool’s shed in the garden.

If we were not just imaging to spend an Easter holiday at my place in Italy, then the garden is where we would spend the majority of the time.. eating, of course!

But Sanico, the Muggiasca (the name of this area) and Lake Como have much more to offer than my garden. If one day you end-up in this part of the world I have two very different touristic approaches I’d like to recommend you.

1 – Middle of nowhere

You can pick any of the beautiful villages in Valsassina and you will have plenty of things to do to fill your days but if you really want to pick Sanico make sure you are the “middle of nowhere” type as I am, because this is middle of nowhere central. Accommodation is scarce… as in there is no accommodation except some sporadic B&B or hotel in Bellano which sits about 700 meters below on the lake shores. You are always welcome to give me a shout and if I’m around you can stay at my place if the ghosts don’t mind you. Whether or not you are a keen hiker or not you are sorted. In 10 minutes you can be at San Grato from where you can have an enviable view of Lake Como or venture up the trail that in about 30 minutes will take you to the Alpe Camaggiore passing through hidden gems such as Buse’. From Sanico you can also take the way down and visit another little gem called Noceno from where the view of the lake and the surrounding mountains is as good as it gets.

Then, if you are a keen hiker you can walk your way up Monte Muggio which tops at 1799 meters and if that’s not enough you can head down to the Alpe Giumello and close the loop heading to Mornico and back to Sanico. There are other less known trails around Sanico and, as said before, you can spend here 3 or 4 days and never walk the same trail depending on how any kilometres you can chew in a day.

Being in the middle of nowhere comes with advantages sometimes and in this case if you love nature, mountains, a bit of sport and incredible views than the advantage here is that you are 30 minutes drive from anywhere. From Sanico it is easy to reach the trail heads for the Grignetta (2177 meters) and the Grignone (or Grigna Settentrionale topping at 2410 meters). Both mountains have more than a trail leading to the top and, assuming you know what you are doing, you can also climb your way to the top. All trails are well marked and easy to follow but do not underestimate any of them, the two mountains can be quite unforgiving. Another hike I definitely recommend is the one to Monte Legnone which, with its 2609 meters, is the gate to beautiful Valtellina and the Alps.

Listing all the other mountains in the area, even in a short radius, will probably take me a couple of hours. I will leave you with the ones I already listed as some of my favourites but if you ever come here and want more info don’t hesitate to give me a shout and, before I move to my second touristic recommendation, don’t forget that there is a huge lake here and water sports are easily accessible. Finally, if you like bikes (the ones where you need to pedal I mean) you will have your work cut out!

2 – Middle of everything

Lecco, the city where I grew up, and and Lake Como are in the middle of northern Italy. From my small village you are an hour away from Milano, three hours away from Venezia and a couple of hours from Torino and if I were to start talking about all you can easily visit in a day trip, I would probably finish in Ester 2021 so I will pretend I’m a lazy host and mention just a few of the sites which are closer to where I live.

First obvious places to start are Lecco and Como. Lake Como is shaped like an upside Y and Lecco and Como sit at either branch of the Y. Both of them have Celtic origin and predate the arrivals of the Romans which turned them in strategic hubs because of their geographical position. They have an incredibly rich history which is linked to the resources in the area and made them attractive to invading populations through the centuries. They both also have an important industrial heritage, heavy industry in Lecco and silk production in Como and amongst the many illustrious sons of Como there is also Alessandro Volta, yep, that one, the battery guy.

Historically Lake Como is not a mass-tourism hot-spot and only in the last few years it is gaining notoriety amongst international visitors. One of the “selling points” of the area is the large number of little villages around the lake each one having something special and worth a visit. I recommend Bellagio which is probably the most notorious due to its fantastic position and landscape described by the immortal words of Stendhal and Lord Byron amongst the others. On Lecco‘s side of the lake, Varenna is a must see. Despite being a small village it is full of beautiful churches and villas. You can also opt for a walk to Castello di Vezio or go in full romantic mode and opt for the “Lovers’ Walk” along the lake shore. Amongst the other “must see” villages there is Menaggio and Tremezzo which are all connected by ferry or hydrofoil and they have more than enough to see to keep you busy for 2 or 3 days.

Another great way to see as much as possible of what Lake Como has to offer is to plan a tour of the historical villas scattered all around the lake’s shores. Amongst the many, I suggest Villa Carlotta famous of its gardens and art collection, Villa d’Este famous for the Concours d’elegance and Villa del Balbianello well known because of its beauty and because filming site for “Casino Royale” and “Star Wars” (top that is you can!). There are other villas and monuments to discover but the last one I want to recommend is the church of Sacro Monte d’Osuccio which is an Unesco World Heritage site.

I hope you enjoyed this quick tour of the area I come from and I hope I inspired you to visit Lake Como once what we are going through now will be beyond us.