Impressions: Lake Orta San Giulio

If there is a heaven, then San Giulio could be what it is like.  The lake is nestled in the Italian mountains north west of Milan about one hour if you can follow directions.  We took a left when we should have taken a right on the A8 so we had to back track on local roads after stopping to ask directions.  An adventure as always as John drives the manual shift car and I navigate.

Our hotel is at the bottom of the San Giulio town square.  It overlooks the lake and the historic island on which nuns are cloistered in the Basilica.  We must park the car up in a lot outside the square.  Cars are not allowed except for residents and "drop off" like ourselves.  The streets are cobblestone  lined with the building walls that are full of scrapes.  I know it is like heaven for the following reasons:

• Four languages are spoken - Italian, English, French and German - without disdain by the locals.
• Out of our hotel room between our toes, we see mountains, the clear blue Orta lake and the Basilica isle overwhelmed with ancient structures that are now modern homes.  It is all reminiscent of Venice where the houses and water meet.
• In the center of the San Giulio peninsula is a mountain atop which, after a one hour completely 15 degree uphill walk is a world heritage site of 20 chapels built between 1597 and 1660.  Each has a piece of St. Francis' life depicted in statuary and  trompe l'oeil painted walls.  If I were Catholic I would have been on pilgrimage.
• The morning is crisp--easy for walking.  The afternoon - sunny and breezy ready for a cruiser ride across the lake to the isle.  The evening is cool again, ready for sitting out with a sweater to gaze at the mountains as the sun sets in the west and play rummy 500 while we drink our newest find -- blueberry grappa.
• The food makes you forget American cuisine -- we just finished lunch -- light tagliatelli with fresh slices of black truffles and a veal chop flattened "elephant ear style" so tender than it melted in my mouth.  This was preceded  a sea bass capriccio served with fresh peaches set in a bit on ever so fine olive oil.
• The local white wine is crisp, creamy yet dry if a bit tart.  It is also less than 15 euros a bottle in the restaurants.
• The streets are narrow, ancient, built into the mountain and speckled with shops and restaurants tucked into the stone and brick buildings.
• You can walk the perimeter of the peninsula after dinner on a stone walk that wraps the land.  If you stay out too lake, lamp post lights brightened the path so you do not mistakenly fall into the lake.

Yes, this could be what heaven is like, except we do have to pay for our Internet connection and sit in the hotel lobby to access it.  Maybe this is a good thing.  Ciao!