Northern Italian Lake Country

With just a few days left in our yearly autumn journey, we decided to travel farther north to the Italian lake country area. We stayed on Lake Maggiore, which is the second largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda. Lake Maggiore is partly in Italy and partly in Switzerland. 

After being socked in the first day, the next day brought high clouds and by noon, the sun was out and it was beautiful. We decided to take a long drive along the coastline. We made our way to the small town of Cannobio, Italy, only about 4½ miles from Switzerland. As a matter of fact, we were so close, our T-mobile phone plans welcomed us to Switzerland.

The town of Cannobio reminded us of many small summer towns along the New Jersey or Oregon coast. While sleepy at this time of year, you could tell it was popular during the summer months; all the restaurants lined up along a promenade, now with just a handful of people in jackets and scarves sitting at the outdoor tables (like Oregonians). 

But Nancy had done her homework—multiple handwritten pages of things to see and do and restaurants to try were laid out on the kitchen table in our rental. One of the places on her list wasn’t situated along the tourist area but up the stone walkways in the older part of town. Trattoria Cannobio d Ale & Vale was only open between noon and two and we made it there with time to spare. 

Nancy ordered clams and pasta, which came with a bib! John ordered a turkey cutlet. Turned out to be the biggest cutlet he’d ever seen.  Both were excellent and a little Limoncello with the bill.

On our third day, we were either going to take the train up into Switzerland or drive up. But it was so overcast we didn’t go. Instead, we drove a few miles into a cute town where Nancy had located a restaurant called Osteria Della 3V. The 3V stood for the names of their 3 children–who were now the adults running the restaurant. The entire restaurant's ceiling was covered in copper cookware.

This place served local fare and only took cash. Though the hostess did not know much English, she did make sure we knew it was CASH only! The menu was in Italian and unlike other more touristy restaurants, there was no English version. But, with Google Translate, we figured it out. John says he had the most authentic (and delicious) meal so far. He had chestnut flour pasta with foraged mushrooms and chingale (wild boar). Below, before and after.

For some unknown reason, John also ordered fries—fries and pasta? What was he thinking? Nancy had a roasted quail with mashed potatoes. We also split a bottle of Dolcheto d’ Alba.  Lunch next week (when home) will be sans wine. (We’re both afraid to jump on the scale at home).

The next morning, we headed to Milan to catch our flight to Copenhagen for the first leg of our trip home. 

So, we left Lake Maggiore and drove south (in the fog) to Milan. But wait! Nancy read about the Zegna Highway. This 60 km highway, often called Panoramica Zegna is a scenic drive through forests, valleys, and mountains with the Alps in the background, designed by the owner of textile magnate Ermenegildo Zegna. Unfortunately, as we drove this winding road, we were above the clouds and the fog stretched for miles and our view of the Alps was zip. Though, it was still breathtaking.

We ended up in a small town with two restaurants: one was a sushi/fusion (we wondered what it was fusioned with) and an Italian ristorante, where we decided to stop. By 1:30, we were quite hungry and when we went in the place was mobbed. Families with kids from infants to old grandparents—it was like what we remembered from our three month stay in Italy back in 2022.

Nancy apologized to our waiter that we came in so close to closing and he shot back that they stay until all the customers are gone. We had a great lunch of ….wait…..Pizza.  It was our last chance to eat pizza before leaving Italy. When we left there were still a few tables of people laughing, talking and enjoying themselves.

After dropping off the car, we took a cab to our hotel near the airport. It was a Marriott Bonvoy hotel called Moxy. It’s mainly for people traveling on Easy Jet in Terminal 1. It was a very bare bones version of Marriott. We had dinner there. Nancy had a great salad, but John had Lasagna…lasagna in an airport hotel? It was in honor of John’s late wife Sandy. Sandy was Pennsylvania Dutch, which are a group of people descended from German-speaking immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania starting in the 17th century, and also the name for the dialect of German they developed. Sandy’s family settled in Pennsylvania before 1700. While being of German extraction, she looked more Italian than John and her favorite food was pasta. She would eat pasta, specifically spaghetti, anywhere! One time she ate spaghetti in an airport cafeteria. As John would say, “who orders spaghetti in an airport? You order a hamburger!” So, in honor of her passing on November 2, 2015, John had pasta!

The next morning, we flew back to Copenhagen. We stayed at the Clarion in the airport…much more luxurious.  Had a fabulous last dinner in preparation for the long flight home the next day. 

That’s it for now. We’re already formulating the 2026’s plan, so stick with us.

Best to all,

Nancy and John

A Loving Couple