Travelfood

In northern Italy there are numerous famous small towns to be discovered by tourists and they all look a little different with their own old, beautiful city center. For example Ravenna, Ferrara, Padua, Verona, Cremona, Parma, Mantua, Genua and Turin are all well-known but still out-played by the biggies. The biggest city is Milan, but there is not much more to see than the fabulous Duomo cathedral. Then we have of course Venice, which is overrated, expensive and an unfriendly tourist trap, but still an irresistible must for all romantics.

The best of northern Italy is still in small towns and in this case even smaller towns than the ones listed above. North of Milan is incredibly beautiful Lake Como and in the east there is Lake Garda to be found with its flagship town Sirmione. You may see celebrities on those lake shores and other rich vacationers with an eye for beauty. Northern Italy is much wealthier than the south and that is obvious in prices, infrastructure and expensive clothes.

If even smaller conurbations are appreciated, such as nature sights, there are alpine scenery to be discovered also in Italy. Close to the Austrian border there is the ski resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo, which acts as a gateway to the Italian Alps, the Dolomites. The mountains look special over there, because there are folds in the horizontal chalk stone layers.  If you wish to trek lighter in forests and spectacular-looking villages and mountain scenery as your views, I would recommend the funicular from Lake Como to Brunate. From there you can see Swiss snow-capped mountains without hiking too hard in cold altitude.

I have written about Italian food before and it cannot be praised enough. Pizza and pasta is prepared with such skill, that they cannot be compared to the similar foodstuff we are served in our home countries. In Milan I had Cotoletta Milanese, which is a breaded pork cutlet like the Austrian wienerschnitzel. Minestrone is a rich vegetable soup and ossobucco is a beef stew which has been cooked for hours and usually served with Risotto Milanese. One of my gastronomical heights was prawn gnocchi and I suppose that what made the difference was a local grated parmesan cheese on top of that pasta.

Europe, food, Italy, travel, travel experiences