SACRED MOUNTAIN OF VARALLO

26 May

Today, in the afternoon, we visited the SACRED MOUNTAIN OF VARALLO “Sacro Monte di Varallo”. This sanctuary was founded in 1491 and is the oldest Italian and foreign constructions of its kind! It was built on a rocky foundation at 608 masl and sores just above the historic center of the town Varallo. It is really something else…

When you arrive you enter the first zone; a huge sloping garden with various chapels along the path. They tell the story of Christ, from the annunciation until his arrival in Bethlehem. Even if you are not religious, you will find it impressive as some chapels are really beautiful. Not to mention the wooden and terracotta statues. And there are plenty of them…more than 800! The second zone should represent the city of Jerusalem and has besides various chapels also palazzi and porticos. It gives you the feeling indeed to be walking around a small city (with 45 chapels in total)! That’s what makes this one so different from the others.

The basilica is located on the ‘main square’. Even though the Sacro Monte is open at all hours, the basilica is only open from 8 to 12.20 and from 14.15 to 18.30. Everywhere, but especially on the main square you will find many people drawing the most beautiful paintings. I’ll dedicate my next post to this, so don’t miss it.

Right next to the Basilica you will find the hotel Albergo Casa del Pellegrino**. A lovely hotel surrounded by the splendour of the Sacro Monte. You can decide if you want B&B, half board or full board. At the entrance of this cultural gem you will find another hotel Vecchio Albergo Sacro Monte ***. To find more information you can visit both websites or send me an email.

If you want to go up by car you just follow the signs from the center of Varallo and park your car at the entrance, lose to the Hotel “Vecchio Albergo Sacro Monte”. You can also choose to leave your car in the centre of Varallo and go up by cable car. The price for a round trip is €3 per person (children until 6 years are free of charge) and it’s open from 9 to 18 (till 19 on Saturday, Sunday and holidays).

Of course you must visit the lovely city Varallo as well. I will tell you all about it and show you some photo’s in my second next post!

Hotel: Albergo Casa del Pellegrino

Hotel: Vecchio Albergo Sacro Monte

Find out where Sacro Monte di Varallo is located:

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DOUBLE AWARD-LUCK

25 May

Wow, I got nominated for 2 awards!!

First the ILLUMINATING BLOGGER AWARD by FoodStoriesBlog. Thank you so, so much. It’s such a great feeling to know people enjoy reading my blog. Grazie di cuore!!!

As you all know accepting an award come with some rules. I’m more than happy to follow them:

  1. The nominee should visit the award site (http://foodstoriesblog.com/illuminating-blogger-award/) and leave a comment indicating that they have been nominated and by whom.
  2. The Nominee should thank the person that nominated them by posting & including a link to their blog. Once more; a big big thank you FoodStoriesBlog for nominating me. You made my day!!
  3. Share one random thing about yourself in your blog post. Ok, here we go: I usually go running every Sunday morning (normally 10km).
  4. Select at least five other bloggers that you enjoy reading their illuminating, informative posts and nominate them for the award. Notify your  nominees by leaving a comment on their blog, including a link to the award site (http://foodstoriesblog.com/illuminating-blogger-award/).

I would like to nominate:

Then, Anna of Anna in her Wonderland nominated me for the SUNSHINE BLOG AWARD. Grazie mille Anna! Even though I’ve been nominated before for this award, I’m still extremely happy with it. So thank you, I feel really honored!

To see my previous posts about this award please click on my post of the 29th of March. And don’t forget to check out Anna’s blog!!

PS: Sorry for my earlier mistake!!

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SNEAK PEEK

24 May

Tonight I’m giving you all a sneak peek of my upcoming holiday. In about a month we’re finally going back to Calabria, to the little, but beautiful place called TORTORA (Cosenza – Calabria). Luca was born and raised here, so we’re going back to his roots where his whole family still lives.

Tortora is a lovely place at 300 masl but really close to the Tyrrhenian Sea. It’s only 5 minutes drive to the most stunning beaches. You can have a look at my post Beautiful Beaches to get an impression. You can even see the coast from Tortora.  And on the other side you have a peaceful view over the mountains. I would like to call it a classic small town in the south of Italy. In the summer most of the people  are talking and laughing at their balconies, in the streets or gather in the town square to have a chat. Obviously there is the bar where (mostly men) talk about soccer and politics and where you can also watch the soccer games of course. You can just feel that cozy atmosphere….

It has a bit more than 6000 residents and most of them know each other. You can imagine the first time I came here. I was watched by most of them, wondering who was this ‘new girl in town’. Now where going back for 2 weeks where we’ll have a relaxing holiday; going to the beach, enjoying the sun and especially Luca’s moms cooking. I can’t wait. I will definitely make a lot of photo’s to get you to know this “unknown” part of Italy as well. And show you interesting places in the surroundings and things to do while visiting this area. For example a visit to the Cave of Wonders. Who knows…I might convince you to go there yourself!

Here some photo’s to get you warmed up:

Find out where Tortora is located:

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SYMBOL OF THE ISLAND SARDEGNA

21 May

As you might know already, my father was born in Isili, a small town in the center of the island Sardinia (Sardegna). You probably all know this island for its stunning beaches. Less known are their typical buildings which you will find nowhere else in Italy…the NURAGHI.

Nuraghi (plural for Nuraghe)  were built between the middle of the Bronze Age (18th – 15th centuries BC) and the late Bronze Age. Nobody really knows what their function was. Some say that they were sort of “passive defence” buildings, as some of them were built in strategic locations. Others say that they were meeting halls or religious temples or even just ordinary dwellings. Nothing however has ever been confirmed.

The Nuraghi were built in all different sizes and heights. They are most prevalent in the North-West and the South-Central parts of Sardinia. The most important complex is the Su Nuraxi in Barumini, which was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Side list. I’ve been there in 2001, but I didn’t have a digital camera back then, so I can’t show you any photo’s of that unfortunately.

In Isili (Cagliari – Sardegna) however there is a Nuraghe which you can still visit. Below I show you some photo’s. As you can see this Nuraghe is still (almost) completely intact.

Find out where Isili & Barumini is located:

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THANK YOU – GRAZIE – BEDANKT!!!

19 May

After having passed 10.000 hits and 1.000 likes, I would like to take a moment of your time and THANK YOU all for this amazing achievement!

All of you fellow bloggers, followers and visitors made this happen. And I can’t thank you enough. I am extremely grateful and happy that so many of you take the time to read my post, see my photo’s and even take the time to click on the like button or write a comment. I couldn’t have dreamt of this achievement is so little time when I started this blog. It gives me so much energy to continue showing you parts of Italy that are less known but not less beautiful!

In The Netherlands it is very common to thank someone by giving them flowers. That’s why I now ‘give’ you this beautiful flower as my way of thanking you all so much! I truly appreciate your support!!!

 

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DID YOU KNOW…

18 May
  • … that no Italian will ever leave the house with their hair still wet. In The Netherlands you will see this regularly.
  • … that in Italy so many dialects are spoken that it’s very difficult to get an exact number. However in Sardegna the people speak il Sardo which is not a dialect but an official language. But then again even il Sardo knows many dialects.
  • … that a lot of conversations in Italy are about food or recipes. I don’t mind at all!
  • … that the houses in Italy have all these different colours. Ours is yellow.
  • … that a famous dish of Calabria (South of Italy) is Fusili al Castrato; pasta with a sauce of goat meat.
  • … that I can’t wait until summer starts, so I can enjoy a delicious Italian ice-cream “gelato”, preferably while walking along the lake side.
  • … that the people in Sardegna (i sardi) are known for being stubborn…very stubborn. That makes me ‘partly stubborn’.
  • … that Borgomanero is located 1050 km from my parents house in The Netherlands and 1070 km from Luca’s parents house in the south of Italy (Calabria). We found each other half way!
  • … that in Italy, while going out with friends, you can easily order just 1 drink that lasts the whole night. Impossible in The Netherlands.
  • … that I travel at least 4 hours a day (in total) to get to work and back home. But happy to at least have a job.
  • … that in Italy it’s common to use someone’s title when you call him. For example: “Good morning doctor Rossi” - “Buongiorno dottor Rossi”. In the Netherlands we would just say “Good morning Mister Rossi”.
  • …that I have 2 nationalities; Dutch and Italian. So I can vote in both countries.
  • … that the grammar of the Italian language is pretty difficult. It has 17 times, from which only the present and the past are easy. So I still make mistakes…like a lot of  ‘real’ italians by the way.
  • … that I do miss The Netherlands sometimes. Besides friends and family (obviously) I miss the supermarket Albert Heijn and the store Bruna (books, magazines, postcards, etc.). I know it might seem strange, but I really do!
  • … that driving a car in Italy is always a risk. They really drive like crazy.
  • … that people from the south of Italy are (sometimes) called terrone, which is very insulting (!!) and people from the north polentone, by far not as insulting as terrone. Terrone: comes from the word terra (soil). It is a contraction from Terre (moto) and (Meridi)one.  Polentone: “eater of polenta” a typical dish from the north of Italy.
  • … that I still haven’t seen the following regions in Italy: Sicilia, Puglia, Umbria and Trentino Alto Adige.
  • … that Borgomanero is located at 2 hours drive from the sea, 1 hour drive from the mountains, 15 minutes drive from the lake and 1 hour drive from one the best known cities in the world Milano. Not too bad, right?

I’m very curious if in your country things are the same or different regarding (some of) the things I wrote above. So, please, let me know!!

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