|
~~THE REGIONS of ITALY~~ NORTHERN ITALY
LOMBARDY (LOMBARDIA)
This northern region is home to the famed Italian Lakes – Como (where you will find Bellagio), Maggiore, Iseo, and Garda – as well as its capital city, Milan, the commercial, design and fashion center of Italy. In Milan you will find La Scala opera house, a spectacular Duomo, and nearby, the stunning Galleria with shops and restaurants. Milan also is the keeper of Leonardo Da Vinci’s iconic Last Supper. The wonderful lakes provide the opportunity to just relax and gaze, or partake in activity in a stunning setting, including wind sailing, boating and biking. Culinary hallmarks of Lombardy include generous use of butter in its Milanese/Lombard cooking. Also the preference for rice or polenta over pasta dominates - a well-known dish being Risotto alla Milanese, rice in its fullest glory when used to prepare this popular saffron colored and flavored dish. Being landlocked, Lombardy has few notable seafood specialties. Meat (especially veal) is king, including the specialty dish Osso Buco. VENETO This region is in the northeast corner of Italy, capital of which is Venice, a magical city not to be missed as it is like no other. The coast faces out to the open sea and the force of wind and waves have, over time, built up the small islands and marshes on which Venice was built. It is a city best navigated by boat – whether it be vaporetto (water bus) or gondola - or on foot walking bridges over canals from piazza to piazza. It is a city built on 117 small islands, and holds 150 canals, connected by an amazing 409 bridges, of which only 4 cross the main canal. The area it covers is a mere 284 miles. While it is not recommend getting lost in the majority of European capital cities, Venice is the place to get hopelessly lost for a day. Venice was built as a port and was the trading center of the western world. Its secluded location within a lagoon is bordered by the islands of Lido and Pellestrina and the sand beaches of Cavallino and Sottomarina. These long narrow islands keep the lagoon secluded and Venice very much protected from the elements of Mother Nature, except for one. During the winter months, global warming causes the normal level of the Adriatic Sea to rise. Even a small increase of the sea level can flood most of the city. Venetians have named this continual flooding "acqua alta", meaning high water. The rising of the tide is monitored and predicted (much as a weather report). During those months of “acqua alta”, the Venetians plan for the rise and fall of the waters and carry on as normal in the between time – rolling up the oriental rugs from the lobbies – waiting for the water to roll in, then roll out, and then it’s back to business as usual. Carnivale, the 2-week festival leading up to Fat Tuesday, usually in mid-February, is a fascinating time to visit the city when elaborately costumed people flow through the streets and over canals. Surrounding Venice are lovely towns - Verona with its outdoor ancient amphitheater that touts a spectacular summer opera series, Palladio’s architecture in and around Vicenza, the famous frescoes of Giotto in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. Also to be greatly enjoyed are winter and summer sports in the northern part of the region at the base of The Dolomites in the famed Cortina D’Ampezzo and surroundings. A city like Venice, that has always maintained contacts both with the inland and with diverse and faraway countries, presents in its culinary tradition a variety of dishes linked to the different origins of ingredients. This is why we see on their tables baccalà (dried salted cod) from the Baltic routes, precious spices from the caravans of Asia but also fresh vegetables from islands of the estuary, fish from the lagoon and game shot in sandbanks. PIEDMONT (PIEMONTE) This region which borders France in northeastern Italy, is according to experts, without question Italy’s finest red wine growing district in Italy, a couple of which are the well-known, full-bodied Barolo and elegant and aromatic Barbaresco. On the sparkling wine side there is Asti Spumante, more famous than great and often a bit sweet. Piemonte is also notable for fine food, including truffles; containing Italy's largest lake (Maggiore); and alpine skiing. Its terrain is lush, and comprised of rolling hills spotted with vineyards. The regional capital of Piemonte is Torino (Turin), which hosted the 2006 winter Olympics and houses the Shroud of Turin in the city’s Duomo de San Giovanni. You’ll also find a fascinating automobile and archeological museum there. Torino boasts being positioned at the center of a ring of mountains as well as close to the Mediterranean Sea. It is the top all-around food city in Piedmont, serving abundantly foods unique to the region such as agnolotti, piedmont-style ravioli, and grissini, long, thin crisp breadsticks that originated in Torino and are now found and much enjoyed globally. EMILIA ROMAGNA With good reason, this region has been nicknamed “La Grassa” – literally translated it means “the fat one”. It refers to the rich diet that the local citinzenry has been enjoying for centuries. In this region the world-famous Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, that universally-cherished grating cheese English speakers call Parmesan, is crafted, as well as the delectable Parma ham, prosciutto, and mortadella. The famed ragu, a thick, rich and complex tomato sauce is the most commonly enjoyed pasta topping here. The region's internationally famous wine is Lambrusco, a slightly sweet, slightly effervescent red wine. It's nothing very special, but is a fair foil for the region's rich, well-seasoned food. Bologna is the top all around food city in Emilia-Romagna. Emilia-Romagna's pasta creations are well known: tortellini (small, stuffed ring shaped pasta), tagliatelle (ribbon shaped pasta, the favorite base for a ragu). Outside of the food and wine world, there is the Ferrari plant that is based in Modena, and Rimini, situated on the Adriatic coast, boasts a wide and breathtaking white sandy beach, unique to all of Italy. The town of Ravenna, to the far east in the region, and connected to the Adriatic Sea by a canal is famous for its Byzantine basilica. The main highlight of the basilica is certainly the glittering mosaics of the presbytery, apse and triumphal arch, which range in date from the 6th to 12th centuries, mostly the former, and is not to missed visiting this region. VALLE D’AOSTA This region is the smallest of Italy's 20 regions. Located in the northwest corner of the country, less than 2 hours drive from Milan, it contains much of Italy's first national park, the Parco Nazionale Gran Paradiso. Mt. Gran Paradiso, after which the park was named, is the highest peak completely within Italy. The Valle d'Aosta is a wonderful place to ski in winter and hike and mountain biking in summer. It shares the chain of Alps with Switzerland to the north and France to the west. Monte Bianco (Mont Blanc) and the Matterhorn are the tallest mountains and usually have snow year round providing lots of opportunity for winter sports as well as scenic beauty. The cuisine of the Valle d'Aosta is simple but based on fresh ingredients from the mountains and streams. Cows are abundant so you'll find good cow's milk cheeses, such as fontina, as well as butter, cream, and beef dishes. The mountains provide lots of game and mushrooms while fresh fish from mountain streams are plentiful. A much-enjoyed dish here is fonduta, made by melting fontina cheese with milk, butter and eggs. The cook tops the resulting "fondue" with sliced white truffles. TRENTINO ALTO-ADIGE Known as "The Rooftop of Italy", Trentino Alto-Adige is the furthest north region of Italy, slightly east, mainly mountainous, situated at the base of The Alps. This is, most likely, the least Italian of regions. Laid out along the country's northeastern border with Austria, it is a breathtaking land of saw-toothed ridges and snow-capped peaks, alpine meadows and glittering waterfalls, popular ski resorts and immaculate medieval towns. In winter, the skiing is absolutely unparalleled. Spring and fall offer enchanting hikes along an extensive network of well-marked trails, with stops in remote mountain hamlets where German is the most common language and dumplings are more prevalent than spaghetti. Italians have long known this to be one of their best vacation spots, combining glorious nature, warm hospitality, reliable accommodations and, for the most part, extremely affordable prices. Trentino and Alto Adige were combined into a region in 1948. The Alto Adige, known as Südtyrol, is a Germanic speaking region of Italy, as it was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the end of World War I. Trentino is more Italian; the largest town is Trento. The region in all offers endless activities for outdoor enthusiasts including skiing, snowshoeing or hiking and paragliding in the inimitable Dolomite Mountains. The thriving city of Bolzano is known as the gateway to these breathtakingly awesome world-famous rock faces known as the Dolomites. FRIULI VENEZIA GIULIA The Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, a northeast region of Italy, is bounded on the north by Austria and the east by Slovenia, the west by the Veneto and the south by the Adriatic Sea. It has administrative autonomy and includes the city of Udine and its capital, Trieste. The northern half of the region is composed of mountains, and wonderful alpine skiing is found in these mountains. A very high quality wine is produced here, often compared to the quality of those in Tuscany and Piedmont. The majority of its wines are white, although they do have some exceptional red production. In many ways it's distinct from the rest of Italy. The region was long a province of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and as a result the local cuisine reveals a great many middle European influences, for example the use of sauerkraut, strudels, turnips and potatoes - Another significant characteristic of the cooking of the region is a relative lack of tomatoes. LIGURIA Just across the border from France into Italy, is the Italian Riviera. One for the connoisseurs, this side of the border has more interesting and rugged landscape, a much more interesting cuisine, and towns that are more culturally and historically interesting than the likes of Nice and Cannes. Visitors to Genoa, the Cinque Terre, Rapallo, and the rest will find a fascinating mix of cultures, making this narrow strip of Mediterranean coast an exciting Italian vacation destination. It is a lush, fertile region as the steep climb from beach to mountain causes precipitation. Liguria is a rainy region, yet has a wonderful year-round climate tempered by its proximity to the sea. It is rarely cold in winter. And the rain makes the slopes of Liguria beautifully lush. The region’s capitol city, Genoa, or Genova in Italian, holds a long-time status as a major port. Both its people and its cuisine are a marvelous mix of the many cultures that have built this lovely old port. Henry James described it as 'the most winding, incoherent of cities', and Genoa sprawls for miles along the Gulf of Genoa. Once a great maritime empire, home to Columbus, the port from which Garibaldi launched his unification of Italy ... Genoa has a mighty and historic past. With so much coastline it would be surprising if fish were not a staple, and you will enjoy anchovies, salt cod (baccala), cuttlefish stew (burrida di seppie) and marinated fish dishes. The signature dish of Genoa and Liguria is pesto, the simple yet delicious paste of basil, garlic, pine nuts and pecorino. Notwithstanding Genoa's attractions, most people come to Liguria for its seashore, which is a virtually uninterrupted string of seaside resorts, including Portofino, Rapallo, Santa Margherita di Ligure, Sestri Levante and Portovenere, that have been a mecca for Italian tourists for a hundred years. There are dozens and dozens of sandy strands, rocky coves and pebbly beaches; some of them with desolate stretches of coast, where lush forests of lemon trees, herbs, flowers, almonds and pines send forth sweet-smelling breezes. The terraced hillsides, created by strenuous manual labor, allow the growth of grapes, vegetables, fruit, and olives that produce an olive oil considered more delicate than those grown in Tuscany. The Ligurians have two names for their boomerang-shaped coastline: the half that stretches from France to Genoa is called La Riviera di Ponente, while the half that lies on the Italian peninsula proper is La Riviera di Levante. The latter is where you will find Liguria's rising star attraction, the fascinating Cinque Terre. Impossibly picturesque, the Cinque Terre or 'five lands' are a handful of villages shoehorned into the dramatic, rugged, folded coastline, between the beach resort of Levanto and La Spezia to the south. Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore were originally fishing villages, but have since turned to producing some rather good white wines. The most famous vintage is the Sciacchetra dessert wine, heavy with the flavor of raisins. Most of all though, these stunning villages are beloved by visitors for their beauty. You can walk or hike between the five, enjoying fantastic views of the Gulf of Genoa below, or you can take the train or boat from town to town as well. Motorized vehicles are prohibited in each of the five lands proper.
|
