A Carefree Day Out from the Sacra di San Michele to Alpignano

While we are immersed in the traffic of the big city, the idea of finding ourselves on the shore of a beautiful lake, or in the ricetto of an ancient castle from which to admire a breathtaking panorama over the hills, seems almost utopian; and yet, if we are in Turin, we can easily conquer these splendid places. Our day in the name of chasing away thoughts begins at Stupinigi, in the Savoy atmospheres of 18th-century Turin. We visit the Palazzina di Caccia, built in 1729 by Filippo Juvarra, and strolling in the Natural Park we discover that, besides deer, chamois and foxes, in 1827 even an elephant named Fritz lived here, given to the king by the viceroy of Egypt. From Stupinigi, reaching the Castle of Rivoli is a matter of a few minutes.

Probably dating back to the 9th century, the castle was the first Piedmontese place where the Holy Shroud was displayed, while today it houses the Museum of Contemporary Art. It is along the thread of sacredness that our trip continues, reaching the symbol monument of Piedmont, the Sacra di San Michele. A destination for many pilgrims, the abbey with its evocative beauty, founded between 983 and 987, stands on the rocky spur of Mount Pirchiriano, once a favourite place of hermits. Linked to the wonderful religious building is the legend of Bell'Alda, to whom a tower is dedicated. The maiden, who lived in the 17th century, once came to the Sacra to pray against the evils of war, but was surprised by enemy soldiers. To escape their assault, she threw herself into the ravine invoking the help of St Michael and the Virgin, and remained unharmed.

When, however, out of vanity and for money she decided to try the jump again, she died on the spot. From the abbey we descend along a panoramic road to Avigliana, famous for its enchanting historic centre dominated by the castle, and for its two pretty stretches of water: the Small Lake and the Great Lake, the latter good for swimming. From the floating walkway on the Great Lake we admire the panorama in which the sanctuary of the Madonna dei Laghi, built in 1622, stands out. Returning to the immediate surroundings of Turin, we stop at Alpignano, a pretty municipality that carries the Alps in its name and where Roman tombs of great historical importance have been found. In the Middle Ages it was a walled village, and today we can still admire the castle and the mighty 14th-century tower, as well as several very beautiful churches and an old bridge.

Known as the city of light, Alpignano gave birth to Alessandro Cruto, considered the inventor of the light bulb. To his memory the Ecomuseo Sogno di Luce is dedicated. From the centre we reach Via Valdellatorre, where the Ristorante Lo Scacciapensieri is located, of which we had heard very good things and whose name is in perfect harmony with the aim of our day. We leave the car in the vast private car park, and settle into the spacious dining room, ideal also for parties and ceremonies, whose large windows look out onto the inner garden. In the warm season you can also eat in the large covered dehors, connected to the garden, from which a lovely view opens over Lake Sclopis, a favourite spot of local fishermen.

'The restaurant opened in 2005, and our cuisine, which follows the seasonality of produce, is characterised by the dishes of the Mediterranean tradition, as well as the Piedmontese,' Mrs Maria tells us, who runs the place together with her husband Gaspare, both with thirty years' experience in catering. Some of our group are immediately seduced by the smell of the steaming pizzas, pulled from the oven by Mr Gaspare. To him too we owe the fresh homemade bread, including a dark-dough version that the restaurant offers on the special menu dedicated to pilgrims of the Via Francigena. We begin our dinner with a very rich starter: first we taste the exquisite carne all'albese, followed by the traditional peppers with bagna caoda. We continue with the tasty anchovies in green sauce, and with a fine plate of house-smoked swordfish, tuna and salmon.

After these treats we also taste an exquisite seafood salad, enriched with sage leaves from the restaurant's garden, floured and fried. We go on with an excellent mushroom risotto, followed by the restaurant's true calling card: the tagliolini with grouper and pine nuts. Among the main courses we delight in a very tender bison tagliata, but many of us choose game dishes. We gladly also taste a nice batter-fried frog, as well as snails. The Piedmontese mixed fry and the grills also meet with great success. Our evening ends with the irresistible homemade desserts: tarts, bunet, creme caramel, panna cotta, tiramisu and even zabaglione and the convent cake. We will be back here soon, perhaps for some party, or on the occasion of the Palio Dij Cosso, that is, of courgettes, a fun historical re-enactment.

Francesca Bertha

FOR INFORMATION:

Ristorante Lo Scacciapensieri Via Valdellatorre, 267 Alpignano (TO) Tel.: 011/9676753