Lombardy

I have been to this region many times, especially for work, and I even lived there a couple of months. Despite this I cannot claim to know Milan too well. Obviously I have seen the Duomo, strolled along the avenues, been to the Trade Fair and also to the Natural History Museum and the Museum of the Culture of Peoples but nothing more. The same can be said of Monza, where I have been several times, also entering its large town park. There are many towns in that area I have frequented, also because in the autumn of '88 I lived between Inzago and Cassano d'Adda, which allowed me to see a couple of times Mini Italia near Treviglio and the Sanctuary of Caravaggio. I returned to Mini Italia many years later to find it transformed into Leolandia Park, which I found very nice, suited above all to families with small children. Besides preserving miniature Italy, it has numerous rides and shows.

It is not as big as Gardaland but easier to enjoy and with many attractions dedicated to childhood. But here we are already beyond the Adda, in the Bergamo area, and Bergamo has a historic centre set on a hill that is very interesting for its monuments. In the province, as a child I twice visited Sotto il Monte, the birthplace of Pope John XXIII, and from those trips I retain the memory of a photo under the bronze statue of the saint and of meeting his brother, who shook everyone's hand. I was also small during my visit to Brescia, so I do not remember it well, while in the province I have been three times to Sirmione, a pretty lake town set on a peninsula jutting from the middle of the southern shore of Lake Garda. Besides being very pleasant, the town preserves a castle and the remains of Roman baths.

On a couple of occasions I have also taken the mini-cruise on the lake, passing among other things under the bridge of the Fortress, which is surrounded by romantic canals. On Lake Garda I have also been to the site of the Risorgimento battle of San Martino, climbing the tower built by the King to commemorate this historic event and visiting the church where the bones of the fallen are displayed in cases. On the western shore of the lake I visited the Vittoriale degli Italiani at Gardone, the eccentric villa-park of Gabriele D'Annunzio, where, among fake waterfalls, an amphitheatre and art installations, there is even a warship! On Lake Como, which Italy and Lombardy share with Switzerland, I visited Lecco and its lakeside linked to the memory of Alessandro Manzoni's "The Betrothed". On the same lake, the city of Como for me was only a place of transit towards the Swiss Canton of Ticino.

I did stop, however, at Menaggio, from where I boarded the ferry that allowed me to go to Varenna to visit the Botanical Garden of Villa Monastero with its magnificent views of the lake framed by neoclassical sculptures. The village resting on the shore has nothing to envy the more aristocratic Bellagio, which we reach by ferry. By a little tourist road train we climb the hills of the promontory that splits the lake into two branches, stopping at the large Botanical Garden of Villa Melzi with its neoclassical aedicules and little lakes. By the usual little train we returned to the lakeside and, after a short visit to the elegant historic centre, we boarded the ferry bound for Menaggio via Lenno. I had been to Bellagio many years earlier on a school trip to visit one of its luxurious hotels.

Also belonging to Italy and Lombardy is Campione d'Italia, an enclave entirely surrounded by Swiss territory on the shore of Lake Lugano. I have been there a couple of times, but it presents nothing particularly interesting apart from the casino. Of the province of Varese, where I went a first time for work, I have seen only sports facilities, with the exception of Lake Gavirate. Years later, during the visit to Lake Maggiore, I reached the city of Angera by ferry from Arona, climbing up to the medieval Rocca. I also made a short stop at Iseo on the lake of the same name, seeing in the distance Monte Isola, Italy's largest lake island. On this occasion, driving through the Valcamonica, I reached Bormio in the Valtellina. A short stop in the characteristic little town, then on to Livigno with a night at Trepalle, the highest permanently inhabited locality in Europe.

A visit to Livigno, which is a fiscally special area of Italy, so much so that the village lies between the Italian and Swiss customs and VAT is not applied, so that petrol costs decidedly little. We dine in a characteristic place on the lakeside and have breakfast at the Cross-Country Ski School. We then continue to St Moritz in Switzerland and in the evening return to Italy at Tirano to spend the night. I visited Mantua quite well, with its Cathedral and above all the Palazzo dei Gonzaga with the beautiful paintings by Mantegna. In the province I stayed at Goito and passed near the walls of ancient Sabbioneta. I have also been to Lodi several times, visiting its centre, as well as to Pavia, where I visited the square with the Cathedral, the Covered Bridge and the place where years ago the bell tower collapsed.

From here in a few kilometres you reach San Martino Siccomario and the splendid Certosa, a true masterpiece of medieval art, visited with a guide, a friar of the place. I also visited Cremona, with its historic centre and the Torrazzo.