[Mar. 2025] This winter in Northern Italy was full of rainy days, which made me gloomy.
We had just moved from gloomy England to Italy, where everyone think it has bright sunshine.
So, on occasional sunny weekends, we made it a rule to take day trips to nearby places whenever possible.
Castiglione Olona in Lombardy, which we visited on this day, was one of them.
The name of the town is just as difficult to remember as Castell’Arquato, which we visited last autumn.
It is a small town with a population of about 7,700, and is known as the “little Tuscany in Lombardy,” apparently.
We parked our car in a large car park outside the old town, and as we started to walk up the hill toward the centre of the town on the hill, we came across a food stand.
We were hungry, so we jumped in.
The people running it were the Alpine Corps, or Alpini.
The Alpini are mountain troops belonging to the army.
It said that they are the oldest mountain troops in the world, founded in 1872.
Their symbol is a felt hat with a feather.
We knew they were Alpini by their felt hats.
I remember buying a similar hat in southern Germany a long time ago.
Here we had a sausage panino with a cup of wine.
The sausages were properly opened and grilled, then sandwiched between bread.
The bread was a little too dry for me, but both the wine and the panino were delicious.
Apparently these stalls are run to raise funds for things like support for war dead and veterans.
They are proud of being an elite unit, and they value their ties with the local community with a sense of guardianship.
Now that our stomachs have settled, we headed up the hill to the centre of the old town.
There was an open-air market selling antiques and crafts.
It was a fun atmosphere, but the tents spoiled the townscape, which was a bit disappointing.
This town has a church called Collegiate at the top of a hill, which is the town’s famous landmark.
We went up there.
Next to it was a cafe restaurant, with many tables lined up on the grass beside the church.
We weren’t fully satisfied with just the panino, so we settled down at one of the tables outside.
We ordered a cold cut tagliere (cold appetizer plate) and a cheese tagliere, and were surprised at how generous the portions were.
We ate it all, though.
We usually avoid outdoor tables, but it was a nice day for the first time in a while, and it was warm and really pleasant.
Good thing was that there were no bugs or birds.
There was a lizard on the wall, though.
We got carried away and shared a meringue dessert, which was also delicious.
