Days: 13-16 (2nd August – 6th August 2018)
Total distance travelled: 18,781.43 kilometres (11,670.24 miles)
Two trains later, and we found ourselves at one of the quietest railway stations we’d even found ourselves, in the form of Vicoforte – San Michele, a sleepy, almost forgotten little place in the hills of Piedmont.
Looking like something straight out of the 19th century Habsburg world, with aged yellow paint, crumbling walls and grass growing through both the rails and even the platform itself.
When we’d contacted our accommodation ahead of our arrival (before our multi train journey from Vernazza to San Giuseppe di Cairo, where we’d transferred to a more local service to get us here), they were surprised when we advised we were arriving by train, so kindly offered to collect us from the station.
Our room was certainly pleasant enough, the ground floor of a two story home, with our own kitchen and living space, a shared terrace and ample sunlight to brighten the space.
This part of the Piedmont region was both peaceful and lovely, with few people or vehicles disturbing the lovely mountain views, the green rolling hills and old villages and towns that dotted the area.
Those small villages were sleepy indeed, a blend of few people and in some parts, buildings seemingly long abandoned.
Our primary purpose was the wedding, and so on the second afternoon, we took a stroll to the nearby town of Mondovi, where a pre-wedding celebration of families coming together was to take place (the two families a blend of Irish-Australians and Swedes), and come together we did, conspiring to drink the place out of Chianti (although I’m not sure they ever offered to serve us their truly good stuff)!
It was a fun opportunity to get to meet most wedding attendees, and, with the aid of the aforementioned Chianti, do our best to forget the names by the time of the wedding day!
Our 5km stroll back to our lodgings in the dark made for an interesting experience on these quiet Italian roads, but we made it back safely, ready to face the day ahead (we’d decided on making a day trip up to Turin given we were in the ‘neighbourhood’).
It was a great chance to explore a some more UNESCO sites, and even though we were set to fly out of the city in a few days time, we didn’t actually have any time on that particular day to see the city itself.
So another day, another train, and we were in the former Italian capital, and the current capital of the Piedmont.
It was a weird kind of day weather wise. Warm, but with scattered cloud that thickened as the day wore on, and cast the city in an odd light.
We explored some of the historical palaces as planned, them proving to be nice without blowing us away.
Perhaps, like some parts of the country (don’t get me wrong, I love Italy place and it’s somewhere I would always rush back to), it just felt a bit old, but more in a tired way, than in an ancient, charming way.
Or perhaps the weather and accumulation of hot days just had me a little jaded or tired?
That being said, there were still plenty of nice parts.
We sipped a couple of beers at Soralama, a craft beer place that hit the spot, and marvelled at the Mole Antonelliana which dominates the central city skyline.
Apparently, it was supposed to be a synagogue, however, it looks like no synagogue I’ve ever seen, and clearly, that is no longer its purpose.
A cool building all the same.
It didn’t blow us away, but Turin provided us a nice break from the wedding crowd.
Vicoforte itself, although no bustling city, rather a quiet, rural town, wasn’t without attraction itself.
More than just a beautiful alpine setting, not to say that the green rolling hills and tree lined roads weren’t gorgeous, but it was also home to the Santuario della Natività di Maria (or if you prefer, Santuario di Vicoforte also known as Santuario Regina Montis Regalis).
You can’t say they don’t love a bit of variety in their names!
Now, we may not love what the church stands for, but we always love a good church, and this one was a bit more unique than many others we’ve visited.
Dedicated to the Virgin Mary (you may have guessed that from the first name), this grand structure, is also home to the largest elliptical cupola in the world!
Domes are cool, but an elliptical one? Now this was something different.
Now the elliptical, dome, it was cool, and the whole sanctuary itself, was massive, without actually having much to it.
It was like a huge, grand block, ornately carved, gilded in gold and with an exceptional ceiling!
Apparently, this grand dedication to the Virgin Mary started thus:
It originated as a small medieval sanctuary consisting of a modest shrine containing a fifteenth-century fresco depicting a Madonna and Child.
Around 1590, a shooting party passed by and a huntsman accidentally struck the image of the Virgin. According to legend, she began to bleed.
The penitent huntsman added his arquebus to the shrine and began to collect the large sum of money which would be needed to repair the damage and expiate his sin.
I’d love to say I pondered this, as we sat across the way, relishing some local gelato, but it simply didn’t happen (the pondering, the gelato most certainly did).
The legend, it was something learned after the fact, when back home and I googled the place…
Again, the following day saw us walking these beautiful country roads.
I can’t recall another instance where we have walked to a wedding (we did walk to the airport once)!
A roughly half hour, 2.5 kilometre walk through Piedmont hills, saw us to Antica Meridiana Relais Art.
It’s unclear if the name is misleading, or something lost in translation?
Despite the word art, what lay before us, looked to be a large farmhouse, surrounded by rolling hills covered in vines.
A vineyard!
It was also a glorious location for the wedding of Paul and Johanna.
As I touched on earlier, it was an international affair, with family and friends flying in from Sweden and Australia for the occasion, which was a lovely, intimate affair.
We laughed, we dined, we danced and celebrated the love of two wonderful friend (who fittingly, we met whilst travelling).
A truly glorious way to end our time in Italy…
* Our open jaw (into Rome, out of Amsterdam), flights cost us $930.05AUD each, which I found and purchased through work at STA Travel
* For accommodation in Vicoforte, we booked four nights at Casa Maddalena via Booking.com for €240.00
* I purchased Eurail Italy 5 days within a month travel passes through work (which provided an industry discount) for $72.00AUD per person
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