Winefullness Magazine
The World of Wine at One Easy Click
Italian Travels 4
Day 4
The crushing heat has reached such a high-level that thoughts of staying in my car are abandoned for good. In this sort of heat it can be deadly, especially as I'm not rich enough to leave the engine running and have the air-conditioning on all night, so I've decided that as I wend my way north towards the Lambrusco region, I'm going to take a stop at Lake Trasimeno. Hopefully, a light breeze will snuggle the waters of the lake before cooling me down.
I reflect upon Stefano's sense of family and fun. Everywhere we went he smiled to all and communicated to everybody. He would then turn and inform me that the person either played for the handball team he coaches, knew somebody in his handball team, or went to school with him. It seems to be a small world, but its a small world that one can actually imagine being a part of.
A room with a view
Lake Trasimeno
'...it's a small world that one can actually imagine being a part of.'
Just turn your head and catch another view
I set off (with passport) and take backroads (I'm still keeping to my no autostrada plan) towards Lake Trasimeno. It's a place I've heard of, but know little about. I'm hoping it might be like the lakes I will soon visit in the north of the country.
The drive is through some of the most beautiful countryside I've ever travelled along. The sat-nav has picked up on my ambience because the drive is relaxed, with the only demands made upon me are where to stop and take a picture.
I get to the hotel at about 2.30pm, which I feel gives the hotel staff enough time to have a leisurely lunch before returning to duties. Arriving at the hotel, the place seems devoid of anything one would call life, and I resort to ringing a number at the empty reception and hoping that my minuscule Italian might work.
Finally, a woman in a worn pink baseball cap turns up and explains that they are halfway through lunch (that means they indulge in four/five hour lunches which puts the French two hours to shame).
My room is small, but this is unimportant when I see it overlooks the pool, and beyond that the wide waters of Lake Trasimeno. I should go and explore but I'm just not in the mood for sightseeing and decide to ponder life over a wine or two whilst discovering the secret of the lake; It is home to swarms of mosquitos who obviously welcome the addition of my pasty white flesh to their diet, and by the end of the day I'm actually bitten on the bites. How very gothic!
Lake Trasimeno
'I'm actually bitten on the bites. How very gothic!'
To take my mind away from this problem my hotel for the next night contacts me and tells me that because their air-con has broken down I'm going to have to find somewhere else to lay my head. I'm suspicious, but can do little about it except to book a bar/hotel somewhere on the banks of the River Po. I'll know more later.
The journey from Chieti to Lake Trasimeno doesn't have to do much to excite. It just is!
Back at Trasimeno, dinner is the typical range of forty-three courses, and my 'veggie' request is laughed off as though I'm foolishly making a culinary dare in Italy.
Get me! Tucking into Tagliatelle Trufanno with only a fork for assistance. No need of a safety knife for this boy! Watch him go! Perhaps the other forty two courses will be this easy? The pasta is a little overcooked, but it's very welcome and not worth a complaint.
The tomato and mozzarella dish is standard, but what sets this well above anything else is the local olive oil which adds a touch of spicy pepper that makes me want to plough through the dish quickly.
All is then finished off with a palate cleansing coffee ice cream that really tastes good. I'm grateful that the other dishes aren't wheeled out, as the amount of food is ultimately just right, especially as it is accompanied by three large glasses of a local wine that is so honest it should run a law firm. I ponder my good fortune as I sit on the balcony and watch life on the lake.​
Sometimes only a cool refreshing beer will do
For more Information
if you'd like more information why not try the following
Lake Trasimeno Tourism