Lombardy

A land placed between region of Piemonte to the west, Veneto and Trentino to the east, bordering with Switzerland to the north and Emilia Romagna to the south where Po river is part of the border. Well known all over the world as one of the most important industrial and financial district of Europe, Lombardy collects a high number of sites to enjoy: the walking and hiking during summertime through alpine tracks and valleys, the discovering of renaissance towns of Milan and Mantua with the masterpieces left by the genius of Leonardo and Mantegna, the wine tasting in the cellars of the amazing countryside of Franciacorta, the exploration of the little known town of Bergamo, sailing across the lake of Garda, getting lost in the landscape of white tops of Adamello and much more.

A bird flying from north to the south of this region, admires as first the alpine chain which lays between the swiss Canton Ticino and Valtellina valley, then the foothills of Prealpi zone where it can spin around onto the lake Garda (the largest in Italy), Maggiore, lake of Como and Iseo, only to mention the famous ones. It, of course, notices how lucky the human beings can be when they go skiing fast across the tracks of Aprica, Madesimo, Ponte di Legno or Livigno and they enjoy the cross-country ski among the high trees of Bormio area; our bird is looking for the sailboat where it alighted on the mast during last spring while she was sailing across the lake Garda; it can well remember the wide range of the landscapes, the climate conditions, the wonder of the several villas placed aside the lakes, surrounded by huge secular parks.  During its trip along the region it can explore all the nature trails heading inside the deep alpine gorges, the plains fully acrossed by a net of rivers and channels, in the past served as ways of navigation to transport the merchandise to the town of Milan, now all this area is mainly industrialized but somewhere our friend can still discovers its old rural and genuine look and several cultivated fields. Suddenly it finds that there are plenty people cycling through the countryside between Mantua and Milan, happy to enjoy the thousand colors of the green and to breathe deeply the clear air loaded with the scents of the everything surrounding them. At the end of the day, if it feels tired, it can head without doubt towards for the town of Milan, getting up the higher pinnacle of Duomo, where it can say hello to the Madonnina who stands on top and bless her people and who pass by these lands.

Of course, some lines are needed with regards to the food and wine: the large fields assigned to the agriculture since the ancient times and rich soiled hills permit an unlimited supply for great recipes, gathering more than 200 food specialities and highly awarded wines and Prosecco (sparkling wines). Only to mention a small part of these traditional products: Pizzoccheri della Valtellina, kind of fresh pasta made with buckwheat flour and other cereal, several times rolled and cut, similar to Tagliatelle; Panettone from Milan, kind of cake made with flour, butter, eggs and candied fruit, specially but not esclusively prepared during Christmas time; Franciacorta DOCG, kind of sparkling wine, made nearby Lake Iseo by Chardonnay, white and/or black Pinot and obtained by specific and well favorable harvests with a 18 months fermentation in bottle.