The Last Road Trip

We had to be out of our apartment by the end of the month and were not flying back to the U.S. until the 3rd, so we turned our last days in Italy into a road trip.  Based on our desire to be close to Milano Malpensa airport, our friend Sandy Swanton recommended the beautiful little town of Orta San Giulio on Lago d'Orta.  She did not steer us wrong.

One kilometer out in the lake from the town is Isola San Giulio.  It is a beautiful sight at night from the restaurants on the waterfront next to the main piazza.

There are many fancy hotels in Orta San Giulio (but ours was not one of them;-).  The architecture reminds that this region of Italy, Piedmont, is close to France.

A small chapel in the piazza has faded frescoes.  Narrow medieval streets lead to little piazzas.

A main attraction in Orta San Giulio is the Sacro Monte di San Francesco, a UNESCO world heritage site.  Within a park on the hilltop over the town are a major church and twenty chapels, each chapel devoted to major events in the life of Saint Francis of Assisi.  

A convenient guide map (as well as hand symbols pointing to the next chapel)  routed us through the park to the chapels in the chronological order of his life.  

The early chapels told their story through frescoes on the walls and ceiling, but for later chapels, sculptors were brought in to create dioramas.

We were especially taken by this chapel that had a cylindrical tower capped by a dome.  Looking up inside, the geometry creates the illusion of infinite depth, and the fresco on the side and dome uncannily translates the illusion into an ascent to heaven.

Next on the agenda was a quick boat trip to the island.  Isola di San Giulio is dominated by a formidible Benedictine monastary and the Basilica di San Giulio.  Here are a few scenes:

An interesting coat of arms.  I am not sure what trade or guild the family was associated with.  Any ideas?

After two nice days in Orta, it was finally time to head for the airport and the trip back to the U.S.  We did not refer to it as the "trip home" because Italy has truly been our home the past year.  But we also had "home" waiting for us in Encinitas and were looking forward to seeing family and friends, especially those that had not been able to visit us.