Arina - Molina - Trento - Modena

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After sleeping well from an evening of eating and drinking we woke early and had a breakfast of cooked prosciutto, bread, fruit with a few double espressos. Ernesto and Ginetta came by to see us off. Son Patrick came from his house around the mountain and brought his baby boy Filipo with him. Family and all the people up here are very friendly and life is enjoyed at a more relaxed pace than in the big cities. Artemio and Mirella were great hosts.

This area has many peaks that are a haven for outdoor enthusiasts and cyclists. There are clear mountain streams for fly fishing and alpine meadows to enjoy. We had to get to Molina across the valley and up and over another mountain. We descended from Arina using a partially paved back mountain road and then let the GPS take over. We stopped at a petrol station and asked a local and he suggested we take another mountain pass rather than the highway. We followed his advice and are very happy we did. The Maghen pass winds up on a very narrow paved road to a peak that is 2042 metres high – about 6700 feet – through some incredibly beautiful high pastureland filled with wild flowers. We kept going higher – 1250, 1500, 1750 metres – until we reached the summit. Passing small groups of cyclists along the way we were sometimes ourselves overtaken by motorcycles and other automobiles but, it seemed we were all alone and were unprepared for the hundreds upon hundreds of cars, motorcycles and bicycles at the peak. When our son Andrew first laid eyes on the Rockies he said to us, “you feel like a speck of sand on a beach”. One does seem insignificant among the beauty of such places.

The houses in Molina remind me of other alpine locations with a lot of use of rough hewn timber and exposed rafters. Luisana and Ivo’s house was very pretty and had beautifully hand carved beams and ceramics. They were wonderful hosts and we stayed for a lunch of excellent polenta umido(stew). Ivo went with their son to Trento for his youth bike race and Luisana, her daughter and boyfriend came with Jackie and I shortly after so we could watch the race. Bicycle road racing is big business in Europe just like hockey is in Canada. The kids are on teams and have professional coaches. The city closes a piazza and surrounding streets and police motorcycle escorts lead the racers. Thousands of spectators attend.

We especially liked the gelateria across from the church. Caffè and cioccolato are favorites! Gelateria are a passion for Italians and foreigners alike. People debate about the best ones but, they have almost all been very good to excellent for us. "A gelato a day keeps the blues away", is our motto.

We had to leave Trento if we wanted to get to Modena before sundown and unfortunately had to bypass Verona or would have been driving in the dark. "Letters to Juliet" will have to wait until our next trip. As a compromise I agreed to wind down to Siena via the backroads - perhaps I might regret that decision but would decide that in a few days time. The GPS had us going in the correct direction and we missed the turn and had to drive a circle then experienced a 10km detour to get on the A22 autostrada. As casual users we took a ticket and would pay upon exiting in Modena - it is considerably more expensive than Hungary or Romania and is understandable since the Italians love driving almost as much as Americans or Canadians. The drive from Trento to Verona is one with castle topped mountains on either side and numerous tunnels - some were as long as 2km. South of Verona is a vast plain all the way to Modena with vineyards and farmland predominating.

We arrived in Modena and checked in at the UNA hotel chain frequented by business travellers doing business with Ferrari and Ducati among others in this industrial city. Ducati was having a Ducati Experience event for owners the weekend we arrived and had a beautiful Streetfighter 848 in the lobby. Ferrari was having the Ferrari Experience for new owners Wednesday - that would have been a sight to see. UNA is very nice and is ultra modern - lights in some hallways are activated by motion - and all the design elements are very cubist. It is a very good hotel. The included continental breakfast was among the best of the trip so far, with hot and cold buffet, great coffee, fruit, breads, croissants and the best little individual packs of Nutella and jams. At 60 Euro a night it was the best value. Jackie and I had a Turkish steam bath and sauna.

A meal at a nice local restaurant ended wonderful day.

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Photos

2000 metres
A slow road up

Great Drive
Looking from where we came

passo Manghen
2042 metres and everyone enjoying the hot sun

Rest stop
Everyone had the same idea

Gelato
One of each, please