Chiavenna
Trip Start
Apr 13, 2009
1
34
91
Trip End
Jul 14, 2009
Chiavenna,
Lombardy,
Italy
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Ponte in Valtellina to Chiavenna
26 degrees cloudy am sunny pm
Our hostess brought us a delicious just-baked apple strudel for breakfast this morning and her husband who spoke some English also came up to meet us. He asked where we were headed and when we said Chiavenna he told us that the route we were to take was to be closed mid morning for today's leg of the Italian Cycle Race, the Giro d'Italia. We decided to get away early and luckily got through before it commenced. We saw many officials, back up vehicles and cyclists on the way though as yesterday's leg of the race finished here in Chiavenna. We arrived at our B & B at about 11.00am and made use of the washing machine in our apartment and the portable drying rack in the sunshine. Later we went out to explore Chiavenna, especially the Old Town. The fortress dates back to around 955 and there we climbed up the many steps for the panoramic view of the town and the Alps. Other interesting buildings were built in the 16th Century and included charming piazzas, a religious college/church, and stone entrance gates. With yesterday's cycle race finishing here many of the houses and shops were still decorated for the event with the pink theme (balloons, pink bikes and flowers). Wanting to make use of our little kitchen tonight we asked for directions to a supermarket and nearly missed it as it was cleverly disguised as an old church. We bought gnocchi and sauce again but added a fresh bread stick from a bakery where they sold bread for 3 Euro per kilo. A little disconcerting was that in the residential area each house had very secure fencing as well as large guard dogs. We didn't feel unsafe, but would definitely be safely back to our room before dark.
