Castello Pavone, Ivrea - Piedmonte, Val d'Aosta Italy

Castello Pavone, Ivrea - Piedmonte, Val d'Aosta Italy

Courtyard of the Castello

A very brief visit to Castello di Pavone in the town of Ivrea on the outskirts between the Val D'Aosta,  and Piedmonte, Italy was worth every Euro. Lucky to have come in on the tail of two groups who vacated that very day and the weekend before Valentines, we had the place all to ourselves. The historic site has been lovingly restored and is dutifully maintained. You will find yourself immersed in an environment with most of the modern comforts you might desire and a nice dash of hardship to remind you how difficult it is to live in a castle, even today.

The courtyard

 The owner is the only one who has a vehicle in the upper portion of the grounds; all us low-lifers must park below the dwelling and climb a nice steep set of flagstone stairs to the outer wall where there is a door built into the rock (remember this when you pack your bags...).  :-)  You must ring the bell to enter and the door will then slowly open automatically. As it opens the view beyond comes alive and you descend into a short tunnel of brick terraces until you arrive to the front of the castle. They provide help when asked, to bring your bags up to the castle and then to your room and if you are not young and strong, take the offer because the stairs do not end here. :-) Getting to your room could add in quite a few more and every step is worth it in my opinion. The staff is wonderful, helpful and happy.

Stained glass window of the suite

We were welcomed to our Royal Suite Pavone with a glass of Prosecco and promptly reserved our table in the dinning room for dinner. Having dinned there months prior, we knew dinner was a must; the ambience is fabulous.

The suite had one window and three portholes, yes a dark room with the dark wood ceiling but so typical of these old structures it just makes the whole experience more of an adventure.  There are no elevators here and I wondered how they received deliveries in the winter and during the rainy season because there is the old original river rock stone drive and I suppose their suppliers have a very difficult time during inclement weather (horribly slippery). Be sure to stop in the bar (the armory) and have a glass of wine and some outstanding appetizers.

Sunrise from the one window of the suite.

The dinning room is an experience and it is not just one room but made up of various adjoining rooms; one seems to be a little celestial room, up a few stairs off to the left of the fireplace in the main room and then to the right there is another room but I did not get a chance to see that one. The tables are large and round and stately; just perfect for a romantic and leisurely repast. The wine cellar is well stocked so you can accompany their excellent food with an excellent wine. If you stay more than one day, I suggest requesting to have your bottle of outstanding red wine opened before dinner to let it air. Such a shame to not order one of these wines because you do not have time to let it breathe properly. We suggested they try out a Vinturi and see for themselves how this could give them a greater amount of flexibility with client satisfaction (and sell more of those fabulous reds).

We did not have the chance to taste breakfast but I am convinced it was nothing shy of their standard. After a late dinner, there just was not room for breakfast even though they called at 10 to ask if we would like them to bring breakfast to our room. Check out is at 11 so if you would like a slower morning, I would ask them if they do late checkouts; even at a price it is worth it. The spell you fall into while there is  a shame to break so abruptly in the morning with the hassle of getting breakfast, packing and hauling your things back to the car. I was truly amazed watching these young waiters whisk platters of food up staircases to well hidden meeting rooms and small dinning areas for private parties and the like; I think I would have liked to have a job like that when I was young, what a great way to work and get exercise!         Feb 2011

Bet you didn't know...

Bet you didn't know...

Did you know Italy contains 70% of the world's art? Think about that for a second, a country so small physically is so crammed full of art, monuments, churches, artifacts, tombs and on and on!! It is just amazing to me the whole concept, thinking about the number of people who passed through the country leaving such an imprint and patrimony for the rest of the world to come. No wonder Italy is so short on living space. ;-)

Meucci was the father of the telephone, not Mr. Bell; in fact Bell was well known for pirating his inventions. Marconi was the father of the radio and I bet you did not know the world's first freeway, created conceptually and physically constructed was here is this little land of dreamers and creators. Today the Italian autostrada is one of the best out there that is, if you do not judge it for the curves. With such a lack of space to build freeways, and the fact people will not sell land, the roads have to curve around history and stubbornness, so remember this when you are screaming down the road and have to back off by 50 mph to make a curve and stay alive. They have the best and world's only draining asphalt so when it rains, you can see the road; it is truly amazing (and still drive fast).

Now a quick tip on how to choose Gorgonzola, make sure the mold is not uniformly distributed. You should look for inoculation lines as well as where made. Gorgonzola originated in a small town close to Milan called, obviously, Gorgonzola. Today most of it is produced in the province of Novara and regions of Piedmont and Lombardy.  Try a risotto with Gorgonzola!

Cherry Soup!

Cherry Soup!

Dinning at Antico Ristorante agli Schioppi, this creature just had to try the angel hair with black truffle from the mountains surrounding Vicenza (Monte Berici). I hesitated to order them not sure when black truffle season was (a fanatic about white truffles from Alba, season Oct – Jan), but had a hankering for them and thus, threw all thoughts of doubt to the wind. This dish of heaven was the best pasta I had had in such a long time in fact, my partner just about fell over telling me how outstanding the flavor of the truffle really was. This restaurant served lots of polenta with the various dishes, not in quantity but just the fact that it accompanied many of the dishes (no kidding, polenta is synonymous with Vicenza)!

They brought an antipasto of baccalà mousse with white grilled polenta that was incredible, sort of reminded her of the fish mousse served on the terrace on the lake at Isola Madre. There was the classic Vincentian veal liver with glazed onions on a bed of polenta and sauce that was worth every bite particularly for liver lovers and for those who are not (moi), it was fantastic; so sure I would have hated it, ha! Veal liver is divine; tender and light in flavor and not as dense as beef liver and definitely lacking the heady heavy liver flavor. If anyone hates the taste of beef liver, then you should give this a try just to put your taste buds right with the world. ;-)

Finishing off the meal with a dessert, which truly no one had room for, was definitely one of the smarter choices made in my life one I would not soon forget. This simple and light little offering was called “cherry soup.” These were hand-pitted local grown cherries (Marostica, and Vicenza are famous for their cherries) swimming in their own cherry juice with a dash of a secret spice topped with a tiny ball of spearmint green gelato and cherry liqueur. The soup was served cold with giant soup spoons to ensure you did not miss a drop of the luscious juice. I had visions of picking some cherries from those trees in the garden or buying some in Marostica and making up my own batch of this mix to save and serve on those hot lazy summer evenings…guess I need to figure out how they made the mint gelato; did they mash and “Cuisinart” the leaves or did they make a very concentrated tisane?A bottle of Amarone, one of the other famous wines from the Veneto region accompanied this meal and, never having tasted a good glass of it, this little angel was impressed even with 15% alcohol. After a bottle I was far from tipsy because good wine (not that cheap 2-buck Chuck) does not give you headaches, does not turn you tipsy even after a bottle and it is usually consumed over a longer period of time and slowly (slow meals, slow eating). Unfortunately, the Amarone expert will have to fill you in on the beauty of this wine, this is truly out of Snow White’s league

July 21, 2008