Italy and Switzerland 2025

Day 24 – Baveno: Granite, Geraniums and a Homemade Italian Feast

We woke to the soft murmur of rain on the roof of the van at our campsite on the shores of Lake Maggiore, Baveno. A thunderstorm had passed in the night, prompting a 2am hand-in-hand toilet dash—our own damp take on twilight romance. The forecast wasn’t great, so today became a day of stocking up and preparing for the next leg of our journey: Switzerland.

First stop: the local shopping mall to gather provisions for the family’s summer visit to Zug—dried pasta, sauces, and treats forming a starter pack for Emily, Sam, June and Bobbie . We added a few extras for ourselves and Harry. Then on to a garden centre, where we found two beautiful houseplants for Harry and Sophie’s apartment—one so lovely the girl at the till genuinely looked sad to see it go. We bought compost, some garden tools, and three trailing geraniums for the long drive home to England.

On the way back, we stopped at a granite yard—a characterful chaos of stone slabs and weeds. Baveno’s pink granite is famous, and we wanted a piece to roll fresh pasta on at home. After rousing an elderly gent from his nearby farmhouse and using Google Translate to explain our mission, we were able to buy one fine slab for €40, and he kindly gifted us a second—not the one he claimed came from the Duomo in Milan. Whether that’s true or not, we now have two hefty pieces of pink granite stored in the van, which is rapidly turning into a mobile garden centre and reclamation yard.

Rain still falling, we picnicked by the van, hoping it would clear before our evening plan—a pizza-making class with a local resident. At 5pm, we set off on foot into town, passing the fragrant jasmine we’d wrongly called orange blossom all holiday, courtesy of Gill’s botany-by-confidence.

Gabriella welcomed us into her third-floor flat, warm and homely, where we set to work making focaccia and pizza from scratch. The dough was soft and elastic, topped with homemade tomato and basil sauce, mozzarella and anchovies, and served with a side salad and a crisp glass of Chardonnay. We chatted as we cooked, and later, Gabriella's husband Fausto arrived home from his job at a salami factory near Milan. We sampled some of his finest Salami as a primo course.

Fausto, a cheerful soul counting down the seven months until retirement, shared his dreams of visiting New York and Scotland, particularly the Talisker distillery—a spot we were happy to say we’d already visited. His passion for The Beatles led us to introduce him to Now and Then on YouTube, which delighted him completely.

Dessert was a fruit-based tiramisu, reminiscent of the one we made with Marco and Kevin a few days ago, only this time soaked with fruit liqueur. We ended the meal with a smooth marsala shot before saying warm goodbyes, snapping a few selfies, and heading back through the drizzle.

By now, the van looked more like a market stall than a camper—chairs, granite, plants, compost, and rain. We decided to seek refuge from the weather and checked into the lakeside hotel next door. The receptionist promised a lake view room, though with the mist and low cloud, we could barely see 50 metres ahead. Still, it felt like a treat.

We climbed into bed warm, dry,, with a spare focaccia tucked safely into the van, ready for tomorrow’s journey into Switzerland.Baca selengkapnya