Yesterday atmospheres for travelers departing from Turin Porta Nuova station who will reach the hills of the Langhe and Roero to enjoy picnics among landscapes worthy of Unesco recognition, flavors and curiosities of local traditions organized by TrEno INFO HERE
They will travel on the Centoporte train of the Italian Railways (with steam and diesel engines) which was in service from 1928 to the 1980s and is distinguished by its wooden compartments each of which has its own entrance door.
The underground cathedral for the aging of wines in Canelli, the capital of sparkling wine
Next May 1st, the destination is Canelli with its views over the vineyards where, in 1865, Carlo Gancia was the first to start producing sparkling wine. You go to discover the historic center, the Castle and its gardens. Very interesting is the visit to one of the Underground Cathedrals, a maze of 20 kilometers of tunnels dug into the subsoil for the conservation and aging of wines at a constant temperature. After lunch at the Osteria dei Meravigliati, we return to Turin.
Next stages of parties and tastings in Neive and its Clock Tower with the parade of flag-wavers, figures and medieval music; in Nice to get to know the wines of 50 producers and attend the barrel race; in Castagnole delle Lanze for the Barbera Festival “from courtyard to courtyard” and in Santo Stefano Belbo for picnics and a walk among the vineyards and paths evoked by Cesare Pavese.
Nice run of the barrels
The initiative could appeal to two writers who have devoted a large part of their lives to traveling by train.
The first of which I wrote hereis Per J. Andersson author of “The wonderful story of train travel” (Utet), tells the charm, ingenuity and effort of the great adventure of the transport of people and goods that has revolutionized society, the economy, social relations around the world.
Narrow gauge and surroundings
Fabio Bertino, author of «Binari. Tales of journeys and trains on the Italian minor railways »(Youcanprint), for years he has been aboard somewhat old trains, even narrow-gauge ones, relegated to secondary routes which, however, carry out their task with great dignity.
The old engines, in fact, leave the usual tracks – where high speed overtakes everyone, saves time, reduces distances – to offer the thrill of slowness and the pleasure of enjoying all aspects of the journey: the landscape, the encounters. , the flavors, the traditions and the work of the communities that are going to meet. And also the inconvenience of having to take a bus when the train service is suspended, but that too is part of the adventure.
The itinerary passes from the dizzying panoramas of Cuneo-Ventimiglia and Vigezzina-Centovalli (Domodossola-Locarno) to the Apennine crossings of other regions of the peninsula up to the unrepeatable sceneries of olive, orange and fig trees of the Circumetnea that goes around the Sicilian volcano and the Macomer -Nuoro where the fragrant vegetation frames nuraghe and stone and wool villages.
The Circumetnea littorina at the Misterbianco station
Pleasant stations and confidences at the bar
His travel companions are workers, commuters, students, tourists and the elderly who take the train to spend the day with friends. He happens to be alone, as at the San Mommè stop, «The only passenger to get off at what looks like a fairy station. The smallest I’ve ever seen. “
It does not always reach its destination immediately. Sometimes he prefers to go down to the pleasant stations of the quieter centers to sneak into almost deserted villages, stopping at the bar for a chat with the patrons who invite him to play cards, tell him about when they were young and unearth some secrets of the community when they understand that of you can trust him. Someone gives capers and olives.
He also stops to walk in the archaeological sites; imagine the splendor of aristocratic residences; visit churches, museums, cemeteries of heroes, victims and all the others.
A scene from the film “The comrade don Camillo”, directed by Luigi Comencini, based on the book by Giovannino Guareschi
Excellent ghosts
You can also enjoy the warmth of the farmhouses and trattorias, the markets and the works of actors, artists, writers and storytellers. On its tracks there are also excellent ghosts such as Attilio Mussino who drew, in 1911, the illustrations of the original edition of “Pinocchio” by Collodi, Totò, don Camillo and Peppone, Ligabue, Pascoli, Ariosto and Montale and the writer George Gissing – author of «Sulle rive dello Ionio (1900)» published in Italy by Edt – which goes to «the discovery of the new social state of the South in the difficult post-unification situation».
We also see builders and designers such as Pietro, Bartolomeo and Tommaso Cini promoters of the Central Italian Railway and Benjamin Piercy, the Welsh engineer to whom Sardinia owes the entire railway network.
All ideally aligned on the edges of this infinite network of rails to make sense of the apparently inconclusive transits of a romantic traveler like Fabio Bertino.