Tirano is a small town in Northern Italy right on the border of Switzerland. The river Adda runs right through the middle of town. Triano may be a small town, but it was still in Italy and when in Italy, one must consume pizza and gelato.
Because it was too early to get into our hotel, our first stop was espresso for Ma and Pa and some gelato for me. Oh man, I do love me some gelato. Even if it is 40 degrees outside, I don’t care! I will deal with those consequences later. Just give me the milky goodness!
After I warmed up some from my gelato, we decided to do a lap around town to see some of the cool buildings and architecture. Italy does such an amazing job of preserving their old buildings. There were churches and castles that date back all the way to the 1500s. Of course, I can’t understand 5 minutes ago, much less 500 years ago.
After our stroll, we headed back to the hotel. By some miracle we caught the owner coming out so he was able to get us checked in. By this time, we were ready to kick out feet up and relax for a few hours before dinner.
Pancakes…really?
I wanted to get some pizza but dinner that night was for Pa. The hotel owner recommended a place around the corner and thankfully they were actually open! Ma and Pa enjoyed their dinner and wine. I had a few bites of something that was supposed to be a “pancake”. I mean, it was good, but it wasn’t like any pancake I have ever had. (Pa here: it was Chisciöl di Tirano – a traditional dish made of a buckwheat “pancake” filled with local cheese and pan-fried). By this point, though, I was done. It had been a really big day, so I curled up on Ma’s lap and called it a night.
The next day, after a good night’s rest, we headed out for some more exploring around the town. Our train didn’t depart until early afternoon so we had some time to kill, and of course, I still needed my pizza. We had a pretty lazy morning at the hotel and then packed up to head out for the day.
Castello di Santa Maria
We decided to try to find the castle, Castello di Santa Maria. It was located above the town, so we walked and walked and walked. My legs are too tiny for all this walking uphill! After a while, Pa pulled out the map to see if we were close. We were. I was amazed at Pa. I mean seriously, do you not see the giant castle right behind you?
After I got Pa straightened out, we headed inside the walls. The castle was in ruins, but we explored as much as we could. Because the castle was perched on a hill, we also had incredible views of Tirano. Let’s be honest, I’ve never met a castle I didn’t like.
We took a stroll back through the city hitting more of the sites of Tirano. In my opinion, we were just killing time before enjoying the best part of being in Italy: pizza! Finally, it was that time.
Pizza!
We headed over to a place back near our hotel. As usual in Europe, we were the first ones there for lunch. We didn’t care. We were hungry, and it was pizza time. We ordered one pepperoni and one with prosciutto and fresh mozzarella. Both were delicious. The thin crust, the wood fire smell, the fresh tomato sauce…just incredible. We could not have had a better meal to end our trip to Italy.
The train ride back to Chur was not quite as epic. The mountains were covered by the clouds, and half of the trip ended up being at night. Oh man, what a trip though. Now back to our regularly scheduled Switzerland adventures.