Staying at the end of the line

The ancient town of Chiavenna isn't actually the end of the world. The bike path from here leads to Switzerland. If you climb the hills - perhaps by rope ladder - you can arrive at the villages that we see from afar. But - as far as the railroad is concerned, Chiavenna is the end of the line.

In fact, even the railroad doesn't go here anymore - although that is probably a temporary situation. We took a 45-minute bus ride here today from Colico, Itally, after catching a train first from Varenna, Italy.

The distance may not be great in a physical sense, but one gets the sense of moving into a different culture. This region was governed by the Austrians for years, and the region seems much less influenced by Milan than the Lake Como region is.

As usual, our first day here was largely spent in getting oriented to the town. We walked the length of the town and found some restaurants and nice coffee places.

We are fortunate to have a gourmet grocery across the street and a bakery practically next door, so we made a delicious picnic supper that we ate by the raging river that flows through the valley. Local cheeses and salami, fresh figs and grapes, and radicchio.

After dinner, we headed farther up the mountain, visiting what they call a "crotto" here. These are cool places, naturally formed by the mountain, where the locals store their wine, cheese, and salami for aging. As one passes by the crotti, you can feel a very chill damp breeze blowing from these dark rooms where the goodies are kept.

Tomorrow, we plan to have dinner in one of these places, which serve as both food storage and traditional meeting places for the community.