Travelclog Lake Iseo

Italy is a country that has held a place in my affections since my first visit on a day trip to Florence in 2002. There have been several visits since then to different areas of the country though the last was in 2010, meaning a return visit was long overdue. I booked a cycle holiday through Oak Hall Expeditions for their inaugural Italian cycle holiday near Lake Iseo in the province of Brescia. This area forms part of the Lombardy region.

The holiday began with an early morning trip to Gatwick Airport to catch the 0750 flight to Verona. We were met by Oak Hall’s efficient departures team and all boarding arrangements went smoothly. On arrival in Italy, we embarked on a 90 minute coach transfer to the spa town of Darfo Boario Terme, town that I heard mistakenly being called “Darfur” and “Barrio” during the holiday. The journey was fairly unremarkable until we left the autostrade and turned onto provincial roads that gave us our first view of Lake Iseo.

We would spend the week at the 4 star Excelsior Palace hotel. The standard of 4 star establishments is generally lower in central Europe though the quality of accommodation was very comfortable and service was also good.

The group was free to spend the day of arrival at leisure in the local town. Many of us wasted no time in making our way to Gelatissimo, the local ice cream parlour, a venue that was to prove popular among our group during our week in the town. There was a huge variety of flavours on offer, with many of our group choosing the Cialda Grande option which offered 4 scoops of ice cream for €4 in a generously sized waffle style cone. I opted for the Cialda Piccola option which offered a scaled down version of the waffle cone with room for 3 scoops of ice cream for €3. Unfortunately, the decision to opt for the smaller cone brought howls of derision from some quarters along with the accusation that I was eating an ice cream for little girls. The town itself was surrounded by mountains which gave it a dramatic backdrop.

Our first meal at the hotel was themed ‘A Taste of Italy’ which naturally included pizza. would prove to be the first of several encounters with the famous Italian dish making the decision of Dave, Steve and I to go to Dominos on the night before the holiday, look quite absurd. Oak Hall are well known for their winter sports programme and dinner time would offer opportunity for the ski bores to ensure that the conversation was Schladming this and Lauterbrunnen that, even though it was the middle of summer and 25 degrees centigrade outside.

The first day also offered the opportunity to get to know the leadership team for the week. The Italian team was spearheaded by Alex, an expat Brit who lived in the area and brought excellent logistical support to the holiday. He also brought a sense of humour that was as dry as the Gobi desert. He was supported by the infectiously cheerful Rocco and his wife Maddy. From the UK, we also had our speaker, Peter, who had prepared a series of excellent talks and had also just assisted at another Oak Hall cycle trip in France.

After each day’s programme was completed, most people would take to relaxing in the spacious lounge area or sit on the terrace. On the first night, Michael and I decided to walk into town to see what was going on and it appeared to be grab a granny evening as every café bar seemed to be packed with pensioners, some of whom were probably of the vintage where they could reminisce about the days of Vittorio Emanuele.

Following the sunny weather of our first day, there was a rude awakening at 4am as a huge thunderstorm made its presence felt across Val Camonica. The first cycle day started with a coach trip to the town of Iseo, during which we learned about the historically fractious relationship between the neighbouring provinces of Brescia and Bergamo.  This reminded me of my first trip to Italy when I learned about the rivalry between the Florentines and Pisans, the former of which would say “better a death in the family than a Pisan on my doorstep”. There was also some narrative on a recent political movement whose objective was to break off the wealthier, northern part of Italy into a separate state from the poorer and more chaotic southern part of the country. All of which highlighted that Italy is a nation that has multiple identities. It was also noted that there is 40% youth unemployment in the country, providing us with an insight to the economic issues that the country is facing.

Unlike the glorious sunny day before, Lake Iseo was surrounded by low cloud and heavy rain.  The lake itself is the sixth largest in Italy and formed by a glacier. We collected our bikes from Iseo Bike at a holiday park in the town, where we were also introduced to Flavio, one of the guides for the week. He had the appearance of one of those grizzled central defenders who would scythe through an opponent when they go in for a 50:50 ball. Everyone was sorted out with a bike very quickly, Flavio comically invited "leetel peepel" to collect their bikes first. Both groups had separate itineraries and different types of bike, the quicker groups received nice Giant mountain bikes and those covering less distance received city bikes.

Our first journey on our new chariots for the week, was down through the town of Iseo to the quayside. On route, we stopped in the centre of town to be shown a statue of the Italian reunification hero, Giuseppe Garibaldi, which was the first of its kind in the country. 

We travelled across to Monte Isola, the largest of the three islands in the middle of the lake. There were two other nearby smaller islands, we learned that one was owned by the heirs to the Beretta gun company.

On arrival at Monte Isola, we divided into two groups, the faster of which were known as Giro d’Italia and the slower group were known as Tiramisu.  The former of these was named in honour of the annual cycling grand tour and the latter was a nod to the fact that the slower group would be stopping more for cake and coffee. We were told that the island had no cars and this was true, though there was plenty of mopeds that sounded like a swarm of buzzing hornets and small Piaggio vans competing for space on the narrow roads. The main road through the island was smooth though there were some cobbled sections in the villages that required to be negotiated with care in the wet conditions. We completed almost a full circuit of the island before stopping at a café for lunch. This offered a view over to the mainland towards the area where we would be cycling in the afternoon.

The groups split at the quayside in Monte Isola, with the Giro d’Italia group taking a short crossing straight across the lake and the more leisurely group taking a gentle cruise on the ferry to a northerly part of the lake. The group took off at a reasonably quick pace along the rain swept lakeside. There were a couple of incidents in the early stages as Chris raced on to try and get some action shots of our peloton and ended up flying over the handlebars as he pressed the brakes in the wrong order. Mercifully, he was able to continue sporting a few war wounds as a result of the incident. He also had something of a wobble in the peloton that almost took out those close to him but regained composure just in time, though it could never be said that he shirked doing his own stunts. There was also the emergence of the Strava set among the faster group, a selection of individuals who live their cycle experience through the medium of the popular app. This group were characterised by their mind games, plotting and skulduggery in the peloton, very apt conduct in the land of Machiavelli. It was not uncommon to find them in hushed discussion about who was strong and who may be holding something back.

In the evening, a large group of us walked into town to explore further. We took a walk towards the older part of town and learned that there used to be a harbour at an earlier point in its history. One of the most iconic features of the town was the old bridge. There was also some fountains around the town with lovely fresh water that is piped in from the nearby mountains.

As we began our second day of cycling, we were introduced to Mauro, our guide for the day who looked like Boario’s answer to Mario Cippolini. It was his job to set the pace for the fastest group with Flavio sitting at the back to ensure that no one fell behind. It was decided to have a two tier fast group from this day onwards, the second group was known as Team Sky and followed the same route as the Giro d’Italia team though at a less furious pace.

Early in our journey, we had to stop at a super sensitive level crossing for a few minutes to allow a local sprinter train to pass. Flavio announced to the group that he was a train driver for 25 years which made me laugh as I recalled the 1990’s advert for the Fiat Coupe proclaiming, “In Italy no one grows up wanting to be a train driver”.

The route continued down the valley, following the River Oglio very closely. One of the most daunting parts of the route was going through a 500m unlit tunnel on the cycle path. As we progressed through the tunnel, there was a minor incident where one of the ladies in the group clipped the wheel of Philip. When this story was told later, Dave suggested that Philip had actually knocked the fair maiden off her bike and not stopped to offer aid, such was the dark arts that the Strava set employed against each other, though in this case, it would've been a shame to let mere facts get in the way of a better story.

On arrival at the restaurant that would be our lunch stop, we walked up a steep hill to take in the Naquane national park of rock engravings, a UNESCO world heritage site at Capo di Ponte. To be diplomatic about the content, it was clear that these budding rock artists of ancient times concentrated on aspects of the human condition that were at the base end of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

We returned via an almost identical route to the earlier cycle though with some minor variation and a couple of long sprinting sections that allowed the Strava set to stretch their legs. A short distance outside Boario, our guide gave us an alternative diversion over two short and sharp 10% gradient climbs that had us going upwards for the best part of two kilometres. This was where we realised our guide was not the real Cippolini, as Mauro showed that he could climb with distinction unlike the great showman of the late 1990’s peloton who had the habit of disappearing as the road got vertical.

Oak Hall is a company with a strong Christian heritage and there was a church service on the Sunday evening that was hosted in the basement of the hotel. This was also attended by local people who attended the same church as Alex and was a nice part of the Sunday programme. This was a lively event that passed with much goodwill felt between both the locals and tourists, indeed they even left their drum kit for our use during the week and Steve made use of it in the next two evening services, demonstrating a composure and command of the instrument seen in only the very best drummers such as Ringo Star, Don Henley and the Cadbury's Dairy Milk gorilla.

The third day of cycling involved a stop at the pretty town of Lovere which lies in the northern part of Lake Iseo. At the previous evenings’ route briefing, we were informed by Alex that this town was in the top 4 most beautiful in Italy, though it became a running joke throughout the week that almost everywhere we visited seemed to be in the top 4 most beautiful towns. In spite of the apparent suspension of mathematical convention, the only conclusion that could be reached was that each place was indeed in the top 4 most beautiful towns in the country. There was some spectacular views from the promenade.

The faster groups then followed some of the main road to Bergamo before breaking off to visit the smaller Lake Endine which covers an area of little more than 2km. 

The lakeside restaurant where we stopped served an agreeable fish dish for lunch which could also be washed down with a vase of white wine, though the latter was designed to serve two people. The dinner also came with water and an espresso at the end of the meal. Not everyone decided to take the espresso option though this was not a problem as Steve managed to drink several of these in quick succession. The effect was clearly the same as being injected with EPO as Steve somehow managed to find several extra gears on the return journey.

The group was then racing along the lakeside and had to negotiate some of the Alpine tunnels that were cut out of the rock face. This action shot demonstrates the narrow roads that we negotiated on this part of the journey. This photo was taken by ‘two speed Steve’ who was empowered by his espresso binge drinking, demonstrating ability to stop and take action shots of the peloton and still power back to the front of the group. The road itself was not too busy though the group had to squeeze pass an altercation between a juggernaut and smaller box van who had difficulty passing one another just outside one of the tunnels.

Following the long cycle, I decided that a trip to Gelatissimo was in order and only the Cialda Grande would do. 

Monday night concluded with an Italian lesson led by Rocco which was designed to help us on our day off. Undoubtedly, this was a good idea since only a few had learned any phrases, perhaps adopting the attitude demonstrated in the apocryphal story US Senator who stated, “if the English language was good enough for Jesus Christ, then it is good enough for me”. The lesson started off with a member of the group being invited up to explain a mistake in translation. This set the tone for proceedings and there was a great deal of laughter. Just before the lesson veered off into a comical farce, Maddy brought some control to proceedings and helped us to get back on track. Finally, the group was able to ask for a ticket to Bergamo using the phrase, “Vorrei un biglietto a bergamo per favore”, though Italian is such a tuneful and expressive language that it somehow seemed more appropriate to substitute ‘per favore’ with ‘that’s amore’.

Our rest day was spent with a daytrip to Bergamo, the main city in the neighbouring province and something of a hidden gem. The city was a 90 minute us ride from Boario Terme bus station although we had to purchase our tickets from the local newsagent. The lady behind the counter was amazed to see such orderly queuing in the shop. 

On arrival in the city, everyone in the group purchased a city travel ticket for €3.50 which gave access to the transport network.. After a short bus ride, we took the first stage of the funicular railway which led to the charming old town. 

We wound through a narrow street and arrived in a picturesque city square. Some of our group had already adapted to the Italian way of life and decided to make a lengthy coffee stop in the centre of the square. The rest of the group decided to take in the historic university library. Some areas of the building are undergoing renovation and were off limits.  There were a selection of old books and manuscripts on display. Throughout the building, there were a selection of busts of notable cultural and literary figures, such as the one below of the poet, Dante Alighieri.

After lunch, we headed for the second stage of the funicular railway that headed up to the highest point of the city and old citadel. This offered a panoramic view across all areas of the city and the surrounding hills. It was also possible to see Orio airport on the perimeter of the city, one of the Italian airports frequented by Ryanair, though it is marketed by the airline as ‘Milan Bergamo’, suggesting many of the passengers will bypass Bergamo in favour of its larger neighbour 40km away.

On arriving back down to the old town, there was opportunity to take in the delights of the natural history museum which featured models of many types of wildlife, including an impressive woolly Mammoth. 

As we walked back to the square, there was the unmistakable skirl of the pipes reverberating round the ancient streets. This transpired to be two men who decided to do a busking tour from Paris to Venice. They were encouraged by the response that they received in the city, unlike their visit to Milan earlier that day when they were moved on by po-faced police officers.

The next stop on the tour was to visit the cathedral buildings at the back of the city square. There was a selection of stunning artwork on display throughout the building, depicting different biblical scenes.

There was a section dedicated to Pope Giovanni XXIII who was a famous son of the city and held the supreme office in the Roman Catholic Church from 1958-1963. A major thoroughfare in the city is named in honour of the former Pontiff. One of the more haunting aspects of the cathedral was the crypt under the building which featured the graves of various archbishops, as well as several empty berths for the next few to hold the office.

Prior to heading back down the final stage of the funicular railway, there was time to go to an ice cream shop where customers could create their own combinations. The shop was almost like a factory format where the customer could add as much ice cream and toppings as they pleased. There was an amusing moment early in the journey as some of our group attempted a kind of flash mob at the back of the bus as some upbeat dance music played.

Our showpiece mountain stage began with something of a media frenzy as Italian TV came to visit, that is, very local Italian TV in the form of Teleboario. We realised that they weren’t quite Rai Uno when the interviewer and cameraman rocked up in the station’s Renault Twingo. There was a couple of interviews and a team photo taken before the cameraman ran further up the hill to watch our grand depart. The fastest group was led by Rogero and we immediately started climbing for several kilometres from the moment that we left the hotel. There was something of a scare in the early stages as the group bunched up on a climb and Philip tagged the wheel in front of him and fell against a wall. Thankfully, Philip escaped with some slight grazes and was able to continue at the excellent tempo that he consistently demonstrated through the week. This was much better than if he landed over the other side of the wall, as this may have led to him spending the rest of his life in several pieces.

Before the last section of climbing, we encountered a nice viewpoint overlooking a gorge, which made for some good photo opportunities. The weather was cloudy with some showers of rain though this helped to cool things down on a day where everyone had to work hard. The Strava set were at their best on this day, with enough mind games to fill a Soduku book.

After everyone gathered at the summit, Flavio shocked us all by pointing over to the nearby higher mountain and suggesting that we had another “cinque kilometers”. He then laughed and indicated that we had no more climbing though we did have one final surprise in that we had to do a short off-road track for almost 2km.

Following our customary two hour lunch break, most of the afternoon leg of the cycling was heading down the Alpine style descent which led us back to some of the roads in the valley that we encountered on our second cycle.

The fifth day of cycling took us back through Lovere and down the east side of the lake, allowing us to see the lake in all its sun-kissed glory and give us plenty of spectacular photo opportunities. Along the route, there were many local cycle clubs taking advantage of the excellent day. 

Our lunchtime was spent down at a beach café in Iseo with a very leisurely approach to service though the smoked salmon and peach dish was worth waiting for. After lunch, the quicker groups had the option of a 10Km cycle around some of the country lanes near Iseo on a route that ended up being almost twice as long as originally billed.

Later in the evening, a group of us decided to walk into town to see what was going on. Lorna had decided that it would be a good idea to teach Rocco a few Scottish phrases. This may have seemed quite opportune considering he and Maddy will be coming to Oak Hall’s headquarters soon, though its just a shame that phrases such as “peely wally”, “crabbit” and “awa’ an’ bile yer heid” which would've been useful had Rocco's next destination in the UK not have been Kent. We walked around the centre of town and some of the gang decided that they wanted to have some pizza. The business proprietor seemed very enthused by this late group of exotic foreigners who arrived at his restaurant and apparently had seen the Teleboario broadcast. He also made the generous gesture of an iced espresso on the house for each of the group.

Our last day was taken at a more leisurely pace around Boario Terme. A group of us decided to go for a morning coffee at La Dolce Vita café. The last formal event on the programme was a pizza party at the Sicilian restaurant around 100 metres from the hotel. This was a very lively affair where the group was presented with a selection of five different pizzas from across Italy.

There was also some laughter with a few spoof awards handed out related to certain funny incidents during the week. One of the most amusing was the award for best arson attempt which arguably should’ve been presented to the strains of The Prodigy’s hit, Firestarter. As we were leaving the restaurant, Rocco came over to tell me that I had the best accent on the trip and announced that I was “peely wally” in an accent that morphed from Glaswegian to Pakistani in the space of a sentence.

Following our final lunch, it was time to take our leave from the town that had been our home for a week and make the joruney to Verona airport in the futuristic looking Neoplan Starliner coach.

Our final afternoon had very nice weather which allowed us to see Val Camonica and Lake Iseo at its very best before we hit the autostrade.

Lakes Como and Garda are very popular among British tourists though it was clear that Lake Iseo is the pretty but quiet little sister. The area retains a feeling of being less commercial and more innocent than other Italian tourist hotspots. A lack of English speaking voices made it feel like we were discovering all new places like a Vasco da Gama on a velo. The less touristy feel was also evident in the prices, such as €1.60 for a good Cappuccino at the local coffee house and €5.00 for a large Margherita Pizza. The holiday was enhanced by the fact that Oak Hall had an excellent team on the ground in Italy who had brilliantly coordinated the organisation of the trip and made it more of a cultural experience.

Italy is a place where everyone sees themselves as the next big racing driver, footballer or model. The nation has had to endure much heartache in recent years, caused by the sovereign debt problem and perpetual political chaos. In the midst of this, it is clear that the rhythm of life beats in the most vibrant manner and beckons you in to get lost in wonder at all this fascinating country has to offer.