Amici Speciali

March/April 2025

My journey for this blog ...

Bussing from Belgrade, westwards to Torino, and then Novara.

Hanging out in the province of Piemonte

Zipping into Milano

April's place near Roasio San Maurizio, and Tarek's on Lago d'Orta.

Lagna, Lago D'Orta

It's hard to properly describe how beautiful this place is, so I guess I'd better just show you a pic:

I've been hanging out on this lake for a few days, and  I'll never get tired of the views.

But actually it's been quite a while since I've put fingertip to screen, at least as far as writing is concerned, so maybe I should first fill you in on how (and why) I got here.

All'Italia

To Italy.

After having breakfasted with Londoner Lucy at our Belgrade hostel, her and I took a local bus to the main bus station, as we happened to be booked on the same intercity bus to Ljlubjlana, in Slovenia. Public buses are free in Belgrade. I wasn't staying in Ljubljana, as it was just a transfer on my way to Torino, but Lucy was, on her short trip through the Balkans.

Ljubljana would be a tough city to live in if you were spell-challenged, it's right up there with places like Kyrgyzstan and Woolloomooloo.

Above Centre: Crossing the Serbian border into Croatia was pretty straightforward, despite the fact that the countries have had such a bitter recent past, and seem to hate each other's guts.

Below Left: Zagreb bus station. I sent this pretty nondescript pic to Manu saying, "where is this?" and she fired back exactly where it was. We'd passed through there over ten years ago when she was just a 'tween, and still she managed to recognise it.

She's got a memory like an elephant.

We stopped in Ljubljana, and I drank coffee and wrote for a couple of hours, waiting for my next bus. I didn't particularly feel like wandering around, as I'd been to the city before, with Manu as well actually, and was feeling comfortably lazy. Plus it was dark, cold and rainy.

After crossing into Italy in the middle of the night I awoke to sunny green fields and a beautiful mountain backdrop, and by breakfast time was already skimming through the beautiful city of Torino.

Some of the buildings there are stunning, incredible examples of classy Italian architecture. I wasn't staying long in the city, but after passing through I made a mental note that I need to come back here.

Above Centre: Refugee camp. Of course, despite the style and wealth oozing out of some classes in Italy, there's also the desperately poor, some of whom have escaped war or violence in their home countries in Africa or the Middle East, and others who are just locals.

Above Right: But luckily I have the cash for a coffee and a cornetto (croissant).

My local bus skimmed to my rendezvous point to meet my friend April, a dear amica speciale, special friend, who's staying here at her grandmother's place. Once she told me she was coming to Italy a few months back I sort of invited myself to come and stay with her for awhile, which she was happy about.

The Italian alps look so beautiful from here.

And then, before I knew it, there she was! It was so great to see each other again, after about 18 months. We've been close friends for many years, we've even lived together at times as well, and it feels so nice and super easy when we hang out together.

April's staying in the tiny village of Prucengo, and told me that her neighbour and his wife, friends of the family, would like to meet us for a drink, so off we went to Gattinara, the largest town in our little area. It's not actually very big though.

Below Left: The town has great roundabout sculptures, and its red wines are well known, as they're made from the local nebbiolo grape, and are delicious. We found that out later.

It was so great to meet Paolo and Tina, they're super nice people, with a healthy joie de vivre. We found ourselves chatting in a variety of languages - English, Italian, French - actually when I say "we" I mean "not me." Tina spoke in French, April translated her words into English, then when April and I spoke in English Paolo translated into Italian for Tina.

We drank Aperol Spritz and ate grissini and olives and cheese etc, because doesn't everyone do that all the time in Italy?

It was a beautiful introduction to life here in Vercelli Province, in the state of Piemonte.

Below Right: The dogs are like kittens here, compared to where I've been.

Eventually April and I wandered through town, and made our way to her place, through some beautiful little villages and countryside. It's sometimes flat and sometimes hilly around here, and there's all sorts of cute little roads crisscrossing the countryside.

And most of them are pretty skinny.

Below Right: April's backyard. Actually, when I say "April's" I mean she's a part owner of this house. It once belonged to her grandmother, Anna, and when Anna died over twelve years ago the ownership was split between her kids (and theirs).

Above Left: April brought me a gift from my dear friend Frankie, that German Aussie bum. Speedos are traditional tight skimpy swimwear for men in Australia, otherwise known as budgie smugglers. A budgie is a small parrot.

These particular Aussie Bums, however, were weird, and when I chatted to Frankie to thank him he admitted to me that he gave them to me because he didn't want them, because they're weird.

The weird thing is, as you may notice from the pic, that when you put them on there's sort of a front sack that your penis immediately sits in which actually makes it stick out right in front of you. It's so strange, and not the best look when you have loose cotton trousers on and go wandering around town.

Frankie said he thought they might be ok to wear on a bike. I like his thinking, and I'll just have to wait and see.

Above Left: The house from the front.

We went off for a walk, to check out the place. The forest is right at the back of the house. It's super quiet, pretty much always. The loudest noise in the place for the whole time I was there was April and I jamming, which we did pretty frequently.

It was super fun, as April has an amazing singing voice, and can harmonise beautifully at the drop of a chord.

As we started strolling we met Giada, a young woman from Milano who moved into the area not so long ago. She bought an old farmhouse and renovated it with her boyfriend, and invited us in to come and have a look. It was beautiful.

It was so nice that Giada was so proud of her work, showing us every room, each of which were beautifully themed in different ways, some more subtley than others. She was really proud of herself, and really enjoyed showing us her creations. We loved seeing them of course.

It's amazing how friendly she was. Later in the day she came back to visit us, bringing her partner Andrea with her. They're yoga and meditation dudes, so we had lots to talk about.

Giada has two lawn mowers.

April and I wandered through the tiny laneways and the forest.

And finished the night with one of these. One glass each, not a bottle. Anna has a war chest packed with many hard weapons like this.

Below Left: This is how wonderfully beautiful April looks first thing in the morning.

Below Centre: And this is how I look first thing in the morning. Luckily I had one of Anna's many coats to keep my upper arms warm, and luckily I'd also spent a lot of time on my colour coordination, just for the pic.

And by the way the house is a antique and retro gallery.

We spent the day hanging out, and also going through Anna's bottomless pit of things, including wardrobe after wardrobe of the most beautiful designer clothes, a shoe collection that Imelda Marcos would be proud of, and many random things in hidden corners in her seemingly endless den of antiquity.

We went on a postage mission one day, to send off a few precious things April wanted to keep - so we decided to kill two birds with one rosary bead and drive to the beautiful Lago Maggiore, the largest of the lakes in this very lakonic area.

We stopped in the town of Arona, which looks like it's set up for summer tourism, but which was as dead as a hiker's toenail on this particular day, as the wind was biting, and the sun was refusing to show its pretty face.

We still had a great time of course, which is difficult not to do when April and I are hanging out together. First we spent an eternity waiting, as Poste Italiane proved it was up there with the most inefficient, slowest and most tedious bureaucracies of the world, then we strolled along the lakefront and ended up drinking coffee and eating in a restaurant, and I also got to see my second bowl of octopus and rice in a week, across the table.

My veg lasagna was unbelievably good, by the way, so fresh that it tasted like the chef whipped up the pasta after we ordered, it was mouthwineingly soft and tasty and la bomba assolute.

Anna kept a bunch of clippings from South African newspapers, from when US President John F Kennedy was assassinated, and completely coincidentally (haha), so was his alleged assassin a short time later. It all happened in the year I was born, but I swear I didn't do it.

Above Left: The actual moment when Kennedy's alleged assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was himself killed, by a guy called Jack Ruby.

We went off to the tiny town of Masserano one day to see if there were any Masseratis there, but there weren't, so we sat and had a coffee in a tiny little locals place.

Above Centre, Right: April pretending she doesn't mind having a papperazo around her all the time.

Below Left: Yep, not Maseratis.

We went to a local café.

Whilst April was in il bagno (the bog), I read the local rag, to discover that, by sheer coincidence, the two biggest teams in Italian football, both of whom are based in Milan, were playing each other that very night, in the semi-final of the Coppa Italia, the FA Cup of Italy.

Of course, because of the intense rivalry between AC Milan and Inter Milan, whenever they play it's guaranteed that sparks with fly, as these pictures from their last encounter proved.

April and I decided we'd watch the game at a bar somewhere, so we could be entertained watching the locals be either overjoyed or gutted, and, if we were lucky, maybe see some of them hurt or even kill each other, which happens sometimes, and is quite a logical response for something as important as a local football derby.

Then we cruised to Gattinara, as I need some new shoes or boots for both cycling and hiking.

Below Left: Unfortunately these were too small.

Above Centre: This is me riding along on my bike, as seen through the eyes of a murderous gang of rabid dribbling dogs.

Above Right: Later that night we returned to watch the game. We'd been recommended a bar by someone, but when we went there it was dead, except for one group of young local guys out the back, all of whom were supporting AC Milan (the underdogs). Except one.

Yay! Maybe there'll be some arguments, or even blood!

As it turned out, there actually was an argument and lots of cold hard looks, especially when Inter scored the equaliser, after AC Milan had gone ahead. But no fisticuffs, despite our encouragement.

The game finished 1-1, but it was just the first leg, and, at the time of writing, the second hadn't been played.

But it was fun to watch the game there. Surprisingly, as we left the bar there were loads of people sitting out the front, how dare they not be interested in their local football superheroes.

Later in the week we had guests arriving. April's cousin Ricci, and a relation-whose-connection-to-April-I-forget, Renata, turned up. First April and I drove to Milano airport to collect Ricci, who now lives in London, but, like April, was brought up in South Africa.

He's a lovely soul, and so's Renata, who lives in Scotland, and also speaks with a South African drawl, yaaa.

Art shot

Above Centre: A columba, a delicious cake eaten at Eastertime, a little like a panettone, but juicier.

Above Right: April was so drunk on red wine that she tried to tip this wineglass sculpture to drink more, but didn't realise she wasn't even touching it.

We went out for dinner. It was very late, but they kindly still let us in, and, to make it easier, we just ordered four of the same thing, a dish of ravioli, filled with various different species of dead animal. So innovative. The food was delicious, especially when washed down with the local drop. 

The price was decidedly undelicious, but not unexpected.

Below Left: We didn't need any of these

Below Centre: Because of this

Top Right, and Above: April, Ricci and Renata's family cemetery.

Short and Shorter

As often happens in life, events then took an unexpected turn, when April was forced to change her plans, as her family in Australia were in a difficult situation, and needed her to get back there right away.

April's dad, already in hospital, needed to have surgery, and April's mum, who has dementia, needed care, and it wasn't possible for her daughter Somalie or brother Paul to sustainably manage it for another couple of weeks, as they'd been bravely doing for ages now, while April was away.

So that was that.

My three week rendezvous with April was suddenly cut to less than a week.

We'd been having such an amazing time, and we were both disappointed, but obviously it was the only option for April, and she had to go to where she was needed the most. She felt good once that was all set in motion.

A Cosmic Jackpot

And as for me, well, it's just incredible how, despite the disappointment, the universe rolled out the red carpet for me anyway.

That sort of thing has been happening for such a long time now.

April and I had been chatting with our friend Phil a couple of days before, who told us that a mutual friend of ours, Tarek, had said he had an apartment on Lago D'Orta, a beautiful lake about a half hour drive from Anna's house, and that I was very welcome to stay there if I wanted.

Unbelievable. It's absolutely just what I needed, and just at the right time, at the right place. Quite incredible really.

What a Goddesssend.

What a word.

What an offer!

I was so grateful for Tarek's warm generosity.

I mean I could've stayed at Anna's place with Ricci and Renata, but they had house things to sort out, and also some other friends, Holgi and Anja, had already booked flights from Germany to visit April and I.

So when Tarek's place came up it meant I could still host them comfortably, and in our own space.

Thank you Tarek. Thank you universe.

So, before you could say, "well, this is fun," we were all suddenly heading off to Lago d'Orta, to drop me off, before April flew to Australia the next morning.

Above Left: Another stunning villa on the way

Above Centre: I couldn't believe it when I arrived. It was a stunning villa, and I was in it! With a killer view of the lake.

After composing myself, and noting the difference between camping in my hiking tent in the rain in the forest, and being here, we all wandered off to check out Pella, the nearby village.

Wow! The gelateria there has just been catapulted to the top of my global list of best gelato makers known to humankind, as they are the absolutely mouth wateringly unbelievably best I've ever had!

It's the truth!

I scream it to the world!

I had cioccolato con grappa (chocolate with grappa, which is a brandy made from fermented grapes, super popular in Italy), and pistachio. After I tasted it I thought I was dead and had gone to heaven, and was being fed sweet grapes dipped in rum by redheaded angels.

In fact, all of our gelatos were at the next level of culinary genius.

And, not unexpectedly, the price was at the next level of pecuniary genius.

But actually it's like that around here, it's a rich area, and there's just boutique shops and no supermarkets nearby. I have to go for a long walk to do a decent food shop, otherwise I'd be broke in no time.

Above Left: An art work of an art work.

Above Right: Tarek and Marie's bright and comfy kitchen.

Below: And delicious antique furniture.

Breakfast view

Above Left, Centre: Strolling to Pella, past the old cemetery

Above Right: Peak hour at the gelateria. It only happens twice a week at this time of year - on Sat and Sun afternoons

My local ferry pier.

Madonna Del Sasso

The next day I decided to climb the steep ridge behind Tarek's place, to visit the church of Madonna Del Sasso. It looks so speccy from down below, and I knew the views would be stellar up there.

I knew that because I went there once, about 12 years ago, with Brigitte, Shamani and Lali, and Brigitte's Swiss family. We stayed in a villa on the other side of the lake for a week or so, in a town called Ameno, and drove up to Santuario Della Madonna Del Sasso on that trip.

But this time I used extra pedestrial power to get up there.

Below Left: It's a long way up

Below Centre: Heading up the hill behind the apartment.

It was warm, dry and steep, and a climb of about 350m in altitude change. The lake here already sits at an altitude of about 300m above sea level.

There was a big landslide along the way, I needed to do some bush bashing, and needed to climb over a whole stack of large uprooted trees to get through.

Finally I got to the top.

The little island down there is the Isola di San Giulio, and is home to a famous church and Benedictine monastery. A few families live there as well.

Below Centre, Right: Inside the Santuario.

I decided to do a long loop walk, and headed through some beautiful forest, and stunning small villages. It was gorgeous.

Below Left: Dogs must be well trained around here.

Above Centre: This looks like a vole burrow, according to my extensive research. A vole is basically a cute little wild mouse. It's amazing how such a small animal can dig out such a huge vole-ume of soil.

And I guess the environment must be fraught with danger out here for them, with predators lurking about. They must feel very volenerable.

Eventually I made it back home.

Below Right: This guy was dead. Dried to a crisp. I found him inside the house.

The Time Space Continuum

I feel so blessed to have a place to be on my own, and time to relax.

It's so different to being on the road, either on the bike, or travelling around in other ways.

I'm so looking forward to just being here, and seeing what happens.

The lake and its surrounds are so beautiful, and there's lots to explore. I wanna spend some time writing, publishing blogs, getting into Tarek's garden, and just pretending I'm a normal sedentary human for awhile.

It's very unvagabondish of me, I know, but I've gotta keep ya guessing. Let alone myself.

My friends Martina and Eva, whom I met in Palermo, are also close by - in Milano - and I'm really keen to catch up with them. Martina has gigs coming up there and in Torino, and I hope to check them out.

I'm really excited to be here,  and particularly looking forward to exploring Milano, one of the great cities of Italy, and one of the fashion capitals of the world.

I should fit right out❤️

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