Ristorante Aquila Nera In Arborio

26/10/2024: RIVA VALDOBBIA - ALPE LARECCHIO Another repeated "pilgrimage"... due to the great beauty of this plain at 1900 m above sea level. By car as far as possible, on weekdays there is a place at Ca' di Janzo, otherwise earlier, and then continue on foot. The road, which decades ago was a mule track already between the Janzo huts, is now asphalted up to Ca' S. Antonio, but at times the old path runs just above the road and allows for a more natural walk. Just below the Peccia, a small lake invites you to stop, then Peccia always offers impressive views, as well as, just beyond the last huts, at the top of a short climb, the Oratory of San Grato, 1529 m, with a plaque in memory of Giacomo Clerino, the first custodian of the Sottile Hospice, who died here in an avalanche in 1870. Continue across the Napoleonic bridge and go up on the right, passing the Montata huts and higher up the chapel of the Madonna del Lancone. A few hundred meters follow until in the larch scrub, at around 1800 m altitude, the signs invite you to go up on the left (if you continue straight you would go to Sottile) and in ten minutes the Larecchio plain reveals itself, a magnificent oasis, in our eyes, and from here the desire to take photos suddenly increases. The trip in August is an immersion in greenery, in mid-late October an explosion of red-golden colours. The farm is open in summer, managed by the family. Carmellino, the father was custodian of the Sottile from 1954 to 1991 (the Carmellinos are mentioned by Alessandro Orsi in his book on the history of the Hospice), and now he is here too. It's a shame not to be able to also share the scents of the kitchen... An obligatory ritual is to travel around the entire plain to the lake, just hidden by a moraine residue; you no longer feel tired here, only a little sadness pervades you when the watch advises you to start descending.

01/09/2024: Everything is excellent, a relaxing place, the meals are excellent and all with natural products, Flavia and Osvaldo with their daughters manage everything with attention and friendliness towards the customers