Arriving in Pinerolo
For some time, my wife Patti has been wanting for us to visit her friends in Malpertus. Thankfully with Covid restrictions waning, hopefully along with the virus itself, we finally committed to visiting them this week. In order to get there, we had to take the train from Turin’s Porta Susa terminal, instead of our customary train station, Porta Nuovo. Once on the train, the trip length was about forty-five minutes, which included about eight stops along the way.
A Short Stay In Pinerolo
Upon arriving, we had a short stay in Pinerolo, our jumping off point, just long enough to get something to eat and wait for our host to pick us up. Our destination being an Bed and Breakfast called Renovating Italy at Borgata Malpertus in the Pellice River Valley a half an hour away by car.
Pinerolo appeared to be fairly quiet and we had noticed most people were preoccupied with the Saturday market place, that was taking place in the main square from the train station. We took little notice of this and continued directly down the main street, via Del Duomo, until we found a suitable place to eat.
Restaurants
Trattobar Kreuzberg
We initially stopped at a pizza place, but they apparently only took orders inside. So, after a quick reconnaissance further up the street we found a trattoria called Trattobar Kreuzberg.
Though the food was very good and for a fair price, the service, even for Italian standards, was very slow. It took us all of three hours to complete our lunch, and we could tell several other clients sitting at tables next to use were not happy either, and they were Italian. So if you are in a hurry, either get seating inside or by the entrance (of course in the hope they will see and not forget you) and not out in the umbrella piazza annex, where we were seated.
Borgata Malpertus
Our hosts live in a very small hamlet called a Borgata. It’s actually just a string of small stone houses collected neatly on the hillside of the Pellice River Valley.
The rest of the Borgata is contained within a few roads or alleys, through which anyone can amble at their leisure. There are few residents here and some of the structures are in dire need of repair and restoration.
Our host, hostess and their son are great and they have done an amazing job of renovating their own place.
Venturing Out A Bit
Taking a short walk from the Borgata and a stone’s throw away is Napolean’s Bridge. Of course, Napolean did not build, nor even cross the Pellice River using this bridge. It was built at least a hundred years before he was even born and it is believed that his army never ventured down the valley that far, if in this valley at all.
However, it is a nice walk and an improbable feature of the valley, since it appears to have been built near no know important structure, castle or fortress, yet obviously took a tremendous amount of work to complete.
Along the way there are an amazing assortment of flowers and as with other parts of Italy, the fields and pastures are abuzz with this sound of bees and the chirping calls of crickets. So if you are looking for a place for some peace of mind, this might be an appropriate place for you.