Castiglione delle Stiviere and Villa Sostaga

Castiglione delle Stiviere lunch and Villa Sostaga

6 June 2013
Villa Sostaga at Lago di Garda in Gragnano, Italy


From Mantua we took a train to Verona. In Verona we picked up a rental car. In the rental car we drove west and north to Lake Garda.

En route we stopped in the hill town of Castiglione delle Stiviere. From a distance it looked promising. There was a large church atop the hilly town. And we heard cuckoos in the trees. But on arrival the town seemed deserted. Most everything was closed. We persisted. We walked several blocks searching for signs of life. Finally, Wes saw a small open door in a tall stone wall. Through the arched doorway was a sunny garden. A green lawn. A few tables under sun-drenched umbrellas. Serendipity found a table with two seats awaiting our arrival.  Claudio Truzzi, the owner and chef of Hosteria del Teatro, made recommendations, took our order, prepared our meal, poured our wine. He was our private chef shared with two other tables.

We had smoked caviar from local fish atop a smear of salted butter churned from the milk of the cow of Claudio's nonna. We had warm shrimps dipped in Claudio's saffron mayonnaise. We had Persica (perch) from Lake Garda and Ombrina from the sea. We had miniature panna cottas, delicate light as air amaretto cookies and candied pomelo peel. It was a perfectly beautiful day. The sky was blue. The climate mild and warm. We were without obligations. Without places to be. Or things to do. Just us, the food from the land and the sea, the balmy breeze, the antique terra cotta skyline, the quiet village, and the tiny salamanders basking in the grass.

Eventually we drove to the village of Gargnolo on the western shore of Lago di Garda. From Gargnolo we began the seven kilometer ascent on the narrow two lane road constantly on the edge of cliff. At times the road seemed only one and a half lanes wide. Motorcycles sped around blind curves. Locals accelerated impatient and close on our heels.  The bicyclists were impressive. They pedaled with great ease up the steep incline. And as we got higher the view of the lake got grander. The driver was tempted to look away from the road.  All in, it was a thirty minute drive of constant hairpin turns. Not really perilous, but driving it for the first time it seemed so.  

At last we arrived to the Villa Sostaga. Eighty perfectly situated acres on a high promontory. The focal point, an elegant three-story mansion amidst tall cypresses.

In the mansion, on the second floor, with a terrace, and facing the lake was our room. We have twelve foot ceilings and salmon walls. A sitting room and a bedroom. Elegant furniture. Hand blown glass light fixtures.

The sky is ever evolving. A painters challenge. One moment everything is enveloped in a blue haze. Then golden light arrives and glitter on the water. At times the lake, mountain and sky meld into a two-dimension impressionist canvas, with shapes and contours and colors suggested but not explicit.  

Directly beneath our room is the glass enclosed dining room. A solarium of sorts. However cool the temperature is on the outside the sun warms the inside to a perfect climate.  Our table is at the window facing the lake. We take our breakfasts and dinners there.  At times it is a bit unreal. A bit Downton Abbey-ish having servants and formality and constant luxury. The owner, proprietor is a good manager and it is a well oiled operation. And mutually beneficial. He is pleased to have our business. And we are pleased he makes available his paradise.

We are here with friends from New York City. They have been here several times and encouraged us to come enjoy it with them. They, the New Yorkers, have a generous friend who has sent for their enjoyment a case of fine wine to the Villa Sostaga. Twelve excellent bottles of German, Austrian, French and Italian wines. We are lucky to share in their good fortune. The wines have been an outstanding addition to our dinners.
Our stay at the Villa Sostaga is five nights. It is a place to rest and be peaceful.  The main activities are walking through mountain lanes, sitting at the pool and quiet conversation which are not events to write home about. So I will not go on about the birds or the land.

Tonight, the five of us will go down the hill and away from the lake for dinner with a couple from Bologna, two violinists.

Marlow and Wes
6 June 2013
Villa Sostaga in Gargnano on Lago di Garda
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