Valsolda on Lake Lugano

It is raining in Britain and still cold. So here is a little armchair travelling for you.

What a difference a few kilometres make when it comes to geography and landscape ... It is particularly true of the difference between Valsolda, which is a little valley just within the Italian border and on Lake Lugano and the city of Lugano itself. Yes, they are in two different countries, Italy and Switzerland respectively, but they are only fifteen minutes away from each other by car, yet they appear to belong to different universes. Lugano seems to me to be made up of modern buildings, designer shops and overpriced bars and restaurants. In Lugano you very much feel that you are in the 21st century but in Valsolda, you travel back in time to the 19th century or even earlier.

The star attraction of Valsolda is Villa Fogazzaro Roi, which is an absolute gem. Like all gems and in typical Italian style, the villa is very difficult to find and the signage to reach it is bizarrely unclear. When Ian and I went eighteen months ago, well, we just couldn't find it at all at first ... We drove up and down the main road, whilst our sat nav kept on saying we had reached our destination, yet we could see no villas. Eventually we parked the car, and even this was difficult as there was no clear parking area. We then walked up and down the road with my phone sat nav stubbornly still saying I had reached my destination. Finally we spotted a small and rusty sign that led us down a little shady alley and there at the end of this narrow alleyway was the entrance.

The villa belongs to FAI, Fondo Ambiente Italiano, which is the equivalent of the National Trust. No doubt in my opinion FAI should take a leaf or two out of the National Trust, charge visitors more and organise itself better. As a matter of fact when we reached the entrance to the villa and I opened my wallet to pay for the (cheap) tickets, the clerk who had heard us speak English asked us if we were members of the National Trust in the UK. When we replied that yes, we were, she told us that FAI has an agreement with NT and that our entrance was therefore free of charge. My goodness, too much generosity in my opinion. Can Italy depleted coffers afford it? ....

Villa Fogazzaro Roi

You can only visit the villa with one of the guided tours and the tours are only in Italian. We waited about half an hour before the next one started and used the time to walk the garden which stretches itself along the lake and the beautiful little church. Everywhere was total peace and stillness. Despite my impressions, the guide informed us that a few British people manage to find and visit the villa. As a matter of fact, Prince Charles had been there a few years earlier and had even slept there!

The villa had been on my 'to visit list' for over ten years, since 2009 to be precise, when the last owner, Giuseppe Fogazzaro Roi, who didn't have any heirs, donated it to FAI. If you love Italian literature the surname Fogazzaro takes you immediately to a wonderful novel, Little Ancient World, written by Antonio Fogazzaro, who was Giuseppe's great uncle. I read it (and reread it a couple of times for good measure) when I was a teenager - few books manage to conjure up a landscape and a location like this novel. The title, Little Ancient World (PIccolo Mondo Antico) was chosen by its writer because, even in the 1890s, when he wrote the novel, this place appeared to him to belong to another and older age.

Giuseppe Fogazzaro, who was also a lawyer, set out in his will that the house should be left exactly as it was when he was living there. His jackets are therefore still hanging from a hook in the hallway, the small library has a coffee table with a bottle of spirit and a couple of glasses set out and the dining room is fully laid out ready for a dinner. Everywhere are wonderful antiques, precious books, ceramics and glassware. In fact, the house hasn't changed much from the 1890s when Antonio Fogazzaro wrote his novel and set it in this house and in Valsolda.

Giuseppe Fogazzaro, as well as a lawyer, was a collector so I suppose he added more art works such as the Russian icons collection in one of the bedrooms. Our guide was patient enough for me to translate everything into English for Ian, who consequently enjoyed the visit as much as me. One of the items that really struck us were the wrought iron chairs on a balcony. These chairs were still the originals the writer had used in the 1890s as old photographs on the wall showed. Amazingly, we were allowed to sit down on them and I have to say they were extremely comfortable - the guide informed us that they had been a very modern design for the 1890s and they had been given a patent.

Sitting there where generations of the Fogazzaro family had sat, and looking out at the peaceful and quiet lake and the mountains beyond, I thought how wonderful it is that modernity hasn't manage to spoil so many little ancient places in Italy. Maybe I should stop complaining about lack of signage and clear directions, because, it is perhaps thanks to those that we can enjoy such places in tranquillity.