We don’t want to say it, but we have to – “Ciao, Alba!” It’s time to move on. Today we’re going to drive northeast to Malpensa Airport – the big airport near Milan. We’ll stay at an airport hotel tonight, then catch a plane home in the morning. Spending the night at a hotel near the airport burns a day of travel-time, but we’ve found that it’s worth it in the long run.
The food in Italy has been amazing, but as always, it will be nice to get home and have the kind of cooking we were raised on. No, not burgers and fries. I’m talking chips and salsa, tacos, enchiladas, and rice and beans, of course. Ai carumba!
There’s one stop we want to make today on our way to the airport. We have a good friend, Giovanni, whose grandparents emigrated from a town in Piedmont. It’s a tiny little dot on the map, about 20 miles north of Turin. Giovanni’s never been there, so we thought it would be fun to stop, have a look around, and report back. The name of the town is Scarmagno. (“Scar-mahn-yo”).
Italy Becomes a Nation – The Hard Way
Massive emigration from Italy started in the late 19th century and lasted until World War I. Italy fought through THREE wars of independence during that century. All of that fighting took a huge toll. Changing to a completely new system of government was no picnic, either.
For hundreds of years, Italy had been under the feudal system. Everything changed after Italy became a nation/kingdom. It took time for new ways of property ownership to be worked out. Meanwhile, farmers lost land that had been theirs to work. They no longer had an incentive to farm, so agricultural production suffered.
Then a post-war population boom came at the worst possible time. The result was too many people and not enough food. Thousands of Italians, including Giovanni’s grandparents, emigrated to America and elsewhere, where they could find work and earn enough to send money home to the family.
Scarmagno
The drive through Piedmont is beautiful. We’re out of wine country now, but it’s still farming country, hilly and green. Instead of jumping onto the freeway, we decided to take a more scenic route. We drove past farms and fields, and through little farm towns where farmers were busy doing their farmer stuff. It didn’t take long for us to reach Scarmagno.
Scarmagno is tiny – just a few narrow streets lined with residential buildings. (Population: 855). The streets go for a few blocks, then stop, and that’s the end of town.
There’s a small town square, about the size of a small parking lot – in fact, it IS a small parking lot. The Scarmagno city hall is on the square, along with a church and an elementary school. The town looked lived in, but we didn’t see any people – just a really big dog that couldn’t wait to get a piece of me.
An Olivetti factory used to be located in Scarmagno. This whole area was Olivetti country. Its headquarters were in nearby Ivrea. Fifty years ago, Olivetti was on a roll. They were known for their typewriters, of course, but also for their design competence. Olivetti corporate buildings were always state-of-the-art.
Olivetti had a great run, not just in typewriters, but also in computers and consumer electronics, but little by little, it got swallowed up by competitors.
Good Time to Find an Autogrille
We said “good-bye” to Scarmagno and jumped onto the freeway. By this time we were hungry, so we stopped at the first Autogrille we came to. It was a really nice one.
Even though we were in the middle of nowhere, they had a big buffet set up where you could have your choice of quite a few different hot or cold items for lunch. And of course, there was a nice coffee bar where you can stand and have your espresso made to order.
In the non-food department, they had all kinds of travel stuff, car stuff, a section like a little pharmacy – everything you could ever think of related to travel. They’re always right at the end of a freeway off-ramp. Autogrilles should be world-wide.
Our hotel at Malpensa airport was designed for business travelers who want someplace clean and quiet, with a restaurant on-site. Nothing fancy, just the basics. That would do for us, too. Nothing to do now, but eat, sleep, and catch a plane home tomorrow.
To be continued…
