Walk With Us! Volpedo to San Ponzo

Today we are in Piedmont, in a little town surrounded by the Tortonesi Hills, which are known for their DOC wines and stone fruits. I always like to start the day with a flat white coffee. We join a relaxed bunch of elderly locals in their morning coffee and catchup. They smile and give us a quizzical once over, that I am now very used to. The look is welcoming, but a little confused as to why we would be in this off-the-beaten-path little town.

Although this town is well known in Italy as the birthplace of the famous painter, Giuseppe Pellizza (1868–1907), it rarely gets English speaking tourists passing through. Pellizza is known for his distinctive Divisionist technique. His paintings often featured scenes of everyday life, landscapes, and social themes. His most notable work is “The Fourth Estate” (1898–1901).

It portrays a group of workers engaged in a strike. It has become a symbol for progressive and socialist causes in Italy and Europe. Jim and I have a copy of it hanging on the wall in our entranceway. We will take a stroll after our coffee to see the reproduction of The Fourth Estate” in the piazza of the same name.

Our walk starts by winding our way through this lovely little stone village. We make our way slightly uphill on a backroad surrounded by farmland until we reach what looks to be a tiny little chapel in the middle of nowhere. This little chapel is called the Sanctuary of the Madonna della Fogliata, and it has a special significance for pilgrims and Saint Don Orione, who is legendary in this area.

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Breathtaking colors of our planet
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Faces of Humanity

Portraits of people from around the globe
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Sands of Time

Stark beauty of desolate dunes
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Beyond Boundaries

Visual odyssey across continents
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Our lunch destination is the small spa town of Rivanazzano, where we eat and also indulge in the thermal waters of the town spa. We wind our way downhill along a gravel path through fields of lucerne and barley. The views stretch on for miles with nobody else around. It is relaxing and idyllic. We cross back over the border into Lombardy before we reach the town of Rivanazzano. Lunch is accompanied by an espresso and followed up by a delicious gelato.

For more than 100 years the Rivanazzano spa has offered its visitors therapeutic benefits, thanks to the healing properties of its waters. This spa is among only a very few to have two different water sources: Salsobromoiodine water (anti-inflammatory / antiseptic) and Sulphurous water (respiratory system diseases / allergies).

It is very relaxing and casual here, with both the staff and other customers welcoming us to the facility. Spa-goers receive a kit with a bathrobe, slippers, towel, and cap. We spend our time doing a relaxing circuit of the thermal pool with a nice massage by an artificial waterfall system, then onto a system of underwater jets. Then we’re in and out of the cold plunge pool circuit and off to the Turkish bath and a Finnish sauna, with much relief after that blast of heat into the refreshing atomised water shower. We’re keenly assisted by a sweet young woman who speaks both English and Italian.

If you choose not to do the Spa, you can always find a nice quiet spot in the park to relax, or explore the town of Rivanazzano, before we head off on our walk again. The last stretch of 14km is along the flat valley floor of the Oltrepo using the new Greenway, which is a shared cycle-pedestrian pathway that winds through fields, vineyards, and small woodlands, following the old route of the Voghera Varzi railway. Spring and early summer see the landscape flourish with greenery of every imaginable shade. There are layers upon layers of grasses, vines, shrubs, and trees that spring back with vigour from a dormant cold winter. We’re now in the foothills of the Apennine Mountain range. The hills are covered in chestnut forests, small vineyards, orchards, and forage crops on the valley floor. We pass through several small, quiet towns on our way to San Ponzo Semola where Jim will be waiting to pick us up and take us back to our accommodation in Varzi for a well-deserved rest.