When, after two hours climbing for an impassable path, we finally sighted Codera, the small village perched in the homonymous valley in the heart of the Lombard Alps, we felt like Bedouins sighting an oasis in the middle of the desert: uncertain whether it was a mirage or not.
The main event around which our blitz in Milan was organized was Sara and Tommy’s wedding. As two true mountaineers, Sara and Tommy decided to get married in val Codera, one of the few valleys in Italy that is (still) not accessible by car. The only way to reach Codera is through an ‘easy trail’, as it was described in the wedding card we received a few months ago. Fabulous - we thought - we love hiking!
Little we knew what was expecting us. The approach march revealed itself closer to a Himalayan ascent (or, better, to a ‘via crucis’) than to a Sunday hike. Steep. Very steep. And made even harder by the summer sun that was beating down and by swarms of ‘tiger mosquitoes*’ that attacked us every time we slowed down our pace (let alone stopping), thus preventing us from resting even a single minute on our way up. The only (partial) comfort was - every time we met other guests on the trail that, like us, were spitting blood and sweat - to curse together the soon-to-be-married, and imagine together the cruelest ways we could have taken revenge on them…
(*) Do try to recollect what you know about mosquitoes. What comes to your memory? That mosquitoes attack at dusk and at the sunset only? That mosquitoes live and reproduce in wetlands? That mosquitoes do not live in mountain or in altitude? Not the ‘tiger mosquitoes’, the last evolution of the species. Tiger mosquitoes are active 24/7, they don’t need wetlands to reproduce, and - I promise - you can find plenty of them in the mountains…
The ceremony, celebrated in the beautiful church of the village, has been simple and nice. With only one moment of panic (at least, as far as I am concerned): when I was called to read one of the readings chosen by the bridegroom for the ceremony. As an experienced presenter on the night of the Global Awards I went to the lectern, I opened the paper that I had farsightedly printed and kept in the pocket of my jacket with studied confidence, and started reading. But when I reached more or less half of the reading, I realized that the line where the paper had been folded was unreadable: completely deleted!!! Panic**!!!…
The celebrations continued at the refuge of the village, where, sit on benches out on a meadow, under the shade of a big tree***, we were served a true lunch from Valtellina. Only those who had at least once a true ‘Valtellinian’ meal in their life know what I am talking about. I can just tell you that we stood up after four hours, more prone to roll than to walk…
After the lunch, the guests started little by little to descend. Only 13 diehards (including the newlyweds and - of course - us) decided to stay and spend the night at the refuge.
(**) How did I get out of trouble? With seeming nonchalance I mumbled something, I quickly looked around to check whether anyone was somewhat puzzled, and once I realized that my stammering passed unnoticed, I continued as nothing happened…
(***) We'll post the pictures of the wedding in the next couple of days.
The following morning, after a true Valtellinian breakfast, 7 of the diehards (see picture above) decided to clear the scum of the previous day by walking to the next refuge: il Rifugio Brasca.
A nice hike, in the wonerful scenary of the Alps. However, if the objective of the walk was to clear our body from the scum of the previous day, we miserably failed. At our arrival at the Rifugio Brasca in fact there were huge plates of ‘polenta taragna’, goatling, sausages, and cheeses waiting for us.
How could have we refused…
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