The route from Italy's most vibrant and wealthy city, Milan, to the ghost village of Consonno in the upper Brianza, takes in ten gems worth pausing at — to eat, to take a photograph, or even to do some shopping.
The giant chair is a contemporary art installation that emerges in the middle of a clearing. It was installed behind Villa Mirabello to mark the 200th anniversary of the Parco di Monza in 2005, right in the heart of a meadow, as a metaphor for the writer's solitude — and indeed the artist Giancarlo Neri titled it precisely "Lo scrittore" (The Writer). The chair is 10 metres tall, the table 7.5 metres tall and 11 metres long. One more reason to take a stroll through the glorious park, so close to Milan. We often forget how beautiful it is and how many surprises it holds. You can also hire bikes at the main entrance, the one next to the Villa Reale.
On the SS36 there is a deadly and dangerous bend, well known to law enforcement and notorious among hundreds of motorists. Emerging from it alive, a little further on you reach the splendid Rossini Art Site. An open-air museum and a lovely green space to spend time in, it is a sculpture park suitable for families too: children can play outdoors among the installations while adults discover the works spread across the grounds and along a set route. The park brings together all the names that matter in modern art, from Consagra to Munari, from Pomodoro to Melotti, and then Cascella, Cesar, Arman and many more. The entrance structure is also the work of a celebrated name — New York's Wines. An unconventional experience, highly recommended, to be enjoyed in the heart of the Parco della Valle del Lambro.
It is one of the few mills still in working order along the course of the Lambro, and it has a long history behind it. The earliest historical documents mentioning it date back to the 1400s. The mill is set within a rural hamlet — that is, a cluster of ancient buildings constructed beside a channel drawn from the river. The wheels, in perfect condition, are able to set the mill's mechanisms in motion. It houses a small museum. On the ground floor is the grinding room, flanked by storage spaces; on the upper floor, where the miller's quarters once were, the cooperative now has its offices. The diversion channel, the small bridge and the two large wheels are all worth photographing.
What a wonder this small village is — Canonica, which is in fact a single road, a street, along which the entire vitality of local history is condensed into a sort of pocket guide: the ancient Villa Taverna, the stately restaurant, the little lanes through verdant parks to be discovered along the paths leading down below, the ice cream shop at the far end, and above all, among the row of ancient buildings, a couple of venues worth noting. Chief among them is l'Antigua, which for years has welcomed guests at its outdoor tables or in its varied interior rooms. Appearances match reality: a 1400s building with a brick vault, a warm and welcoming atmosphere that always feels thoroughly contemporary. Easy vegetarian options available.
Leaving the car in the car park on via Diaz, there is an easy 3 km route through a lovely pine forest that, before the post-war period, was a wheat field. To encourage visitors of the Bosco del Chignolo to walk a little further, twelve stations have been created, each named after a sign of the zodiac and each featuring an instalment of a serialised fairy tale. Perfect for a walk with the dog, the 12 hectares of woodland form part of a larger and naturalistically valuable area, the SIC of the Rio Cantalupo (an integral part of the Parco Valle del Lambro). This, together with the Rio Pegorino SIC, is one of only two Sites of Community Importance in the Province of Monza and Brianza.
There is a green hollow, a magical atmosphere, an indescribably peaceful and blissful place. At the heart of this verdant basin stood a crumbling, disused farmhouse that was taken over fifteen years ago by a nobleman and entrepreneur, Gaetano Besana, and restored and brought back to life. Today, alongside a few dwellings, there is a charming organic agriturismo, a trattoria where one absolutely must stop, and a green area where courses are held on cultivating ancient orchards and growing vegetables — organic, naturally. It is also a Wwf oasis. Even all the small roads in the surrounding area, leading up to it, are magnificent, threading through the magical greenery of the Curone, with gently rolling landscapes, soft colours and sensations truly beyond time.
Lake Pusiano is one of the most beautiful stretches of water in the Brianza. The first to write about it was Gaius Pliny the Elder, and many others subsequently described the lake's particular beauty. On one shore in the mid-18th century the poet Giuseppe Parini wrote of "my vague Eupili", on the other in the 19th century the painter Giovanni Segantini painted his Ave Maria a trasbordo. Two shores, two centuries, two arts — poetry and painting — to capture the atmosphere of Lake Pusiano (the Latin Eupili) which, when the sky reddens at sunset, is a pure enchantment. You can walk around it in a loop, even if the cycle path does not encircle it completely; you can sail on the electric eco-boat from the landing stage at Bosisio; and you can stop at one of the excellent restaurants overlooking the lake — above all the Hostaria Ellera, with an unforgettable veranda among tree branches and views over the little cypress island, and Negri, celebrated for its fish (though bear in mind that vegetarians will find little more than bread and pickles here). A bar not to be missed, for its food, garden, atmosphere, sake-based cocktails, hospitality and abundance of inspirations, spaces and flavours: l'Eupili.
Flagging up a supermarket as a photo opportunity may seem unusual, but it isn't when you consider these three peculiarities. One, it is open 24 hours a day, so if the fancy for a small jar of olives strikes at two in the morning, you can always find one here. And the atmosphere around a supermarket at night in the silent Brianza night is surreal and faintly subversive. Two, the little bar tucked inside the building serves organic coffee and cappuccino. Three, it was the supermarket where Lucio Battisti used to do his shopping.
The recommended route to reach Colle Brianza is via the junction between Molteno, Oggiono and Bosisio. From there you climb a little, pass through a small cluster of a couple of villages, and arrive at Colle Brianza. The Caffè del Colle is a small corner bar on a little square, but it has something captivating about it, a mysterious tingle that only makes sense when you look at the map. It is the last café before nothing: in the whole area beyond there is neither a restaurant worthy of the name, nor another refreshment stop as pleasant as this one. So here you get a taste of the charm of the outpost, something akin to the feeling of western films. Indeed, cyclists and motorcyclists occasionally crowd in, knowing that here they will find one last rest stop. Along with a couple of smiles from Erika Sala, the irrepressible manager of the place. If you happen to be there in the evening, the advice afterwards is to make your way along the little road towards the cemeteries, both of Colle Brianza and of San Genesio, because the darkness of the narrow lanes throws into relief the view of the valley full of little lights, street lamps and houses in the distance — a very evocative sight.