At the Istituto Italiano Scuola we believe that the Italian countryside is a paradise that offers opportunities to relax in the middle of nature, while tasting delicious local food and wines.  

And in fact, the countryside of Italy is scattered with picturesque places: noble villas with beautiful gardens, vacation farms called “agriturismo” where you can stuff yourself up with genuine and self-produced food, perched villages dominating hilly landscapes, and forests where to hike.  

We believe that if you’re not looking forward to the Italian countryside, you will surely miss a lot in your trips to Italy. It may not be as famous as the biggest tourists’ cities but, it sure has exquisite beauty that cities do not have.  

Voghera is an example of this. It is the main town of the Oltrepo’ Pavese, a geographical area in the province of Pavia that gets its name to its location, in the south of the Po River, the longest river in Italy. Voghera is the native town of our teacher Jimmy. Visitors approaching Voghera pass through an extensive region of cultivated countryside and an uninterrupted set of historic villages and castles, the atmosphere that you breathe here today is still medieval. 

From the interview below you can get some more interesting facts about this town. 

• What makes your city unique? 
  Voghera is a small town, with approximately 40 thousand citizens, but despite that is very renowned in Northern Italy as its geographic position makes it an important railroad junction. On top of that, Voghera is also known for being a wine and industrial center.  

• What are the hidden gems of your city?
  Voghera’s city center is characterized by buildings of historical interest such as churches and castles. Voghera’s most important and most significant church is the Duomo. The cathedral preserves inside gold brocades and precious furnishings. In addition, there are many fine sculptural and ancient pictorial works. Furthermore, very few people know that Voghera is the birthplace of the fashion designer Valentino. 

• What are the cultural traditions of your city?
  The city of Voghera holds its patronal festival, referred to as “La Sensia” (the name in the local dialect), which is the oldest event in Lombardy every year. In its early days, it was a very important moment of the year as it was an opportunity for people to meet foreigners and discover new products from faraway places. Originating as a large livestock market and later becoming primarily an agricultural fair, today it is one of the most modern fairs for those in the industry, as well as a city-wide celebration that hosts many food stands and an amusement park with different rides and rollercoasters. 

• What is a traditional dish of your city?
  The most traditional dish of Voghera is the “Zuppa di Voghera”. It is a cake prepared using two layers of sponge cake, which are later filled with pastry cream, custard, and coffee, then covered again with custard and decorated with chocolate. It might sound like a simple cake, but the traditional recipe is a secret that runs in the local families and with time this recipe was refined to the point that making the real traditional Zuppa di Voghera requires a long and elaborate process. Words can’t describe the taste of it, there’s only one way to discover its goodness and that’s trying it! 

Are you curious enough to plan a trip here? Our school believes that what Jimmy told us it’s the truly gem of an authentic educational experience in your Italian experience.  

At Istituto Italiano Scuola we believe that travel is a pure form of education because you learn another culture while having the full experience of it.  

Before traveling to another country, learn about its history, customs and some handy phrases and words to help you interact with the locals. But, more than that, a great way to get an authentic feel for the culture is to get in contact with someone who has visited the country before, or better yet, lived there. You can search on the Internet looking for everything you want to know about that country, but you can’t have the real sense of the country is.  

A native can give you an idea of the culture from a local’s perspective, useful advice, or where to find the “hidden gems” in the city, even though it could be a small town.  

There are famous cities in Italy, like Rome and Firenze, but let’s focus more on the countryside, those that better represent the Italian reality and culture.  

For these reasons, we interviewed our teacher, Barbara, to speak about Mondovì, her native town situated between Langhe hills and the foot of the Alps.  

• What makes Mondovì unique? 

Like many medieval towns, Mondovì’s old center is on top of a hill. From there, you can enjoy a unique view from the Ligurian Alps to the Matterhorn (called Cervino in Italian), at the border with Switzerland. 

•  What are the ‘hidden gems’ in your city? 

Mondovì is the Italian capital of hot air balloons. The microclimate of the area creates ideal conditions that allows the hot air balloons to fly safely and easily control landing. If you want to learn how to “drive” a hot air balloon, or if you want to enjoy a ride, come over to Mondovì the first week of January for the annual festival, that showcases balloons from all over the world. 

• What are the cultural traditions of your city? 

Every year in February, the ‘Moro’ and his court, ‘rules’ the town for the week of Carnival. Legend says that the captain of the Moors fell in love with the most beautiful lady of Mondovì and for this reason, he decided to save the town. Every year, for Carnival, the ‘Moro’ and the ‘Bela Monregaleisa’ parade in the streets of Mondovì followed by their court of musicians and ladies in waiting. 

• What is a traditional dish of your city? 

Mondovì is near the site of the University of Gastronomic Sciences, the birthplace of the Slow Food Movement. Typical dishes are ravioli al plin, bagna cauda, vitello tonnato, and raw meat with white truffle. There is a specific treat for Mondovì: “Monregalesi al rhum,” – chocolate candies filled with rhum. Delicious!  

Through the words of Barbara, you already get some interesting facts about Mondovì. But you can get more, going there and having the whole experience by yourself or with your family.   

Because we believe that language, travel, and social and cultural gatherings are the core of our experiential learning programs, you can’t miss the opportunity to go through realities like Mondovì.