Week 3-4

Length of stay: 14 nights + 2 nights

Accommodations: Apartment in Brusaporto + Apartment at La Cena di Pitagora in Ponte Nizza

Travel Time: by rental car from Lucca about 3.5 hours with stops

Goal: Explore vegan spots

Family Friendly: ★★★★ + ★★★

If you are all caught up with part 1 of Northern Italy, you know we loved our time in nature so much we had to dedicate a whole post to it. The same can be said for the food and people we met, so here is a post dedicated to two stand-out vegan experiences that were unexpected and far exceeded our expectations. We really just loved Northern Italy, I can’t say it enough nice stuff about these folks. Whatever you need to do to save this info, pin it, tag it, write it down, tattoo it on your arm….save it!

Nona Nini Vegan Home Restaurant

A happy accident brought us to this wonderful place outside of Bergamo, about 20 minutes. I thought Nona Nini was a restaurant and I reached out via Facebook to make a reservation only to be informed they only do events! We were invited to join a private event, but had miscommunication regarding “the Friday” and “next Friday”. With that misunderstanding, we were then invited to have brunch with the owners that week.

A lovely drive wove us through some farmland, and in front of the cutest house. We were warmly greeted by one of the owners, Marco, and quickly introduced to their friends and the wonderful spread they prepared for us. It was so above and beyond. We couldn’t believe strangers would go so out of their way for us. These folks can cook! Allessandra is the chef and Marco is the Pizza Maker and together, magic happens! It was one of our favorite afternoons in Italy, chatting and eating incredible food. It was also the first day things began to feel calm and normal for us, like, we left! For real! Yesterday marked our six-week-away mark. Time is flying!

If you are around when they are having something, we highly suggest carving out time to go here. We can’t wait to one day collaborate with them on something fun!

La cena di Pitagora Locanda vegana

It’s part restaurant, part bed & breakfast. It’s in the middle of Ponte Nizza. We didn’t know what we were in for, but we were charmed the second we showed up. A village of 100 residents, in the middle of farmland. It was a fantastic and short drive from Bergamo. Parking was super simple, and from there you must go on foot up to the gate of La Cena Di Pitagora. You will be taken back in time instantly. It was such a cool experience to be in such an old village that hasn’t been touched by modern hands too heavily. The stone roads and buildings are mostly all refurbished with a few empty one’s that made us wonder if we could live in the middle of this farm community. We found out, of the 100 residents, two weren’t born there. All were from Italy. I imagine we wouldn’t be well received, but we can dream.

Once inside La Cena Di Pitagora, imagine yourself in a garden filled with lots of birds and bees, and of course, flowers. The loose pebble ground is also home to the owner’s cats and dogs, which sweetly greet you as you come and go. On the grounds are two apartments, the owners home, and a fully vegan restaurant. When you stay (for about $90 USD per nights), a full vegan breakfast is included. We opted to have dinner made both nights we were there. That was an additional 23 Euro for Joey and I and 10 Euro for Atlas. It’s a four course meal, and both nights were epic.

The owners are kind and sweet, and very gifted at what they do! Just reach out to them if you are thinking of heading out that way, and they will take good care of you. I would consider this more of a romantic escape than a family friendly event, but Atlas faired well and enjoyed exploring just as much as we did. Finding a river close by to throw stones was a highlight from our two night stay beyond the food.