You have never heard of Solto Collina. You most likely will never meet a person from there. If you were Italian and lived in Milan or maybe, Venice and you wanted to get away from the city during the Spring and Summer, you might go to Lake Iseo.
One of the villages that you might see towards the distant north-side of the lake, on the side of a mountain, would be Solto Collina. Lisa and Douglas stayed at an Airbnb in this village when needing a place to stay to see Christo’s Floating Piers. We think this place is the next Lake Como- still affordable and feels like a ‘thin’ zone on this planet. Thin zones are places in our world that feel spiritual and help us expand our hearts and souls. Lisa thinks New Orleans, Hawaii and Bali are ‘thin’ zones and Douglas thinks Enchanted Rock, Laos, Aituki. Lake Iseo is our new ‘thin’ zone.
Airbnb’s live in the realm of promises. Maybe the Airbnb promise is of trying to save money, or maybe the promise is to stay in a place that is closer to the culture of an area. Or maybe the promise is to meet the locals and not just hotel staff, or maybe the promise is just limited options. The promise might be a full kitchen so you can prepare your own meals. Sometimes these promises are met and kept and sometimes they aren’t. Sometimes the AirBnB is a five star stay with two star location, and others are a 5 star location, but a bit more rustic.
As with buying property, when choosing an Airbnb, believe in location, location, location. This brings us full circle to staying in Solto Collina where we found Marco’s Airbnb. It is doubtful we would ever meet a man whose family has owned a good sized hunk of land on the side of a mountain overlooking Lake Iseo. A place where there are 3 stone homes that have been used by various parents, grand parents and great grand parents through the years. Below are photos of the home we had to ourselves, the views in several directions, the hiking path to the mountain chapel. A promise met and kept.
Did we mention that Lake Iseo and the majestic alpine foothills may have inspired the background for the Mona Lisa?
