There’s nothing quite like the weekly market in a small Italian village.  Larger towns and big cities have permanent covered markets and modern supermarkets, but that is not the case for many of the small towns.  In those villages, the weekly market is essential. Even better if the market comes with a view of Lake Como!

Argegno, on the western shore of Lake Como, is a good example of a weekly small town market.  Argegno is small, with only around 700 permanent residents. In the summers the number increases with summer residents and lots of visitors.  There is only one tiny alimentari (grocery) which sits just off Piazza Roma in the center of town.  The alimentari is the place to pick up essential supplies – cheese, packaged prosciutto and salami, eggs, milk, wine, bottled water, ground coffee (but nothing as fancy as pods for the nespresso machine).  In the mornings you’ll find fresh bread from a nearby bakery.  There’s also a small selection of household products.  But there are no fresh meats, fish, vegetables, or fruits.  

Argegno also has a small mini-mart.  I found some frozen chicken thighs there and a limited selection of fresh vegetables along with small sized bottles of olive oil and vinegar. So, while I had lofty plans for cooking in the Airbnb apartment where my friend and I were staying, I found that buying fresh ingredients would have to wait until Monday when the market came to town.  Those first few days we muddled through with eating out (no complaints, the town has fabulous restaurants and it was really too hot to cook) and light meals “at home” of cheese and prosciutto.  It took a trip down to Como, about 30 minutes away, to find the capsules for the Nespresso machine, another essential. With 90+ degrees and high humidity in late August, making iced coffee in the apartment was a life-saver as we spent afternoons inside to escape the heat.

 As in so many little villages, the weekly market sees a fleet of vans setting up temporary shop in a piazza, along a street, or in a parking lot.  In Argegno the market is across the street from Piazza Roma, down near the small boat harbor next to Bar Il Porto, a good place for a post-market coffee.  It’s nice to be able to look out over Lake Como after a turn around the market and Bar Il Porto offers fabulous views.

 Argegno’s market is typical – a combination of fresh fruits and vegetables, a wide variety of cheeses and salumi, and the tantalizing aroma of chickens and pork roasting on the spit.  The market was the place to find salad ingredients - deep green and red heads of lettuce, perfectly ripe tomatoes, a red onion.  Two small zucchini with flowers came home with me for a frittata the next day.  We asked the fruit vendor for peaches pronto per domani o dopodomani (ready for tomorrow or the next day), trusting him to pick them for us.  And boy did he come through!  We had two of the juiciest, sweetest, most perfectly ripe peaches exactly as requested - “the day after tomorrow”.  A roasted chicken also went into our shopping bag, half for a salad that day and some saved for a later time. 

 In addition to food, most weekly markets have an assortment of other items, a sort of “Walmart on wheels”.   In Argegno there were dresses, shoes and socks, underwear, bracelets, hats, and purses.  The next day the market moved up to the town of Lenno, where it was even larger. The Tuesday Lenno market had housewares and garden plants in addition to the things found in Argegno.  That’s where I was able to buy an umbrella, something that came in very handy when the storms rolled in a few days later. I love markets wherever I travel, but taking a boat across beautiful Lake Como to reach the market in Lenno made that market even more special.

My previous visits to Argegno have all been brief, no more than 3 or 4 days, all spent in Hotel Villa Belvedere.  This visit was my first long stay, 2 weeks.  That gave me the chance to shop the markets in Argegno and Lenno, do some cooking in the Airbnb kitchen, and experience a little of what life would be like living in one of the most gorgeous places on earth. As wonderful as being spoiled at a nice hotel is, having a kitchen and a chance to use some of the freshest produce and wonderful meats and cheeses was pretty nice too. And the hotel Belvedere was just around the corner for an occasional aperitivo (hint: the Belvedere makes a really good Cosmopolitan, served with a view of the lake).