;)) I will post some pictures when I get the chance. Pictures of figs, that is.

Edit:
I've changed the title from "Greetings From Campione D'Italia" to the above now that I am back so that the thread will reflect a broader view of the trip. 
I will be posting plenty of pictures and hope to use this thread as a journal or archive of the vacation.

Below: Mykonos

 

Wait!!!  You forgot to bring me along!

Well, have fun anyway  :)

Have fun, your figs have been tasting pretty darn good while you have been gone. When did you say you are getting back??? I will give you updates, lol. Post those photos, I can't wait to see them.

arrivederci e buon viaggio!

Waiting to see what figs you discovered:)

Suspense.

Enjoy every second Frank. I am most jealous, I love it there...and fig trees are everywhere.
Cheers

I hope you get over to Pomona.

Greetings man!

Have a great time Frank, send those photos.

Campione .... means "sample" in Italian and that it is!  Enjoy the mountains!

Frank,
Enjoy and be well.

Campione d'Italia is such a great and historic place to be at. Enjoy!

Thanks, all. Having problems with wifi but would love to post pictures of the most incredible fig find ever. This fig blows all the others I have tried right out of the water' Anyone know an easy way of resizing photos on the iPhone to less than a megabyte so they can be posted?

Frank, others will know more but have you tried texting the image to yourself?  I read elsewhere on the forum that the image gets reduced down to a reasonable size by doing this - good luck.  Would love to hear/see more about what you found.

Email me the photo and I'll post it for you.  Plus mail me some figs!  :)

If all else fails, we are patient and can wait until you return, I am sure it will be worth the wait. Have fun and take some great photos!

Hope you're having fun.  On iphone pull up photos, hit edit on top right corner.  Then hit the crop symbol on far right bottom.  If you hit it - it will say "crop photo".  Any minor change will be enough.  Click crop on top right and then save and that's it.  Keep in mind that permanently changes saved photo though.  The most minimal change will re-size it below 1mb.  At least it's worked for me.  

Thanks, here goes.

Wow, looks great, what beautiful color.  I'll text you my address!

All kidding aside, I wonder what the difference will be when it is uncaprified.

Frank, the shot of the tree seems to show dark fruit while the close-ups of the fruit shows a green fig. Are they two different varieties?  The green one does look fantastic!

Nice Frank, really nice, keep them coming.

Frank, does that name have a formal variety name there?

I mixed up photos from the the dark variety of the tree from Campione with the green fig from Ponte Tresa. My bad. George Clooney is in the area and I'm going to go ahead and blame him for the mix up. Hee-Hee. Anyway, I'm pretty sure there is no wasp in Switzerland due to the cold winters. And Harvey, I have no idea if this fig is a named fig. All I know is that I would put this against anything I've ever tasted before. It has a lemony zing just before its full fig flavor hits the palate like a semi. My wife and the others were blown away by it. I will try and post some more photos when I get a chance.

Frank, did you find the Swiss fig as fruit in a market or growing on a tree in Ponte Tresa?  Presumably the latter since you seem confident of where it came from. Anyway, I think you know where I am going with this...

Heck with posting...smuggle in some cuttings:)

Wow, if you found a great tasting fig in the ground in Switzerland, that would be one heck of a find!!!
Have a great trip and be careful!

I'd mail cuttings from Italy in small envelopes to yourself and about 100 of your best friends, some should get thru :)

Steve, I know exactly where you are going with that. Ed, shhh! Wills, bite your tongue. Thanks, Gregg, Wayne. The tree was a block away from a gas station we stopped at right on a Lake Lugano. It did not seem to belong to anyone in particular, so I helped myself. Serendipity at work. The Lake Maggiore and Lake Como areas do not seem to be as fecund so far. We still have the Veneto area, the Greek mainland and three of its islands to mine before the trip is done. All this incredible beauty and figs too!! Life is good.

Shes a beauty and looks like raspberry jam

Frank, I've heard the Lake Lugano area is one of the most beautiful places on earth.  I lived in Geneva from 2002-03 but unfortunately never made it across the alps to visit that area.  I wasn't into figs then so if I visited now I would definitely be on the lookout for interesting varieties like the one you found.

Another great day in Northern Italy's lake region. Found a good looking tree in Stresa but could not sample the wares. Toured Lake Como and viewed Clooney's villa from afar.

Steve, the Lake Lugano region is incredibly beautiful. We even took a day trip to the Bernina Pass in the San Moritz area last week that knocked our socks off. You were lucky to have lived in the region.

Enjoy your travels but keep us posted when you can.

That fig looks incredible.  Great photo's!

Wow Frank, the second picture in that set is one of the prettiest fig pictures I have seen. You are lucky to be having such an experience. Good to hear the taste is as good as it looks. Perhaps it is so good because it is pollinated? It would be great if it could be grown here in the States without need for the wasp. Mike in Hanover, VA

Really nice Frank, and thanks for sharing your trip and fig sampling adventures with us! Safe travels.

Mykonos.....jackpot!!!
More to come

Sounds like you might be having too much fun, don't you go moving on us Frank. 

Have fun Frank!  Take some videos for future family history!

Today we toured Olympia, site of the ancient OIlympics. Just outside the site at a rest-stop,,, big tree with big green figs with red flesh. Took photos and tasted one but having trouble attaching picture due to poor internet connection sitting at a seaside cafe sipping espresso. It had a rich flavor.

Somewhat disappointed in what I've seen of the Greek fig trees so far. Many have already lost their leaves and there are 100's of green figs still speckling the trees that will never.ripen. Why?
I am looking at one right now just a few feet from me as I post this and it has finger like leaves, many of which are withered and falling from ??fig rust?? In Greece. Why?
The tips of the branches are healthy and showing new growth with many immature figs which will never ripen.

Anyway, Venice and Padova in 2 days for new fig adventures. Then back home. Sigh.

Wow, sounds like a dream vacation!  Thanks for the updates.  Maybe some of our Greek fig friends can chime in on what you observed.

Keep the photos and posts coming, I will PM you when you get home to get info on the tour. Since I am retired and doing the traveling thing, this sounds like a winner.

One more great fortuitous find! This one is located a few hundred yards from the Piazza Roma train station in Venice, very close to the Grand Canal. It is a huge healthy shade tree with benches underneath for weary tourists to sit and rest. I managed to pull a half ripe fig off the tree and opened it up to find a deep reddish colored flesh.
I think it might be. a Broggiotto Nero,

Wayne, I would highly recommend this fig tour to all fig lovers,

Air France pilots have gone on strike and our return flight may be in jeopardy. Let's hope so. ;))

Frank, the little green figs in Greece may be the Profichi crop of a caprifig.  The figs in the photos look terrific.  Please add me to your list.  I'm sure you got at least 10,000 pieces to give away and I'm #3,028 on the list.   ;)

Nice

Ok, we just got back and I am happy to report that this vacation could not have gone any better. I changed the name of the thread as I plan on adding more pictures and using it as an archive of the trip.

Fig spotting can be great fun while traveling even for those who have no particular interest in figs. More to come....

hi Frank
i just found this topic...
you ware just an hour drive from me and i didnt know it. (olympia is less than 1 hour from patras)
i would have made your trip to greece one to remember...
any way 
i am glad you had fun.!!!

Glad you made it back ok.  sounds like a wonderful trip!

Hey Frank, can't wait to see those photos (even the non-fig ones). :)

Frank, maybe your photos will be enough to convince my wife to go on a european fig tour as well, even though she's not particularly fond of figs!

Welcome back Frank!

Welcome home.  Its always bittersweet after returning from an epic trip like that, eh?

Sounds and looks great. It is good to hear about your trip.

Welcome back!!! What a trip!! The green Swiss fig looks fantastic. If anyone wants another lead on fig hunting in northern Italy... Cinque Terre had a good number of fig trees when I visited, I think particularly Manarola had a good number if I remember right :)

[QUOTE=andreas]hi Frank
i just found this topic...
you ware just an hour drive from me and i didnt know it. (olympia is less than 1 hour from patras)
i would have made your trip to greece one to remember...
any way 
i am glad you had fun.!!![/QUOTE]

Andreas, had I only known!! Regardless, I met some really friendly people in Greece during our short stay and have great memories to take home.

Thanks everyone for your comments. Still a little jet-lagged but ready to start posting some pictures.
First one is of a huge fig tree in Mykonos situated at a seaside restaurant's property. Imagine sitting under this tree, looking out into the deep blue Mediterranean Sea, sipping a little ouzo. It was a nice moment. 

    


Windmills of Mykonos were a little further out on the island.


     

Nice trip Frank, thanks for the info, I may use the same tour agent next year.

European Diary of “Significant” Figs:

 This will not mean much to anyone except me as part of the journal I am keeping.

1. Monte Bre - Lugano Switzerland. Tallest point in Lugano where you can view the surrounding area including the snow capped Alps, especially MountRosa.

-foot of the Funiculare large unripe with red flesh. May be black if similar to tree spotted half way up the mountain but not accessible

2. Campione D'Italia – Italian territory completely inside Switzerland on LakeLugano

-opposite the old mausoleum and chruch medium black very tasty red vermillion flesh

3. Ponte Tresa - Switzerland less than a mile from Italian border,

-Large tree on shoreline near gas station and chocolate factory we had visited earlier

-figs best in the world!!! Bright green outside - vermillion flesh. See pics

4. Stresa –  Lake Maggiore  Italy

-medium sized black figs up on hillside within villa area

5, Corfu – GreekIsland with Venetian influence across from TarantoItaly

- Large tree near the New Fortress wall ?color and quality unknown

6, Santorini - GreekIsland in a dusty parking lot from a big tree, dust on leaves with some green unripe figs present

7, Mykonos -  GreekIsland

A. Belvedere Hotel - purple figs early. Spoke to hotel worker next door

B. Large white fig as per same hotel worker just down the little lane

C. Taverna Antonin- big dark fig still on tree. Hard to get to

D. Black fig near motorcycle rental place up from outdoor taverna with huge fig tree (picture)

8. Olympia –Mainland Greece

A. Within Ancient Olympian ruins

B. near Olympia souvenir place

C. Port Katakolon from on seashore cafe. Nice ladies told me salt air impeded figs  from maturing, bet were green in color

9. VeniceItaly

-train station near canal-medium large black fig possibly Brogiotto Nero

10.  Padova Italy

A. Pontecorvo. Restaurant  below

B. near Ponte  Corvo  Via Ravignana and Vicolo Santonini green fig with red     flesh

Pictures from the Campione D'Italia fig tree.

The last photo is from our balcony.


                   

Nice photos Frank, thanks a bunch.

Thanks for the report, Frank, what a great time.  I'm jealous.  Maybe some day my son will be done with schooling and chose to run the farm and my wife and I can escape!

Just to be clear, are the photos in post #18 the one of the Ponte Tresa fig?  Too much sun is making it easy for me to get confused, I guess. :)  Please add me to the list for cuttings! LOL

Harvey, yes #18 is the fig from Ponte Tresa and what a fig it was.

I am not allowed to discuss cuttings but I can talk about mule  s h i t  though...

If anyone has been to Santorini, they will know that the only way to get to the top of the town is either by cable car or by riding on the back of a mule. The mules go up and down the paved pathway of 600 steps all day long, doing what mules do along the way. (We did not ride them due to the obvious cruelty these animals face - especially in view of the super-sized nature of American and German tourists)

Anyway, we did walk down the pathway in the twilight hours, taking almost an hour to do so. On the way down, to no one's surprise, we picked up a plentiful supply of the local color.

Furthermore, Europeans love their dogs. I know this because of the evidence shewn on sidewalks and streets.

We also visited a lot of areas with fig trees. Some of these trees had ripe fruit which we tasted. Some had fallen to the ground and rotted. Some of these got swished into the treads of our walking shoes as we carefully avoided taking cuttings.  

Just saying....


 

Great post and photos Frank thanks! How long was your vacation for? Sounds like it wasn't a quickie--you got a lot of awesome stuff done :).

Thanks for sharing your vacation. Looks awesome. Finding the best fig in the world... Priceless. :) Ad me to the list for mule poop too if it isnt full yet. :).. Makes great fertilizer.
Italy is high on my places to visit in the next couple of years. Trying to get the whole family to go. Of course they all think I'm strange wanting to plan a trip around fig harvest time .

Ponte Tresa Green Fig


                         

Oh man... why'd you have to go and do that. I need a bowl of those figs :). They are gorgeous and look so delicious. 

Feasting with my eyes wide open.
Glad you had an eventful trip and made it home with wonderful memories and are sharing with us. Thank you!

Yup, that fig has penetrated my soul and changed my life. If there is anyone planning a trip to the Lugano area, please let me know and I will give you the coordinates to that tree, so your life can be divinely blessed as well. ;))



Jeff, it was the longest vacation I've had since my University days:

One week in Campione D'Italia/Lugano area.
One week in the Lake Maggiore/Come/Venice area
One week in Greece (Islands and mainland)

Wonderful trip Frank and thanks for sharing your fig experience!

How do you compare the taste difference from the figs you tasted there to your own figs in Florida?  

Wow! What deep colored red flesh, YUM! I bet those greens could compete with any dark skinned figs. Thanks Frank.

Wow that Monte tresa is absolutely stunning. I may have to spend September in Italy next year. Any idea if they have an earlier crop or breba crop?

Welcome home!

@ Frank
you never gave me a chance to show you what greek figs are all about...

 

 
next time... ;-))

Frank,
Thanks for sharing your wonderful experiences and lovely photos.

Monte Tessa Green Fig...Wow!
I know Frank. I know. There is another thing I know. We will talk about that when I see you.

Nice Nice Nice

Wow!  That Monte Tresa fig is stunning.

I know what you mean about being too big for the mules.  Even on one mission trip to Nicaragua I felt very bad for the small horses we rode atop.  It rained heavily later on and on the way down from this very poor settlement I did not trust the horses to carry my weight without falling so most of us walked down on foot and we all got very muddy.  At least it was only mud.

 That fig is what dreams are made from.  What an experience. The perfect vacation. 

Frank
Great thread, I'm loving your photos and hankering to get back to Italy and Greece.
Keep them coming

Beautiful pics, Frank.  Thanks for sharing with us.  Sounds like you had an incredible vacation.

Did the rest of the family enjoy the fig part of the trip as much as you?

@Pino - Aside from the Ponte Tresa fig, the others I tasted were pretty much in line with my Florida figs. Most were not fully ripened.

@Jeff - I don't know about brebas or other details regarding this tree. I must have spent a total of 5 minutes with it. The rest of my travel companions were waiting for me at the gas (BTW, it cost over 100 euros to fill up a compact car's gas tank !!)

@Andreas - next time I am in Greece, I know who I will call. Same goes for you if you are ever in Florida. That is a very nice looking fig you posted.

@Ed - yes, the vacation could not have gone better. The fig hunting part of the trip actually made for a great time for the rest of the vacationers as well(wife and a female couple). I can tell you that everyone was blown away by the Ponte Tresa fig, even the one member who had never tasted a fig other than a fig Newton.

One of my favorite activities while traveling is to visit the local open markets. We truly lucked out when we happened on a little town on the Eastern shore of Lake Maggiore called Luino. Every Wednesday they hold a huge open air market selling everything under the sun and people visit from miles around. The market covers the entire downtown area near the lake shore and it becomes so congested that it is almost impossible to go from stall to stall. Anyway here are some pictures of figs from the Luino Market as well as some from a Como market.                    

That market looks amazing. One of my favorite things to do when I travel is find those as well. For some reason they always seem better in other countries.

My daughter also loves figs so shes already signed up for this adventure for next year. I may be able to get my brother to join us as well. If not looks like just me her and her BF.. Time to go learn Italian. :).

[QUOTE]From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Monte Brè (925 m) is a small mountain east of Lugano on the flank of Monte Boglia (1,516 m) with a view of the bay of Lugano and the Pennine Alps and the Bernese Alps. It is considered one of the sunniest points in Switzerland.

Since 1912, the Monte Brè funicular has led from Lugano Cassarate to Monte Brè.[/QUOTE]

Here I am sticking my nose where it shouldn't be again.
         

Wow, thanks so much for sharing this with us!

Frank, your nose is exactly where a fig hobbyist's nose should be.

Epic!

What a great trip!  I've been following along in this thread for a while... I'm glad you had such a great trip, Frank!  Nice photos too, and a great fig diary.

Mike   central NY state, zone 5a

Again, I thank all of you for your comments and good wishes. I am glad you are enjoying the pictures.

Mike, every couple of years we like to take an "epic" trip like this to clear the cob webs and to recharge. The previous trip was to Ecuador and the one before that was on the infamous  Costa Concordia (before it went down). A common thread has always been figs. Time-wise, fig-spotting is only a small part of the vacation but it seems to supercharge the experience...creating indelible memories as well as other concrete benefits that last a lifetime. 

I have a few more pictures to post before I am done.

thanks for taking the time to post all the pictures. and thanks for the mini vacation. some really tasty looking figs. cant wait till we go again.

Sounds great Frank!  Those pictures in post #64 look incredible.  I'll look forward to seeing the rest of them.

Mike   central NY state, zone 5a

Very nice figs, Frank!
I think though, to get that quality, the figs must be pollinated.
Any guess if they are Smyrma?

[QUOTE=greenfig]Very nice figs, Frank!
I think though, to get that quality, the figs must be pollinated.
Any guess if they are Smyrma?[/QUOTE]

I have no idea how to tell if these figs could be Smyrna types. Perhaps someone like Lampo would have an idea.

    

I took this picture in Corfu Greece from inside a bus. Look closely at the tree. What is going on there?

I can't see what is going on in the tree, but I see 2 men with man bags. 

Hopefully you didn't come home with one of these.   Well, I guess it would be a good place to stash some cuttings.  :)

LOL, ...man bags. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Mike, focus on the tree in front of the blue structure. This was a first for me. I didn't know it was possible.

Fig tree growing out of that other tree?

Thats what it looks like to me too. A fig tree growing in another tree?

Yes! A fig tree growing out of the trunk of another healthy tree. I didn't think it possible. This is a parasitic phenomenon...not saprophytic. The will to thrive has no bounds except when it comes to some of my rarer cuttings that will dry up, sprout mold and perish without a second thought. Lol.

Hi Frank,
Do you mean you didn't think it possible for a fig tree to do that, or for trees in general?  Lots of parasitic trees, especially in the tropics.

Meanwhile, my mouth is still watering over those beautiful jammy looking figs you've posted pictures of here.  Wow.

Mike 

Mike, I was indeed referring to the common fig. Have you ever seen such a phenomenon? No wonder you see them growing out of cracks in concrete walls and roads all over Europe.