ILDRHNTR
AH enthusiast
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2023
- Messages
- 261
- Reaction score
- 497
- Location
- Central Illinois
- Media
- 1
- Member of
- P&Y, B&C, RMEF, NWTF
I received a call from my boss on a Wednesday, “are you available to make a trip to the corporate office for some training exercises?”. Me: “sure,when?”. Boss: “Monday morning”. Me: “Uh, sure!”. So, I frantically packed my bags and prepared the family for being gone for three weeks. I had ZERO time to plan anything out.
So, I was sitting here halfway through my first week and realized I had no ideas on what to do with my weekends, beyond the obvious tourist traps of course. I started to do some internet surfing, more like AH surfing. I soon ran across a few articles about Italy by @Throwback and reached out for some suggestions. He immediately suggested I contact Leone@ItalianSafari.
I reached out to Leone and he was extremely helpful. Even though there really was nothing near me to hunt this time of year in the far northern reaches of the country, Leone went above and beyond for a complete stranger, knowing there really was nothing in it for him (at least for now, as I do plan to pay him back during a fall visit to experience a true chamois hunt in the Alps). After hearing that I was interested in fine guns (looking, not buying, yet), he offered to hook me up with his good friend, Fabio Piotti of Piotti Firearms. Of course I jumped on the offer, as I had never visited an individual gun maker before.
I contacted Fabio on WhatsApp (the universal messenging service, except for the USA of course). Within minutes he responded and we had a time set up for 2:00pm on Sat so I could tour his shop.
In just a few hours time I had my first weekend all planned out, all thanks to the people who make AH great. I couldn’t wait for the weekend. No, I wasn’t going on some extravagant hunt. But at least I was not sitting around twiddling my thumbs.
Saturday morning arrived and I left the quaint village of Borgo Chiese where I was staying. I drove over, through, and around some of the most stunning mountains I’ve ever seen until I reached the town of Gardone Val Trompia. If that name sounds familiar, it is. It is also the hometown of Beretta. Unfortunately, the Beretta factory is closed on the weekends (as was Piotti). Fortunately, the town is also home to at least a couple of firearm museums. I only had time to visit one but I do recommend it as it was very informative and filled with a lot of historical firearms and local firearm history (I found out later that a lot of the pictures and some memorabilia in the museum actually came from the Piotti shop).
I will stop here for the night and leave you with a few pics of the area as well as the museum.
So, I was sitting here halfway through my first week and realized I had no ideas on what to do with my weekends, beyond the obvious tourist traps of course. I started to do some internet surfing, more like AH surfing. I soon ran across a few articles about Italy by @Throwback and reached out for some suggestions. He immediately suggested I contact Leone@ItalianSafari.
I reached out to Leone and he was extremely helpful. Even though there really was nothing near me to hunt this time of year in the far northern reaches of the country, Leone went above and beyond for a complete stranger, knowing there really was nothing in it for him (at least for now, as I do plan to pay him back during a fall visit to experience a true chamois hunt in the Alps). After hearing that I was interested in fine guns (looking, not buying, yet), he offered to hook me up with his good friend, Fabio Piotti of Piotti Firearms. Of course I jumped on the offer, as I had never visited an individual gun maker before.
I contacted Fabio on WhatsApp (the universal messenging service, except for the USA of course). Within minutes he responded and we had a time set up for 2:00pm on Sat so I could tour his shop.
In just a few hours time I had my first weekend all planned out, all thanks to the people who make AH great. I couldn’t wait for the weekend. No, I wasn’t going on some extravagant hunt. But at least I was not sitting around twiddling my thumbs.
Saturday morning arrived and I left the quaint village of Borgo Chiese where I was staying. I drove over, through, and around some of the most stunning mountains I’ve ever seen until I reached the town of Gardone Val Trompia. If that name sounds familiar, it is. It is also the hometown of Beretta. Unfortunately, the Beretta factory is closed on the weekends (as was Piotti). Fortunately, the town is also home to at least a couple of firearm museums. I only had time to visit one but I do recommend it as it was very informative and filled with a lot of historical firearms and local firearm history (I found out later that a lot of the pictures and some memorabilia in the museum actually came from the Piotti shop).
I will stop here for the night and leave you with a few pics of the area as well as the museum.
