CENTRO D'OMPIO - PETTENASCO, ITALY 

The 2013 Info-activism camp took place at Centro d'Ompio, a retreat centre nestled on a hill above Lake Orta, the lesser known of Northern Italy's subalpine lakes. The centre is made up of three rustic Italian houses, camping grounds and nice round wooden break out spaces carved into a 100, 000 square meters piece of land. There is also a very large pool and a network of winding paths between gardens, terraces and meadows and a chestnut forest! 

The views from the centre were captivating. In one direction you could see the Monte Rosa mountain range. And in the other direction the lake stretched out before you with the island of San Giulio poking out in the centre, revealing a 12th-century basilica and a 19th-century seminary, later converted to a monastery. Just last year the British newspaper, The Guardian, ran an article calling it "...the Italian lake tourists haven't discovered yet" so we might be in good time before it becomes overrun with weekend package trippers! The camp took over the entire venue with two types of accommodation: shared rooms or camping.