Blogs from Alba, Piedmont, Italy, Europe
July 16th 2010
Niente Borgo Dora. Dzis w goracu nieziemskim wynioskam ostatnie zawiniatka i wypucowalam lazienke, choc w pokoju nadal pajeczyny zwieszaly sie z sufitu, ale wydaje mi sie, ze one nie mogly tak urosnac od lutego, kiedy ja sie wprowadzilam - musialy byc tam wczesniej. W ostatnich dniach, kiedy nad Wlochy naplynela fala goraca, zwana tu ‘afa’, norka stala sie nie do wytrzymania. Nabyla przy tym zaszczytny tytul ‘kondonorium’ = kondominium + nora. Termometr o 8 rano pokazywal 31 stopni wewnatrz, ale poniewaz poznil sie pol godziny, to zakladam, ze mogl i zanizac temperature o jakies 5 stopni. Przy okazji dowiedzialam sie o szczegolach smutnego incydentu, ktory mial miejsce na Borgo Dora jakis miesiac temu. Mieszkali wtedy w kondonorium J+M, a kiedy wrocili do Warszawy mowili, ze po domu krecilo sie mnostwo policji i smialismy sie, ze to ... read more
June 18th 2010
I'm back in Rivalta to work on my favorite farm after about 2 weeks at the farm in Lake Como. (I must apologize in advance: as I learn more Italian, my english vocabulary deterriorates, so...yeah.) It was certainly an escape from reality and...I can't think of the words but like a cleansing spa experience. I ate healthy, got lots of exercise, read books, studied italian, and soaked in the beautiful surroundings. I must admit that this last week (or however long it's been) hasn't been the best. My mood is always dependent on the weather, and it was rainy and cold, combined with the unusual lack of people around and there's not much work to do in the gardens when it rains. Also, Silvana, my Italian mother, talks constantly. Before I liked it, because it helped ... read more
May 29th 2010
Ciao a tutti! It has been a wonderful week or so back in Italy. I've been staying with Mattia and his family in Rivalta di La Morra. I've basically been living the lazy lifestyle of 20-somethings in small Italian town. Sitting around, talking, drinking, eating, smoking (not me), going out every night, etc. We did some touristy things around Alba and Bra like visiting a corkscrew museum and the Gastronomic Science University. We also spent an entire day on the beach in Finale with his sister and another friend and I was so vigilant with the sunscreen that I didn't get a sunburn! The beaches in this area aren't the best in my opinion, but there was a beautiful view of mountains and a castle and the sand was full of beautiful sea glass which we ... read more
August 1st 2009
I forget. Well, I forgot a few things in my last entry, but my Italian is not advanced enough to say so. And I also decided to add more... Other WWOOFers They are one of the best parts of the WWOOFing experience. You become instant friends because you can spend so much time together and you get someone to speak proper English with. On this farm I met Hennie from Finland and Tamar from Israel. I learned so much about both cultures and countries, and was able to shed some light on stereotypes of America. I forgot to say that the family loves to hear about our homes, and encourage us to cook things that we are used to eating. Hm...that's difficult since I basically make what Silvana makes. But I made lemonade, and Lori loves ... read more
May 20th 2009
Kirsten has mastered the clutch. We were coming up through a castle gate at an incline of 90 degrees and she was in second gear and was starting to stall and she immediately switched into first gear without any hesitation and successfully brought the Audi into parking area. We walked around the market in Asti this morning and found a nice restaurant; we had a cappuccino and sweet roll. Pierre was our server and of course we thought of our friend Pierre a manager of Olive Garden in Orlando. From Asti we drove south toward Alba we stopped at a small town of Govone. We took a few pictures of the sites and locals and then continued onto Alba. Ok, let me just tell you Alba was one busy city, it took us 1 hour to ... read more
May 20th 2009
It’s 7 AM I’m sitting on the end of the bed, the doors are open and I’m looking out over the valley of Piedmont. Birds are singing, church bells are ringing and slight breeze is blowing. I’m writing this to ensure that I never forget this moment of closeness to god and everything around me. We ate breakfast at the B&B, and while sitting we observed an older picture. After studying we decided it represented the 7 deadly sins. We weren’t sure but we thought it was. We started where we left off on the Strada Romantica, as we visited station number nine we saw the same picture of the 7 people in different situations. Yes they represented the 7 deadly sins. It is a fresco painted at the chapel St Roco. We completed the last ... read more
May 15th 2009
We’re still struggling with the clutch. We only stalled 4 times today, one was on the boarder of Switzerland and Italy. Yeah, right when the Poliza was watching. It has rained all day, we drove around Lago Maggorio. We stopped at Orto and viewed a park (at the very tippy top of the mountain) that has 20 chapels for St Francis of Assisi. It was very impressive all built around 1650 -1700. We then drove to Novara, had a cup of coffee during a down pour, we visited the Doumo the Romanesque and Baroque architecture is the best I’ve ever seen. (LOL), As we were leaving Novara we started heading toward Genoa, Kirsten decided in the middle of a roundabout that she remembered the book Carl gave us. It recommended Asti as a stopping point. So ... read more
October 23rd 2007
As we have mentioned in the past, driving distances in Europe are deceptively short and so our journey from Monaco to Serralunga d'Alba, Italy took nearly 3 hours. We rolled into the tiny town in pitch black darkness, following signs through turn after turn from the highway as the road became smaller and smaller. It was not unlike driving to Gourdes, where we could see lights dotting various hilltops across the blackness. We checked into our B&B and walked next door for a fabulous dinner (see photos). Once again, we went to sleep anticipating an amazing vista upon awakening, and we were not disappointed. Opening the front door to the house was like stepping into a different life - one of golden light, row upon row of grapes growing, cobblestone streets, and castles near and far. ... read more
October 23rd 2007
Not far from Serralunga d'Alba, on the road back towards the highway, is the much larger town of Alba. We decided to stop here for lunch and we are so glad we did! We found a sun-bathed cobblestone pedestrian street full of shops and restaurants to explore. We quickly discovered that Alba is known for its white truffles and the truffle festival is actually going on this month (but closed while we were there, perhaps only open at night?). A friendly shopkeeper sold us some white truffle gnocchi to make back in Zurich and pointed us in the direction of a wonderful restaurant. I had pasta with porcini mushrooms for lunch and J had a gnocchi with local cheeses. Of course, you can add white truffles to any dish for an additional 40 Euros! J convinced ... read more
