Dama Hotel Cuneo

Arrived in Alba. Extremely jetlagged. I tried diligently to sleep on the plane, but to no avail. Didn't know where to go when I got off the plane and the customs officer didn't speak English, but he understood Spanish. Hallelujah! Add the Torino airport to an ever-growing list of places in which Spanish came unexpectedly in handy. Take a peek at these pictures of my home for the next several months . . . .

... comfortable. The breakfasts were delicious, comprised of home made cake, bread and biscuits. The biscuits were wood fired by a bakery just down the road. Supplied jams were again made by the hosts (Fig, Apricot and Apple and Peach); apple juice was also home made although the yogurt was not! During the breakfast Shellie had a wood fired oven at her back; so getting moving after breakfast was a bit of a challenge. Eating home produced food was inspiring me ...

... Needless to say, I am stealing a bunch of ideas for new menu items just from the one lunch we had there. We got to see the winery and taste some wine. We then travelled back to Canale and had a little room left to go eat, 5 courses at Borgo Anttica, one of the more famous restaurants in the region and, even though it was not traditional regional cuisine . . .it so far is the best complete meal I have had since I have been in Italy. I took Pictures J

... through and see the unlabled aging bottles, and the steel vats housing the white wine, and the rooms and rooms of "brick" (French oak barrels) aging the red and some white wine is not like anything I have ever really seen. The winery in Borolo, Valentino, actually built a separate building to age their wines in. As you walk in through the mountains of wine in this castle like building, music is ...

... driving closer to the edge of the road where you know if the car slips only fire and death await. So what does the American do at this moment! Yep you guessed it, rolled down the window and started taking pictures! Now we are traveling up a mountain at a reasonably slow pace for about 35 to 40 more minutes, not very far to travel, but a slow pace until we get to a landing with a small little bar/café for people to hang out at and drink and eat at while ...

Went to Cortemilia a second time, hired a car from Milan and drove there. Through Asti and Alba. Got to Cortemilia and looked for a place to stay, I went into this place I knew had decent hazelnut ice-cream. Turned out they had rooms.Went to that restaurant in Torre Bormida again, and bought an infamous bottle of grappa.Drove back to Milan the next ...

Went to Perletto a couple of weeks after I had arrived in Italy. Got there and went around, took some photos of the place. Rode the bike around, stopped at a few places to get a Moretti every once in a while. In the evening went to eat ...

... looked around and went, hmm . . .the tornado must have touched down somewhere in the midwest somewhere. Now I noticed thedarkness, but what really got my attention was the CANNON fire that started. Now when you are in a foreign country and pushing your comfort level just a bit with the not being at home and limited communication, CANNON fire is just the thing to settle your nerves. Not just one canon, every canon on every hill top in succession ...

... visiting Dario & Cela, and their side of the family. They run a plastics factory, which is right behind their house, so they gave of a tour of the whole production. They amount of items that they make a just a few machines was amazing. They gave us a tour of downtown Cuneo, which is the bigger town next to Boves. We ate the best gelato in Cuneo (the crema flavor was delicious!), and did lots of window shopping. We returned to Erio ...

... share passions for swing and photography and he has a comfortable couch so I think we will get along nicely. Not sure how long I'm staying possibly till the weekend to attend the parties here. Kira can't have me until the 18th of this month so I have to figure out what to do with myself until then. Thinking of visiting the Chinqua tera since its not so far and the weather will be nicer there now than later on. Then I can head directly south ...