Lake Como, our final destination

After all the festivities of the truffle festival for two weekends and our travels throughout the week, our stay in Mango came to an end.  Our friends continued on their journey to visit Bologna and other nearby towns and we packed up and drove on to Lake Como. We wanted to finish our trip on a quieter note than spending our last days in the big city of Milan.

Bye Bye Mango

Yes, it is where George Clooney has a villa on the lake and no I did not see him. 😖  I did see what is purported to be his villa from the ferry boat, but that is not confirmed. 

Hello Lake Como

Our Airbnb was located inside the old town, so we had to park outside the town and bring our bags in on foot.  Again, our hostess was extremely helpful and was very keen to speak English with us as she was trying to improve her pronunciation.  She told us she watched English speaking cartoons with her son to help with her practice.  I could watch 1000 hours of Italian movies and cartoons and never figure out the language, but I can't tell you how many Italians told us that is how they learn English.

Our place was very conveniently located in Como.  As we began to explore, we realized Como was much bigger than anticipated.  Designer shopping opportunities were plentiful as well as restaurants and bars on every square and side street.  As we were there in October, it seemed we were on the edge of the tourist shoulder season so it was not crowded, maybe even a little sleepy.  I am sure that is not the case in full summer season.

We walked to the lake front of Como and were treated with the beautiful view of the lake and the many villas and homes dotting the dramatic foothills of the Alps.  Like Lake Garda, there are small towns and villages that site on the 99 miles of coastline of Lake Como.  I doubt my pictures will do it justice.

Our first full day we got up to catch one of the ferries that take you from town to town on the lake. It is not cheap, but you are in a purely tourist destination.  Our stop that day was Bellagio, the Pearl of Lake Como.  The ferry ride was 2.5 hours as it stops frequently like a bus to pick up and drop off travelers to each of the various towns along the way.  It was a overcast, breezy morning, but we got a seat outside on the front of the boat to take in all the scenery along the way.


Bellagio is a commune in Lombardy, Italy known for its cobblestone streets and beautiful building and parks along the lake.  Wine, designer clothing, leather and silk goods shops are interspersed with funky tourist markets along the winding cobblestone steps.  You can easily see why this is the playground of the rich and famous and Milanese looking for La Dolce Vita.  We had a lovely lunch and wandered the day away. 

Abandoned grand hotel along the Bellagio waterfront

We took the faster hydrofoil ferry back to Como, all the same stops, but got back in under an hour. Zoom, zoom.

Looks like a cross between a boat and a space ship

On our last full day in Como we walked further around the lake to see some villas close up.  There is a sidewalk that goes around the lake as far as you can see.  It was a very enjoyable walk on a sunny breezy morning.  After one more typical Italian lunch with truffles at Ristorante di Rina we wandered a bit more in Como and made our way back to pack up for our journey home.  We had a unique dinner at Blacket, a BBQ restaurant near our apartment, the brisket was spot on.  Our waiter was also anxious to speak English with us.  He was a Chicago Bulls fan and loved Ford Mustangs, specifically the Mustang Shelby from the movie Gone in 60 Seconds.  We had a short conversation about Nicholas Cage movies.  Surreal.

Bread delivered in a little brown bag to our table

Alas, it was time for our 11 hour flight home to Tampa.  We drove to the Milan airport and bid Addio to our Fiat Panda without incident.  Our flights were on-time from Milan-Frankfurt-Tampa.  We even lucked out and had a whole row to ourselves again.  All our bags made it home with us, including our wine and other local product purchases.

Our next adventure is currently unknown, we are home for a while but I am sure the glow of  this trip to Italy will be with us for quite some time.  Until next time Arrivederci!

Exploring Piedmont's Wines and Villages

The truffle festival events were mostly on the weekends, so there was plenty of time available during the week to explore the wines and landscapes of this region. 

We visited two prominent Barolo wine producers. Marchessi di Barolo had a gorgeous facility right in the town of Barolo where they have been producing wine for over 200 years.  Harvest was in full swing so we had to dodge the tractors bringing in grapes during the tour.  At Oddero Poderi e Cantine, the same family has been making Barolo wines since 1878.  The wine-making tradition is deeply rooted in the history of the Piedmont.

Barbaresco was another quaint little village with its own wine-making heritage.  We tasted wines at Bruno Rocco and toured the hilltop village of Neive on the way home. 

Asti's market day was Wednesday so we returned there to see the market and walk the city.   Once again, we were embroiled in a traffic jam and driving in circles looking for parking.  We finally found street parking and made our way to the market.   It was very big and set up on several streets through out the city.  It is their open air Walmart, you can buy almost everything you need.  The town of Asti was an enjoyable walk with many sites to see.  

Asti Market tents

Turtles in the park

More Asti marketers

On Thursday morning we woke up to heavy rain and fog so thick we could not see out our windows. There were many signs along the roads warning of fog, but this is the first we had seen it.  We had lunch reservations at a little agriturismo not too far from our house.  The curvy roads provided a little drama in the fog and rain, but we pulled up to Brusalino at 12:30 for lunch.  Unfortunately due to the fog, we were not treated with spectacular views.

Upon arrival, we saw one table set for 4.  Mike and I arrived first and were treated to a tour by the owner of the agriturismo.  There were photos of him as a little boy from many years ago in front of the same house. He also let us peak into his small winery as he was pressing grapes.

The daughter, who spoke English took our order for lunch and explained that the restaurant wasn't  normally open for lunch, so they had opened just for us.  Wow!  Her mother was in the back cooking and we heard a little giggle that sounded like a baby.  The daughter brought out her son, 4 month old Fabio, he was so cute.   She then excused herself to put him down for his nap and her mother continued to serve our meal.  It was a tremendous lunch served by a very gracious family.

Private dining room at Brusalino

Veal carpaccio

Homemade polenta gnocchi

Chocolate salami for dessert

   

On Friday the bad weather had cleared and we were once again greeted with autumn temperatures and sunshine.  We explored the city of Bra on their market day and enjoyed a lovely afternoon touring and tasting at Vietti in the tiny little village of Castiglione Falletto.

Every wine tasting and tour we did gave us a better understanding and appreciation about the wine culture of this region. Nebbiolo, is a very old grape varietal dating back to the 13th century.  It derives its name from nebbia, the Italian word for fog.  The very best Nebbiolo vineyards are sites located on steep south or south-west facing slopes at an altitude somewhere between 250 and 450 meters, just above the fog that collects in the valleys. Barolo, Barberesco and Reoro wines and are all made from this exact same finicky to grow grape.  The differences in the characteristics of these wines is largely due to the specific soil location in which it is grown and the rules for storage/aging prior to release.  The precision of adhering to all the rules is what sets them apart from each other.  

When talking with these vintners, the amount of history, terrior, farming, science, passion and luck that goes into each bottle is truly astounding.

   

The Donkey Palio Race - well not really a race

One of the most coveted events of our Truffle Festival itinerary was attending the annual Donkey Palio.  A crazy race of donkeys that sees the nine boroughs of Alba compete for the conquest of the Palio (a drape). The Palio is preceded by a historical parade with over a thousand characters, during which each village performs a historical episode of medieval inspiration.  One heat of the race is on a donkcy your borough picks, the second heat of the race is done by random drawing of the donkey to be ridden, adding a bit of mystery to the proceedings. No?

Pre-race donkeys in the square for random drawing

Glazed Veal Check with Porcini Mushroom

We drove to Alba as we had the day before a little later in the morning and the traffic was nuts.  There were thousands of cars, buses, people on foot to attend the festival. Once we found parking, we wandered through the tents and crowds again and had a lovely lunch at Voglia di Vino Laconda.  Just the beginning of our decadent eating extravaganza while in Alba.   Luckily, we got a seat without a reservation, everything was packed.  

Lacquered Baby Pork belly with Aubergine

The moment had arrived to take our seats for the 2pm race.  The crowd filtered in slowly but was electric with excitement.  We had a Barolo wine tasting event scheduled at the Truffle Festival tent at 3:30 pm, but figured how long can a donkey race last anyway?  We thought we might have to run through town for the tasting, but we were trying to pack all our fun into one day. 

As we sat there, we were regaled with many speeches in Italian from the local dignitaries. Then the parades and reenactments began by each neighborhood/borough, which was clearly customary prior to the donkey race event.  As time time ticked by via a giant hourglass (really), we realized that we may not see the donkey race at all before we had to leave. Mike was inconsolable about missing the donkey race.

While the pageantry was beautiful, with glum faces we left our seats and confirmed the we could re-enter the palio later with our tickets and made our way to the wine tasting.







The wine tasting event was in Italian only, so we understood nothing but got to taste 3 lovely Barolo wines. About an hour later we were slightly tipsy from the wine tasting and still sad over missing the donkey race.  Quickly we made our way back to the palio stands to see if we could catch a glimpse of the donkey race.

When we arrived back to our seats, the original musicians appeared to be performing their finale performance. We were dejected all over again.  Then at about 5pm, two tractors came out onto the track and appeared to be preparing for the race after the performances, just like the Zamboni. Our mood began to improve.  Then Mike began looking for his cell phone and realized he did not have it after the wine tasting. Panic ensued. I made a beeline back to the tasting room. They were cleaning up but had his phone.  I made it back to the race, just in time to see the end of the 2nd heat of the race.

Zamboni tractors readying the track for the palio

A rider decked out in his medieval garb.

Trying to hold this donkey back, he is ready to go.

This was during the race, somebody is going the wrong way.

A rare upright rider.

I desperately wanted one of these vests the judges were wearing. 

This guy was out of control at the start.

We watched and laughed our "asses" off over the donkey race and the craziness of it all. I use the word race very loosely, several of donkeys went backwards around the track, one jumped over the hay bails off the track altogether.  The townsfolk took it very seriously and it was as rowdy as a soccer game when the winners were announced.  It was a full day of highs and lows at the Donkey Palio.