Our last four days were spent in the Piedmont region of Italy in a town called Bra. It was a very perky little town (okay that’s it for the bra humour I promise). The Piedmont region of Italy is known for it’s wine… do these names ring a bell? Barolo, Nebbiolo, Barberra, and sparkling Asti!
It is also recognized for it’s food and agriculture; hazelnuts, risotto, chocolate (it is the home of the Ferraro factory where nutella and ferraro rocher is made), and TRUFFLES. In fact the Piedmontese take their food so seriously that they established something called the Slow Food Movement- an organization that was formed to promote organic and local products and the idea of putting care and attention into food rather than hitting a drive through or throwing something in the microwave. Another testament to their dedication to gastronomy is the University of Gastronomic Sciences which opened in 2004. We visited the University and their “Banco del Vino” which is a massive cellar that was established as a library of Italian wines. Our tour guide is a member of the first graduating class of the university, we later found out he is half Canadian, half Italian and is moving back to Vancouver in October!
Fortunately, we ended up in Piedmont smack in the middle of truffle season. The nearby town of Alba hosts an annual festival that runs for a month in celebration of the truffle.
We rented bicycles as a fun way to get around the region and burn off a few of the extra calories that we anticipated. Our bicycles were clunkety-clunk, heavy bikes with no shortage of baskets to stash wine and baguettes in. Sure, they bore little resemblance to the lightening fast roadbikes that we saw all over the countryside, but we only had 15 km to cycle to Alba- no problem! Adam made me take the “purple peopl
e eater” somehow he found the lavender colour to be a little too feminine for his liking. The ride to Alba was uneventful… I was a little reluctant to be sharing the freeway with the psycho Italian drivers but they seemed to be much more cognisant of cyclists than the drivers at home.
We arrived in the very busy town of Alba and found our way into the truffle market. All the truffle hunters had set up stands and were inviting us to hold, smell, and hopefully buy their pricey treasures! At 2500- 3000 Euros per kilo I was just a little nervous when a vendor thrust a tennis ball sized truffle into my hand and insisted that Adam take a picture (fortunately my nervousness prevented me from acting on the urge to take a giant bite out of the truffle and run). We ended up sampling a whole variety of local products… cheeses, salamis, wines, chocolates. We then found a nearby bar that offered internet access (internet has become almost as much a commodity to us as water- we rely on it for everything from finding a place to sleep to keeping in touch with you guys and of course paying bills- so when we do find it we take full advantage!) We got a little carried away doing planning, emailing, facebooking, etc. and probably left the bar a little later than we should have. It was an interesting journey home to say the least, one that I think it is worthy of it’s very own post- stay tuned for that one.
We ended up coming back to Alba the next day as well, this time by train. I’m not sure if it was the par
ade with historic costumes or the donkey race that drew the crowds but it was packed! We arrived just to see the last half of the parade and then managed to get last minute tickets to the Palio. The Palio is the donkey race that is held each year at the festival. As legend has it the cheeky tradition originated from a rivalry between Alba and the nearby town of Asti. Check out this link for an explanation: http://www.dolcetours.com/re_article5.htm
Now the tradition is re-enacted each year at the festival. Each of the nearby villages gets assigned a donkey to race (more like push, coax, or pull) around the racetrack. Hopefully you’ll get a little laugh out of the video.... We are however experiencing technical difficulties with video upload at the moment.... We will let you know when we get a chance to correct the problem.
It is also recognized for it’s food and agriculture; hazelnuts, risotto, chocolate (it is the home of the Ferraro factory where nutella and ferraro rocher is made), and TRUFFLES. In fact the Piedmontese take their food so seriously that they established something called the Slow Food Movement- an organization that was formed to promote organic and local products and the idea of putting care and attention into food rather than hitting a drive through or throwing something in the microwave. Another testament to their dedication to gastronomy is the University of Gastronomic Sciences which opened in 2004. We visited the University and their “Banco del Vino” which is a massive cellar that was established as a library of Italian wines. Our tour guide is a member of the first graduating class of the university, we later found out he is half Canadian, half Italian and is moving back to Vancouver in October!
Fortunately, we ended up in Piedmont smack in the middle of truffle season. The nearby town of Alba hosts an annual festival that runs for a month in celebration of the truffle.
We rented bicycles as a fun way to get around the region and burn off a few of the extra calories that we anticipated. Our bicycles were clunkety-clunk, heavy bikes with no shortage of baskets to stash wine and baguettes in. Sure, they bore little resemblance to the lightening fast roadbikes that we saw all over the countryside, but we only had 15 km to cycle to Alba- no problem! Adam made me take the “purple peopl
e eater” somehow he found the lavender colour to be a little too feminine for his liking. The ride to Alba was uneventful… I was a little reluctant to be sharing the freeway with the psycho Italian drivers but they seemed to be much more cognisant of cyclists than the drivers at home.We arrived in the very busy town of Alba and found our way into the truffle market. All the truffle hunters had set up stands and were inviting us to hold, smell, and hopefully buy their pricey treasures! At 2500- 3000 Euros per kilo I was just a little nervous when a vendor thrust a tennis ball sized truffle into my hand and insisted that Adam take a picture (fortunately my nervousness prevented me from acting on the urge to take a giant bite out of the truffle and run). We ended up sampling a whole variety of local products… cheeses, salamis, wines, chocolates. We then found a nearby bar that offered internet access (internet has become almost as much a commodity to us as water- we rely on it for everything from finding a place to sleep to keeping in touch with you guys and of course paying bills- so when we do find it we take full advantage!) We got a little carried away doing planning, emailing, facebooking, etc. and probably left the bar a little later than we should have. It was an interesting journey home to say the least, one that I think it is worthy of it’s very own post- stay tuned for that one.
We ended up coming back to Alba the next day as well, this time by train. I’m not sure if it was the par
ade with historic costumes or the donkey race that drew the crowds but it was packed! We arrived just to see the last half of the parade and then managed to get last minute tickets to the Palio. The Palio is the donkey race that is held each year at the festival. As legend has it the cheeky tradition originated from a rivalry between Alba and the nearby town of Asti. Check out this link for an explanation: http://www.dolcetours.com/re_article5.htmNow the tradition is re-enacted each year at the festival. Each of the nearby villages gets assigned a donkey to race (more like push, coax, or pull) around the racetrack. Hopefully you’ll get a little laugh out of the video.... We are however experiencing technical difficulties with video upload at the moment.... We will let you know when we get a chance to correct the problem.
Stay tuned for more on the Purple People Eater too!!
1 comment:
hey, is that Italian-Canadian guy single???? you could show him "lisa's lament", lol!!!
:P
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