Moving on

Today was a travel day ... We left Alba mid-morning (ok, more like 11:30) and headed up to Lake Como.

First stop was Ceretto Winery for a late breakfast/brunch/lunch (ok, wine). We had stopped there yesterday, but they were already closed. Oh my, what a beautiful place. High on a hill, outside of Alba. Fairly new facilities, built next to a very old winery. See photos below ...

This was the view from the winery -






This was a new room they built out over the vineyard -


From inside -





And then our tasting -



Then we set off to Nesso, where we will be staying for a week. We are staying in a wonderful apartment/villa right on the lake. It is owned by our neighbor in St. Louis. We stayed here almost six years ago and couldn't wait to come back. However, we both had forgotten how narrow the roads were driving up to the town and how narrow AND steep the driveway was. WOW! Lots of oohs and aahs and f@#ks on the way!

Here are some shots from out on the balcony -







Yes, I even made dinner, after a quick stop at the market -



And I'm pretty sure this water skier is George Clooney, looking for me - his villa is right across the lake!

Location:Nesso, Lake Como

Day 2

Had another full day ... After a wonderful breakfast at our hotel, we hit the road and drove down to Barolo, stopping off at Grinzane Cavour. There we found a beautiful castle and enoteca. And they MADE us taste wines!

Grinzane -



















Barolo was a very cute little town with excellent wines. Yes, more tastings.

















They had these crazy plastic statues of animals all around town!








We toured the Wine Museum, which was very interesting ...







Me with Adam and Eve -



Glad this has changed!









Then on to La Morra, which is very high up on a hill. Kent LOVED the steep, curvy road to get up there!















We love our new Fiat, but Kent still likes the old ones. I'm not sure he'd fit though!


Then back to Alba for a nap and dinner.









Tomorrow we hit the market, perhaps a couple of wineries, and then drive up north to Lake Como. We'll stay in a little town called Nesso for a week. JT and Katherine will join us on Wednesday for a few days. Can't wait!

Location:Barolo, La Morra, and Alba

Day 1

Scenes from lovely Alba in Piedmont ... Rode bikes into town and did some exploring. Well, we also had some food, wine, and gelato. Yum. SO good to be back in Italy.



Big church, little person ... Yes, that's me.










Kent begins his habit of sneaking into churches and taking photos ... Even though you're not supposed to.



Now, that's some colorful pasta!



And you can't really tell from this photo, but they sell HUGE jars of Nutella here (check out the bottles of wine next to them for comparison). Nutella is made in Alba.



Saw this adorable wiener dog sleeping in a shop window.



Ahh, feels good to put my feet up! It's been a long day.



Bought some wine to take back to the hotel.



Then stopped for some dessert!





And the vacation beard begins ...



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Location:Alba, IT

We made it!

Arrived in Milan this morning ... Although a little later than expected. We had a two hour delay in New York because of weather. Got in around 10:30 am.  But that was the only glitch. We both managed to get some sleep on the plane, which was nice.

Picked up our rental car and hit the road, going southwest for an hour and a half to Alba. Just checked into our hotel, which has a nice pool and a bocci court! Going to head out now on the bikes they have here and go into the main part of town and see the sites. We're a bit tired, but want to stay awake so we can get our body clocks acclimated.

Will post some photos later.

Almost there ...

Four days and counting. Not packed, but clothes and other stuff is gathered and ready. Meeting with Sean and Gabi (our house/dog sitters) again tomorrow to go over last minute details. Getting pumped.

I've been sick the last week with some med changes and am finally feeling somewhat normal, thank goodness. Finally got back to a good, long bike ride today. Felt great.

Cards baseball tomorrow afternoon, work on Monday and Tuesday ... Then we adios on Wednesday!

We will be doing the northern portion of Italy this time ... Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto, and Emilia Romagna. Three weeks. Stay tuned for our Italy adventure!