Bruce and Marija spend 10 days in Piedmont: Alba, Neive and Turin
Nov 29th, 2010, 08:03 AM
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Bruce and Marija spend 10 days in Piedmont: Alba, Neive and Turin
<b>ALBA</b>
After our week long stay in Naples, we had ten days to spend in Piedmont. Although I don't like traveling without a plan and hotel reservations in place, that's what we did, except for reservations for the first four nights in Alba. We thought about renting an apartment for 10 days in Turin and doing daytrips from there to places like Alba, Bra and Asti but I couldn't find a suitable apartment close to the historical center and I wasn't sure we really wanted to commit to 10 days in Turin. Our decision not to rent a car added to the complexity since we had to stay in places we could reach using public transportation. Of course we didn't have any idea of how many nights to reserve in Alba and started off by reserving two nights. The hotel assured us that they could arrange for a car and driver if we wanted, so we decided to add two more nights to our stay.
We arrived at the Turin airport from Naples on a cheap nonstop Air Italy flight and then took a 45 minute or so bus ride (5E) to Porta Nuova, the main train station. After lunch in Turin we were ready to board our train to Alba which took about an hour and a half, with train changes at Lingotto and Stazione di Cavallermaggiore. Our hotel was a 15 minute walk from the train station, although it took us quite a bit longer since we didn't have a map and walked from church to church expecting each one to be the Duomo. There are a lot of churches in Alba!
We stayed at the <b>Albergo San Lorenzo</b>, http://www.albergo-sanlorenzo.it, behind the cathedral. The rate was 100E double with breakfast, 85E without. Although its website claims timeless elegance and decor, we didn't notice it. Our very basic room was clean, the bathroom large, the bed reasonably comfortable. There was no view and with the window open there was a lot of road noise.
This was the first of several places in Piedmont where our iPhone wouldn't connect to the free Wi-Fi. We though that the Albergo's Wi-Fi was broken since we could connect to unsecured networks of restaurants in the piazza. We were allowed to use the computer in the reception area but that's obviously not as convenient. Not being able to consistently connect to Wi-Fi was a problem in Neive and Turin also. The McDonald's in Turin told us right off that American iPhones don't work on their network, although they worked just fine in a neighboring coffee shop. (Our stop at McDonald's was solely to see if the Wi-Fi would work!)
The owners of the Albergo San Lorenzo own the organic bakery on the ground floor where breakfast is served. The breakfast was adequate and covered all the basics. After two days we opted out of breakfast and went to a nearby coffee shop for cornetti and espresso. If you don't need luxury the Albergo San Lorenzo is a convenient and clean place to stay in the old city.
Without a car we couldn't do what everyone on Fodor's writes about--drive around to the wineries, admire the scenery and eat in out of the way locations. That concerned us, although we knew that Alba's many good restaurants would keep us from getting hungry and thirsty.
<b>What we did in Alba</b>
After checking in we immediately made reservations at <b>La Libera </b>for that evening. Then we walked over to the nearby tourist information center and enquired about the possibility of tours. Bingo! The tourist office had just started three tours that only operated on Friday and Monday from the 17 September to the 15 of November. We signed up for two tours for the next day, Friday. The first tour, the Barolo Tour, left Alba at 10:30 and returned at 13:30. It included a visit to Ceretto Monsardo Bernadina for a lengthy wine tasting accompanied by cheeses and bread, a self guided tour of the Grinzane Cavour castle and the Cavour Piedmontese Regional Enoteca, and a stop at La Morra for the views. Unfortunately, visibility was quite poor that day.
The afternoon Barbaresco tour lasted three hours and included a visit to Tenute Cisa Asinari Dei Marchesi di Gresy. One of the six people on the tour was a vintner from New Zealand, as is one of the vintners at the winery, so we were treated to especially numerous and fine tastings. After strolling around Barbaresco we headed to Neive for a brief visit. The guide was very enthusiastic about the restaurant La Contea and the village is considered one of the prettiest in Italy, so we decided that we would try to return on our own and spend the night. The third tour was an hour long "simulated" truffle hunt in the nearby hills. We passed on that.
The cost of the tours is 30E for one tour, 55E for two tours on the same day, and 75E for three tours on the same day. The tour allows a maximum of 12 people. Our guide spoke excellent English and we were very pleased with the day's activities. Going on a small group tour eliminated the awkwardness of visiting a winery and then not buying wine because you're traveling and eating at restaurants. We prefer drinking the wine to visiting the vine, so stopping at a couple of wineries was enough for us.
On Saturday we spent the morning at the very extensive market that takes place in Alba. All we bought was a salumi (don't ask) since we didn't have a kitchen and still had three weeks on the road ahead of us. There's a lot of activity in Alba on Saturday so we enjoyed strolling, window shopping and eating and drinking. That evening there was a pre-Palio degli Asini event on the square in front of the cathedral---lots of music, flag throwing, and colorful costumes. I wish we could have seen the Palio itself which was taking place the next weekend but we had to be in Florence that day.
Although we didn't sign up for the simulated truffle hunt sponsored by the tourist bureau, we did sign up for a truffle hunt offered by one of the truffle shops in town that sported a "truffle hunt every day" sign on its door. I didn't record the name of the shop but it was on a side street, somewhat removed from all of the activity. A relative of one of the owners, a school teacher who is president of some local truffle society, picked us up on Sunday morning at the shop and took us for a two hour truffle hunt in the hills outside of Alba. He didn't speak English but that was an advantage since we got to practice our pathetic Italian. His mighty dog Kayra (sp), who has traveled to Russia and China representing Piedmont, found six small truffles: four black, two white. The cost of the hunt was 25E per person (there were only two of us) and we were offered the truffles as well. Unfortunately we declined the truffles, only later realizing that we probably could have taken them to dinner and had them shaved on our food. The weather was glorious and we enjoyed our walk in the hills watching Mario and his mighty dog (who got pasta each time she found a truffle).
Sunday afternoon was the much advertised Go Wine: Degustazione de Vini in Alba. Tickets were 8E each. Several years ago we attempted to attend the wine fair in Greve in Chianti and were turned away because tickets were sold out. I was determined not to repeat this mistake and spent considerable time trying to buy tickets in advance. The tourist information center printed us a form and told us to mail it in. They seemed oblivious to the fact that it was taking place in two days. Our hotel, as well as assorted wine shops, had no idea where advance tickets could be bought. Finally on Sunday, as the booths were being setup, I was told that tickets would go on sale at 2:00 PM when the event was scheduled to start. A little before two I left my lunch, under Bruce's dubious care, and rushed over to the ticket booth and bought a ticket--I was the only one there. Seems that getting a ticket to this event was just not a big deal. Fortunately, when I returned with our wine glasses, I saw that Bruce had left me some lunch.
We spent the afternoon wandering among the booths and tasting wines, mindful that we wanted to leave room for the bottle at dinner. After dinner we went to some sort of choral competition taking place at one of the lesser churches. (Initially we went to the cathedral where after 10 minutes of sermon we realized we were in the wrong place.) The groups we heard were excellent but all of that wine and food was lulling us to sleep so we headed back.
Despite our initial concerns we had no problems amusing ourselves in Alba for four days but I don't know if we would have been as content if we hadn't found the all day tour, the truffle hunt, market and wine fair.
Next up: Eating in Alba
After our week long stay in Naples, we had ten days to spend in Piedmont. Although I don't like traveling without a plan and hotel reservations in place, that's what we did, except for reservations for the first four nights in Alba. We thought about renting an apartment for 10 days in Turin and doing daytrips from there to places like Alba, Bra and Asti but I couldn't find a suitable apartment close to the historical center and I wasn't sure we really wanted to commit to 10 days in Turin. Our decision not to rent a car added to the complexity since we had to stay in places we could reach using public transportation. Of course we didn't have any idea of how many nights to reserve in Alba and started off by reserving two nights. The hotel assured us that they could arrange for a car and driver if we wanted, so we decided to add two more nights to our stay.
We arrived at the Turin airport from Naples on a cheap nonstop Air Italy flight and then took a 45 minute or so bus ride (5E) to Porta Nuova, the main train station. After lunch in Turin we were ready to board our train to Alba which took about an hour and a half, with train changes at Lingotto and Stazione di Cavallermaggiore. Our hotel was a 15 minute walk from the train station, although it took us quite a bit longer since we didn't have a map and walked from church to church expecting each one to be the Duomo. There are a lot of churches in Alba!
We stayed at the <b>Albergo San Lorenzo</b>, http://www.albergo-sanlorenzo.it, behind the cathedral. The rate was 100E double with breakfast, 85E without. Although its website claims timeless elegance and decor, we didn't notice it. Our very basic room was clean, the bathroom large, the bed reasonably comfortable. There was no view and with the window open there was a lot of road noise.
This was the first of several places in Piedmont where our iPhone wouldn't connect to the free Wi-Fi. We though that the Albergo's Wi-Fi was broken since we could connect to unsecured networks of restaurants in the piazza. We were allowed to use the computer in the reception area but that's obviously not as convenient. Not being able to consistently connect to Wi-Fi was a problem in Neive and Turin also. The McDonald's in Turin told us right off that American iPhones don't work on their network, although they worked just fine in a neighboring coffee shop. (Our stop at McDonald's was solely to see if the Wi-Fi would work!)
The owners of the Albergo San Lorenzo own the organic bakery on the ground floor where breakfast is served. The breakfast was adequate and covered all the basics. After two days we opted out of breakfast and went to a nearby coffee shop for cornetti and espresso. If you don't need luxury the Albergo San Lorenzo is a convenient and clean place to stay in the old city.
Without a car we couldn't do what everyone on Fodor's writes about--drive around to the wineries, admire the scenery and eat in out of the way locations. That concerned us, although we knew that Alba's many good restaurants would keep us from getting hungry and thirsty.
<b>What we did in Alba</b>
After checking in we immediately made reservations at <b>La Libera </b>for that evening. Then we walked over to the nearby tourist information center and enquired about the possibility of tours. Bingo! The tourist office had just started three tours that only operated on Friday and Monday from the 17 September to the 15 of November. We signed up for two tours for the next day, Friday. The first tour, the Barolo Tour, left Alba at 10:30 and returned at 13:30. It included a visit to Ceretto Monsardo Bernadina for a lengthy wine tasting accompanied by cheeses and bread, a self guided tour of the Grinzane Cavour castle and the Cavour Piedmontese Regional Enoteca, and a stop at La Morra for the views. Unfortunately, visibility was quite poor that day.
The afternoon Barbaresco tour lasted three hours and included a visit to Tenute Cisa Asinari Dei Marchesi di Gresy. One of the six people on the tour was a vintner from New Zealand, as is one of the vintners at the winery, so we were treated to especially numerous and fine tastings. After strolling around Barbaresco we headed to Neive for a brief visit. The guide was very enthusiastic about the restaurant La Contea and the village is considered one of the prettiest in Italy, so we decided that we would try to return on our own and spend the night. The third tour was an hour long "simulated" truffle hunt in the nearby hills. We passed on that.
The cost of the tours is 30E for one tour, 55E for two tours on the same day, and 75E for three tours on the same day. The tour allows a maximum of 12 people. Our guide spoke excellent English and we were very pleased with the day's activities. Going on a small group tour eliminated the awkwardness of visiting a winery and then not buying wine because you're traveling and eating at restaurants. We prefer drinking the wine to visiting the vine, so stopping at a couple of wineries was enough for us.
On Saturday we spent the morning at the very extensive market that takes place in Alba. All we bought was a salumi (don't ask) since we didn't have a kitchen and still had three weeks on the road ahead of us. There's a lot of activity in Alba on Saturday so we enjoyed strolling, window shopping and eating and drinking. That evening there was a pre-Palio degli Asini event on the square in front of the cathedral---lots of music, flag throwing, and colorful costumes. I wish we could have seen the Palio itself which was taking place the next weekend but we had to be in Florence that day.
Although we didn't sign up for the simulated truffle hunt sponsored by the tourist bureau, we did sign up for a truffle hunt offered by one of the truffle shops in town that sported a "truffle hunt every day" sign on its door. I didn't record the name of the shop but it was on a side street, somewhat removed from all of the activity. A relative of one of the owners, a school teacher who is president of some local truffle society, picked us up on Sunday morning at the shop and took us for a two hour truffle hunt in the hills outside of Alba. He didn't speak English but that was an advantage since we got to practice our pathetic Italian. His mighty dog Kayra (sp), who has traveled to Russia and China representing Piedmont, found six small truffles: four black, two white. The cost of the hunt was 25E per person (there were only two of us) and we were offered the truffles as well. Unfortunately we declined the truffles, only later realizing that we probably could have taken them to dinner and had them shaved on our food. The weather was glorious and we enjoyed our walk in the hills watching Mario and his mighty dog (who got pasta each time she found a truffle).
Sunday afternoon was the much advertised Go Wine: Degustazione de Vini in Alba. Tickets were 8E each. Several years ago we attempted to attend the wine fair in Greve in Chianti and were turned away because tickets were sold out. I was determined not to repeat this mistake and spent considerable time trying to buy tickets in advance. The tourist information center printed us a form and told us to mail it in. They seemed oblivious to the fact that it was taking place in two days. Our hotel, as well as assorted wine shops, had no idea where advance tickets could be bought. Finally on Sunday, as the booths were being setup, I was told that tickets would go on sale at 2:00 PM when the event was scheduled to start. A little before two I left my lunch, under Bruce's dubious care, and rushed over to the ticket booth and bought a ticket--I was the only one there. Seems that getting a ticket to this event was just not a big deal. Fortunately, when I returned with our wine glasses, I saw that Bruce had left me some lunch.
We spent the afternoon wandering among the booths and tasting wines, mindful that we wanted to leave room for the bottle at dinner. After dinner we went to some sort of choral competition taking place at one of the lesser churches. (Initially we went to the cathedral where after 10 minutes of sermon we realized we were in the wrong place.) The groups we heard were excellent but all of that wine and food was lulling us to sleep so we headed back.
Despite our initial concerns we had no problems amusing ourselves in Alba for four days but I don't know if we would have been as content if we hadn't found the all day tour, the truffle hunt, market and wine fair.
Next up: Eating in Alba
Nov 29th, 2010, 08:49 AM
#2
great start marija,
every TR i read convinces me that I'm an idiot not to have visited this area, but somehow i never seem to get round to it. more fool me by the looks of it.
looking forward to more!
every TR i read convinces me that I'm an idiot not to have visited this area, but somehow i never seem to get round to it. more fool me by the looks of it.
looking forward to more!
Dec 1st, 2010, 03:42 AM
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<b>Eating in Alba</b>
Our first dinner was at <b>La Libera</b> http://www.lalibera.com, a short walk from the Albergo. In the light, modern dining room we feasted on an appetizer of tortino, a vegetable tart. (I think we ordered this because some review had recommended it.) Next was our introduction to agnolleti with butter and sage and tajarin with veal followed by a wonderful eggplant parmesan, again a dish we ordered based on a recommendation. ( I was very disappointed that ekscrunchy's ethereal gnocchi weren't on the menu. ) We skipped dessert, opting instead to share a large assortment of Piedmont cheeses. The cheeses were outstanding. I had no idea that such incredible cheeses were available anywhere outside of France. From then on we never passed up an opportunity to eat Piedmont cheeses. All was accompanied by a bottle of Gallino 2003 Barbaresco, this time a recommendation from the owner. Without wine the meal was 64E, a great value. We liked La Libera so much we wanted to return but it was closed on Sunday.
Saturday dinner was at <b>Osteria dell' Arco</b>, http://www.osteriadellarco.it a Slow Food selection. After breakfast, before setting out for the market in Alba I called the restaurant and made reservations for eight o'clock--simple phone call in Italian, no complications or strange words that I didn't understand. When we arrived at the restaurant we were told that there was no record of our reservation and that the Osteria was "completo." I firmly (but quietly) protested, since I had made the reservation. The owner was summoned and he began to berate me, declaring that I must have made a reservation at another restaurant, perhaps Boccondivino in Bra. He tossed a business card at me instructing me to call the listed number for a reservation. At this point I was miffed so I pulled out my cell phone and retrieved the recent calls made listing. I certainly didn't remember dell' Arco's phone number but I hoped that it would show on the list. It was there, although, since it was the second number, the owner immediately declared that he was correct and I did not call their number. I had to point out that the second number was a perfect match to the number on the business card. He brusquely instructed us to return in 20 minutes.
Under normal circumstances I wouldn't have returned but it was Saturday night and too late to go looking for reservations elsewhere, so we swallowed our pride and made our way back. We ordered the special porcini and tartufo nero menu: funghi porcini with tartufo nero, duck with porcini and tartufo, ravioli with porcini and tartufo and noce di vitello with porcini and tartufo . The dessert was ice cream with grappa. The food was good, though not as exceptional as we'd find later.
The overall dining experience was very strange--except for taking our orders and having some one silently plop a dish in front of us, we were completely ignored. At first I thought we were being punished for the reservations episode, so I observed the interactions of the owners and staff with the other tables. Except for cordial exchanges with what I assume were local clients, everyone else was pretty much invisible--eat and get out of here seemed to be the motto. So that's what we did.
Our first dinner was at <b>La Libera</b> http://www.lalibera.com, a short walk from the Albergo. In the light, modern dining room we feasted on an appetizer of tortino, a vegetable tart. (I think we ordered this because some review had recommended it.) Next was our introduction to agnolleti with butter and sage and tajarin with veal followed by a wonderful eggplant parmesan, again a dish we ordered based on a recommendation. ( I was very disappointed that ekscrunchy's ethereal gnocchi weren't on the menu. ) We skipped dessert, opting instead to share a large assortment of Piedmont cheeses. The cheeses were outstanding. I had no idea that such incredible cheeses were available anywhere outside of France. From then on we never passed up an opportunity to eat Piedmont cheeses. All was accompanied by a bottle of Gallino 2003 Barbaresco, this time a recommendation from the owner. Without wine the meal was 64E, a great value. We liked La Libera so much we wanted to return but it was closed on Sunday.
Saturday dinner was at <b>Osteria dell' Arco</b>, http://www.osteriadellarco.it a Slow Food selection. After breakfast, before setting out for the market in Alba I called the restaurant and made reservations for eight o'clock--simple phone call in Italian, no complications or strange words that I didn't understand. When we arrived at the restaurant we were told that there was no record of our reservation and that the Osteria was "completo." I firmly (but quietly) protested, since I had made the reservation. The owner was summoned and he began to berate me, declaring that I must have made a reservation at another restaurant, perhaps Boccondivino in Bra. He tossed a business card at me instructing me to call the listed number for a reservation. At this point I was miffed so I pulled out my cell phone and retrieved the recent calls made listing. I certainly didn't remember dell' Arco's phone number but I hoped that it would show on the list. It was there, although, since it was the second number, the owner immediately declared that he was correct and I did not call their number. I had to point out that the second number was a perfect match to the number on the business card. He brusquely instructed us to return in 20 minutes.
Under normal circumstances I wouldn't have returned but it was Saturday night and too late to go looking for reservations elsewhere, so we swallowed our pride and made our way back. We ordered the special porcini and tartufo nero menu: funghi porcini with tartufo nero, duck with porcini and tartufo, ravioli with porcini and tartufo and noce di vitello with porcini and tartufo . The dessert was ice cream with grappa. The food was good, though not as exceptional as we'd find later.
The overall dining experience was very strange--except for taking our orders and having some one silently plop a dish in front of us, we were completely ignored. At first I thought we were being punished for the reservations episode, so I observed the interactions of the owners and staff with the other tables. Except for cordial exchanges with what I assume were local clients, everyone else was pretty much invisible--eat and get out of here seemed to be the motto. So that's what we did.
Dec 1st, 2010, 07:06 AM
#4
hi marija,
I do hope you didn't leave a tip - except to advise them that you wouldn't be back! perhaps they haven't heard of the internet yet, or they think that they don't need tourist $$.
BTW, there was a lot of tartuffo on that menu!
keep it coming.
I do hope you didn't leave a tip - except to advise them that you wouldn't be back! perhaps they haven't heard of the internet yet, or they think that they don't need tourist $$.
BTW, there was a lot of tartuffo on that menu!
keep it coming.
Dec 2nd, 2010, 12:04 PM
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Thanks for reading Ann. Do put Piedmont on your list!
Since there was to be a special pre-Palio event in the piazza del Duomo on Saturday night, we booked at <b>La Piola </b>, aka as Ristorante Piazza Duomo http://www.piazzaduomoalba.it., right in the piazza. Bad choice. Although we had a well placed table on their patio, the food was quite disappointing. After a very nondescript pasta dish I didn't bother to order anything else. Bruce ate his own disappointing pasta and ordered an additional non-memorable dish which I didn't record. I left him in the restaurant while I headed out to get a better view of the festivities. I had read some negative reviews of this restaurant and I should have heeded the warnings.
Our surprise find for Sunday dinner was <b>Osteria dei Sognatori </b>, Via Macrino 8. This is a fairly small family run restaurant about a 10 minute walk from the Duomo. It doesn't take reservations, so you have to take your chances or get there early. The menu is recited, with a couple of selections for each course. The price seemed to be fixed at 20E, though I don't know if that's the price every night. We had antipasto misto: salumi, cheeses, anchovies, and a combination of vegetables in a thick tomato sauce, something like ratatouille; braised beef, tajarin with ragu, spinach, flan with hollandaise sauce, zabaglione and panna cotta. There's house wine as well as regional wines by the bottle. We really enjoyed our unfussy, well-prepared meal among the locals. Definitely recommend a meal here.
Our lunches at <b> Enoclub/Cafe Umberto</b> , http://www.vincafe.com/index.htm and <b>VinCafe</b> http://www.turismodoc.it/Caffe-Umberto/index.cfm provided great opportunities for us to continue exploring the cheeses and salumi (and, of course, wines) of Piedmont. Highly recommend both.
Next stop Neive: lunch at la Luna nel Pozzo and dinner at La Contea. A clear winner emerges.
Since there was to be a special pre-Palio event in the piazza del Duomo on Saturday night, we booked at <b>La Piola </b>, aka as Ristorante Piazza Duomo http://www.piazzaduomoalba.it., right in the piazza. Bad choice. Although we had a well placed table on their patio, the food was quite disappointing. After a very nondescript pasta dish I didn't bother to order anything else. Bruce ate his own disappointing pasta and ordered an additional non-memorable dish which I didn't record. I left him in the restaurant while I headed out to get a better view of the festivities. I had read some negative reviews of this restaurant and I should have heeded the warnings.
Our surprise find for Sunday dinner was <b>Osteria dei Sognatori </b>, Via Macrino 8. This is a fairly small family run restaurant about a 10 minute walk from the Duomo. It doesn't take reservations, so you have to take your chances or get there early. The menu is recited, with a couple of selections for each course. The price seemed to be fixed at 20E, though I don't know if that's the price every night. We had antipasto misto: salumi, cheeses, anchovies, and a combination of vegetables in a thick tomato sauce, something like ratatouille; braised beef, tajarin with ragu, spinach, flan with hollandaise sauce, zabaglione and panna cotta. There's house wine as well as regional wines by the bottle. We really enjoyed our unfussy, well-prepared meal among the locals. Definitely recommend a meal here.
Our lunches at <b> Enoclub/Cafe Umberto</b> , http://www.vincafe.com/index.htm and <b>VinCafe</b> http://www.turismodoc.it/Caffe-Umberto/index.cfm provided great opportunities for us to continue exploring the cheeses and salumi (and, of course, wines) of Piedmont. Highly recommend both.
Next stop Neive: lunch at la Luna nel Pozzo and dinner at La Contea. A clear winner emerges.
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