Alba, in Northwestern Italy, was a nice place to unwind and uncork from the intensity of my few days in Rome. And what an uncorking it was, literally! The area around Alba is known for wine and its gorgeous countryside that still maintains the feel of the small city-states of old: each hill having a town, topped with a castle, with a sea of vineyard fields flowing out to the foot of the next hill town. Some of the wines we tried in the area included dolcetto, barbera, barberesco, nebiolo and barolo.
The Corkscrew Museum with the Barolo castle shown in the reflection.
I can't talk about Italy without mentioning food. Italians have one way and one way only to eat: their way. One evening when I asked for coffee along with dessert I was curtly informed of the Italian eating sequence by the waiter: "Absolutely NOT. No drinking espresso with gelato! I will bring it after you finish ..." But I am happy to eat and drink by the rules: dress up when you go out, order vino spumante first, then several courses, dessert, have coffee (after!), and take a really long time dining. All fine by me! I'm happy to abide by any rules that involve more food, drink, lounging and looking good!
The little dog above is excited about the cheeses and ice cream. That's pretty much how I felt! except I was a little better, I hope, at not showing it quite so much.
Total weight gained on the trip from the Islands to Italy: 4 pounds. It was worth every single bitty ounce of goodness! I even as much as ventured to try carne cruda (and that was my first and will be my only time).Thanks to DrH and many others again for making the trip possible.
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6 comments:
i know for sure you really enojoyed your trip to Italy, thanks for letting us know how to correctly wine & dine!! love your blogs
U went to the wine capital of Europe and didn't take me???
I love the picture of the corkscrew museum with the looming castle in the reflection. The words "dolcetto, barbera, barberesco, nebiolo and barolo" sound like a children's rhyme. On that note, I cracked up at "rules that involve more food, drink, lounging, and looking good." It sounds like you're well on your way to passing as a rule-abiding Italian citizen, now that you've got your espresso and gelato straight.
You're awesome :)
it should be added that the italians consider barolo as the "wine of kings and the king of wines!" and italians, as you've correctly noted, are quite serious about their food and wines.
aaah food, wine, beautiful people. The decadence!
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