Profume de Alba

We decided to go to Alba on Saturday. Saturday is the most important market day of the week and we heard that Alba has a very famous market. Our hotel receptionist was happy to explain us where to get on the Alba bus. The bus trip was a joy. Only a small part of the way we were on highway, most of the time the road took us thru little towns and up the mountain covered with vines in vivid autumn colors. An hour later we arrived on the bus station of no distinction with no map and no idea where to go. This was a moment when my limited Italian was squeezed out of me. I picked a typical Italian signora from the crowd and sheepishly asked her Dove mercato? Signora gave me a look. No Italian was necessary to understand: You don't know where the market is??!!!’ and pointed us to the direction where everybody was going.

The market was good but not great. I’m a market connoisseur, so everywhere I go I always visit the local market. This could not possibly be the famous market. There were some nice local specialties. We bought excellent dry porcini mushrooms; the selection of hazelnuts was impressive.

The wicker tricycles were cute, but otherwise there were nothing to write home about.

But from the market we could see where the historical center is and proceeded to go that way. That’s where the actions were.
The center was charming, old, and full of people shopping for absolutely spectacular selection of local wines, cheeses, salamis, pasta, chocolates, nuts and other delicacies.

The best Italian wines Barolo, Dolcetta d’Alba, Nebbiolo all grow in Piedmont and Alba restaurants and wine bars proudly present them in beautiful company of all the heavenly looking and smelling food.

cheeses

and giant salami

and giant green onion

and wines

and more salami

and more cheeses

The star of this gastronomical show was the white truffle. The streets where perfumed with fragrant odors of one of the most expensive foods in the world.


White truffles can only be found in the woods around Alba and it hosts the world famous white truffle market.

There was something else in the air. It was recognizable right away though it didn’t have any physical materiality of mushroom or chocolate. The scent was coming from super expensive stores and restaurants full of wealthy tourists (and some locals too) from around the world. The discreet smell of money was not that discreet on the old streets of Alba.

In the evening on the main piazza near the church the live entertainment was provided for the crowd. The music group was performing traditional Italian songs. The source and inspiration for Italian opera becomes obvious just after a few minutes listening to them.

Across the river

Piazza Vittorio Venneto is located on the west bank of the river Po. From there one can see Gran Madre de Dio church and a huge hill behind it.

The church looks like the replika of Pantheon.

Since we lived near by we decided to cross the river and go up the hill. Several times during our travels in Italy going up hill proved to be a memorable experience. I only want to mention Sanctuary San Luca on Guardia Hill near Bologna which is 287 meters up the level of Po and has the endless staircase covered with porticos which was enough to explain why with all the extraordinary rich food (lardo is a fat of choice) locals there don’t show any signs of weight problems.

Patrick after he conquered Guardia Hill in Bologna

The Turin across the river is an innocent wealthy enclave, where Armani boutique for babies looks normal.

Of course how one can survive without baby Armani apparel!

Here half way up the hill is a gorgeous villa della Regina which was destroyed in bombing of 1942 and now almost rebuild, but still not open for visitors.


But the road still going up and so we are determined to conquer another Italian peak.
The efforts were fully rewarded when we’ve got to the top of the hill and found a romantic and serene park Villa Parco Genero completely furnished in fall attire.

Along the alleys of the park benches are set, where in clear day visitors can enjoy the view of the city and the Alps on the other side of Turin.Since it was a foggy fall day and I could not take a picture of Alps, I asked Patrick to take pictures of me in the park:



The park has strange half ruined sculptures:


Jews were hiding there during the war.


The destroyed old church with the evidence of love which only death can bring to an end gives the last charming touch to the lovely park on the hill


As it happens often the most interesting sites are not mentioned in travel books…

Trip to Asti

When we asked our charming hotel receptionist what is the best way to get to Asti she was very reluctant to explain and had a lot of objections for us to go there. Many times she mentioned that there is nothing to see and it is impossible to get there. It turns out that she is originally from Alba another medieval town outside if Turin and these two towns traditionally were at war. To this day they are rivals. The old conflicts are still alive.

Anyway we got to Asti by train which departed from gorgeous old train station – Porta Nova.


There we found a city of many medieval towers and beautifully appointed piazza adorned with parking lots. I’ve have never seen outside of USA the town of this size with that many parking lots.







Asti is obviously a very wealthy little town considering dense luxury shopping area, gourmet restaurants and pedestrian crossing on the roads executed in marble.


Preparation for Halloween was in full speed:


The town has a very fine renaissance cathedral decorated with red and cream terracotta



Modern glass building was surprising in the middle of this block:


But street lights were pure delight:



The lunch in the fancy gourmet restaurant was out of this world. Patrick had black risotto with squid ink and it was delectable. My simple plate of pasta with tomato sauce was close to platonic idea of this simple dish.



After lunch we decided to find murals on the old city wall. We read about them in our tourist guide. The long walk along the city wall resulted in finding of this mural:

I’m not sure about the age and authenticity of it.

Almost forget to mention the art of signage in Asti. Here are couple fine examples of the genre:



We of course never reveal to our hotel receptionist that we went to Asti :)

Will continue…

Turin Highlights

Turin old emblem:


Turin is described as a modern city in Italy dominated by FIAT. Italian Detroit. It’s not exactly Detroit and looks a lot like Paris.


Most of the city was destroyed many times over during multiple wars. Almost no Roman ruins, no medieval streets or renaissance structures left. Here is the only fragment of the original city wall which is still standing featuring me and the roman guy.


The last time the city was rebuilt is about mid-late 19th century. This is of course so new for Italy but it brings us right in the middle of art nouveau explosion (the style called Liberty in Turin). The typical café interior will include fabulous mirrors, lights and of course the atmosphere which is difficult to describe but so obvious to experience.


The most famous Turin highlight and the symbol of the city is Mole Antonelliana.

The building has an eclectic architecture and was started as synagogue but the project run out of money and abandoned. A few years ago we saw the lovely small Italian film After Midnight http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0402141/. In this strange love story the magical building of Mole Antonelliana is one of the main characters.

These days the building houses the National Cinema museum.

The museum features the history of the cinema and begins from the story of visual illusions. Various effects played with mirrors and camera obscure which you can try yourself makes the place a delight. And of course the elevator ride to the top and view on the city is breathtaking.

will continue...

The first night diner

was very significant. Since we had no idea where we are, we pulled out our tourist books for restaurant recommendation. We both agreed on inexpensive pizza place on the piazza next to piazza Venneto. The piazza Carlo Alberto was featuring grand buildings and the guy on the horse with a sword in the middle, assumingly Carlo Alberto.


The first pizza place we found was on a second floor of one of the grand buildings and it was FABULOUS. Huge ceilings and windows with view on the piazza, with frescos and chandeliers. Rooms separated by doorways decorated with beautiful wood carving and mirrors in gold frames. We arrived at 8 pm and of course were first, since Italians dine much later. The food was as FABULOUS as the setting. I had the best pizza of my life (and I had many good pizzas). It had very unusual topping of smocked mozzarella and radicchio which created the earthy and savory flavor combination. We tried one of the Piedmont best wines Nebbiolo. Of course it turned out that it was not inexpensive pizza place in the tourist book, but a fancy restaurant La Smarrita. It was not all that expensive considering the quality of the food and overall experience.
BTW the next evening we found the place from the tourist book. It had a good pizza and somewhat creative decoration hanging on the ceiling:

Inspired by Alexander Calder?

Oct 25 – Nov 2, 2009 Turin Italy

The flight from Paris to Italy is always anticipated because of the view of the Alps from the plane. This time the view was surreal. The solid cloud coverage from the north looked like the sea hitting the rocks on the shore. The clouds stopped at the mountains picks. On the other side of the Alps the sky was bright and clear. Italy!

The hotel had no special charm. But view from the little balcony on the Po river brightens the boring interior of the business hotel.


If you add to that a location, just off beautiful Piazza Vittorio Venneto surrounded by porticos with all the bars, restaurants and shops the hotel was completely OK. An addition they provided a nice complementary breakfast with cheeses and smoked sausages, fruits and cappuccinos. The savory breakfast as Vera likes to describe it. And than there were bathroom slippers which were so soft that putting them on after day of walking for 8-10 hours was such a delight that I took them with me to Barcelona.
Here is piazza Venneto from the other bank of the Po and a curious bit of the history of construction:

After 1817, Vittorio Emannuele I decided to extend the city towards the river creating a square at the end of Via Po. The vast area to be leveled and the huge cost delayed the project. In 1825 G. Frizzi design featuring continuous arcades was accepted by the King and businessmen funding the project. The 7 meters difference in level between the entrance to the square and the bridge were cleverly masked by gradually altering the heights of the pavements and cornices along the facades.

Bars in Turin have all night happy hour. When you buy a drink you can pick up a plate of lively hors d'oeuvres from the selection set right at the bar as complementary snack. The most traditional include grilled red peppers cover with olive oil and anchovies, various little pizzas and foccachios, little sausages and cheeses. Bars get really creative with them to lure more customers.
After a few evenings I open for myself a drink which they call Americana and which consists of Campari, Martini Rosso, club soda and a piece of orange. I’m in love again!
A lot of young people were doing this instead of diner, but Patrick of course was not fooled and requested full diner after a drink and a snack.

I cannot believe I didn’t write anything here for a month. There is too much on my mind to concentrate on writing. I did encounter a very nice girl in the blogosphere today while looking for the Korean carrot salad recipe. Yulinka life experience must be really similar to my daughter’s. She is the same age, came from former Soviet Union in early nineties and her parents pictures look like mine from the 70s and 80s. It felt weird and warm. She writes a lovely blog about Russian food. I feel like I know her well. Take a look: http://yulinkacooks.blogspot.com/