Roadtripping in Italy
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r:Piedmont
We used our pretty little AirBnB in Piedmont as a base and drove around exploring the area. When you mention Piedmont people think of food and wine, especially of white truffles from Alba and Barolo wine. So we spend a day driving between the towns of Asti, Barolo and Alba and found some pretty, typical Italian towns, really good red wine and many empty streets, closed shops and restaurants. We thought it is because of Covid that it was so very quiet but people said it is typical for winter in this area too. And maybe it is a bit of both. But we nevertheless enjoyed visiting and actually felt really special walking through Barolo, having the place nearly to ourselves and imagining the days where every last seat in every restaurant was taken. Maybe not so bad to be there with just very few people around. And to feed of craving to see water and the open sea, we drove to the seaside in Liguria one day. We met up with an old colleague of mine, who calls this beautiful area home, had a delicious lunch, dipped our toes in the water and walked with Joschi by the sea before indulging in some ice cream. To cross of an item of our bucket list, we stopped in Como for a day. Loved the vibes in the Como, the modern-looking shops and restaurants and the people on the street. This part of Italy has tourists, even in winter, who were also enjoying the sights and some winter sun. We bought tickets for the tourist ship and went to the cute little town of Bellagio, which is located right on the tip where the two parts of Lake Como meet. We sighted around Bellagio and found this cute restaurant in a side street where I ate delicious Pasta Cacio e Pepe which I adore. So good!! And after our stint in Como, we of course had to stopover in Venice. Since we hastily left in 2020, just before the start of the first lockdown in order for me to start my new job in Vienna, we had not been back to this unique place. And we felt right back at home. We walked for hours around our old stomping grounds and agreed that we will have to come every few years for as long as we can, just to soak up a little bit of that Venice magic...
The Perfect Place
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r:Piedmont
After our lunch at Lago di Garda, we got back into the car for the next leg of our journey - Piedmont. We looked for places to stay around the Alessandria area and because it was February and not touristy yet, we had many lovely places to choose from. We decided to stay at La Rocca Vineyards in Vignale Monferrato, and we were in luck! Driving towards the town, this pretty, ancient village up on a hill lies in front of you. Then you drive through the town, down and up another little hill and you arrive at this beautiful house owned by Tracey, Ella and Nico. It really was the perfect place to stay, so authentic, charming and chic, we fell in love from the first moment we saw it. The owners personally live there and operate their place as a BB with its own little vineyards. It is a stunning place, restored and decorated so thoughtfully and beautifully. It feels very Italian with views of the town, the vineyards and the valley and your holiday immediately begins with this stunning atmosphere. After our hellos and a tour of the property, we settled on our terrace, sipping the wine which was made exactly there and enjoyed the view.
Italian Sun, Winter and Pasta!
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r:Piedmont
We wanted a little change in scenery, some sun and true Italian pasta and so we packed our car, took Joschi and drove to Northern Italy back in February. After staying in Innsbruck for the night, our first stop was Lago di Garda for lunch. We arrived there on a Sunday and it was really busy but ours was the only car with a foreign number plate. We parked and went for a sunny walk along the water and then sat down for lunch with views of the lake. The perfect start to our Italy week...
