Off to Piedmont For Some Barolo

Susan, Doug, Ken and Sarah arrived safely in Torino on Thursday after a full day in Milan. We didn't have much time to find a place for dinner that night so we ended up at a local pizza joint with a pirate motif. Why pirates and pizza go together I don't know but the food was good and we got our complimentary lemoncello after the meal.

It was an early start to the day as we were heading out to the Piedmont area to sample excellent Barberas, Barolos and Nebbiolas. We picked up the rental car and headed south of Torino to Asti. We missed the freeway turnoff so we were relegated to the backroads. At least we avoided the tolls on the way.

We quickly headed from Asti to Alba and were rewarded with some lovely towns and some great wineries.

We went to a lovely vineyard where the owners gave us a tasting and tour of their vineyard. The name was Cascina Longoria and their wines were all excellent and at a very reasonable price. We left with 8 bottles between us. The wines are featured in the shot above. The owner was named Carlo and he gave Ken some of his grapes for the ride.

After our stop at Cascina Longoria we went on to Grinzane Favour, Barolo and La Morra. More wine tasting and more great wine purchased + grappa!! It was a wine lover's dream.

  

It was getting late and unfortunately it was time to head back to Torino. It was the direct route on the autostrada to get back but still it was dark when we made it back to town. We filled up the rental car, dropped it off and wandered the streets of Torino with 13 bottles of wine to find dinner.

It was time to get home as we had the long journey from Torino to Arles in the morning.

Leanne in Montreux - Chateau de Chillon

Decided to walk to Chateau de Chillon this morning - 45 min walk from Montreux. It was warm and sunny, and a nice walk along the lake. Checked out the Freddie Mercury statue along the way. If you like medieval castles you need to check this one out. It really felt authentic and you could imagine how people lived back then. They were definitely shorter/smaller - the doorways and beds were very tiny. Going through some of the rooms - especially the prisons and when no one else was around was really creepy. It's actually on an island and quite amazing how they built it into the rock.

Then I hopped onto a boat and cruised to Vevey where I caught the "wine train" to Chexbres. After a nice long walk through the vineyards I made my way to the Vinorama to try a couple of the local wines. A quick train ride back to the hotel and it was time to start packing up again - next stop Provence.

Doug, Susan, Ken and Sarah in Milan

After an early start from Como it was off to Torino with a stop in Milan for the day. It was only a 45 minute train ride and with bags safely in luggage storage, it was off to the duomo. The subway was quick and efficient but not air conditioned and packed with commuters. It was nice to get above ground and see the impressive sight of the Milan duomo - the 3rd largest in Europe.

After the duomo it was off to the lovely shopping centre across from the duomo.

Next stop. Leonardo Da Vinci's Last Supper. Thank you to Susan for booking  so far in advance of our trip. But, my apologies for pretending I didn't know you when you almost got kicked out for taking pictures.

After that, it was the castle and off to Torino.

Leanne in Montreux - Chocolate Train

The Chocolate Train was made up of a panorama car and a couple of classic cars. I was very happy to be in one of the classic cars, they were quite spectacular. Reminded me of the Orient Express but not quite as fancy.

With a chocolate croissant and hot chocolate on the way we made our first stop at Gruyeres and a tour of a cheese factory. Then we were bussed to the town of Gruyeres to tour the castle and have lunch.  Of course I had to have cheese and found a place where I could get a single serving cheese fondue - Yum!


Then back on the bus to Broc and a tour of the Callier chocolate factory. This was the highlight of the day. A humourous history lesson on the introduction of chocolate to Europe and the Callier/Nestle brand. Next the tasting room with many different variety's to try. I had them all of course, then found out I couldn't leave the room before finishing. Needless to say I had melted chocolate all over my hands and a very nice French lady gave me a handi wipe - I like to think I gave them a good laugh. It was a quiet 2 hour train ride back and I headed to the gym in hopes of working off some of the cheese and chocolate consumed. It was all worth it!

Hiking Cinque Terre (9/14/11)

On Wednesday, it dawned bright and sunny and Carol, Larry, Margaret and Mary prepared to tour the Cinque Terre.  One section of the path was closed due to avalanche and the general consensus was that we would rather cruise than hike the section from Vernazza to Monterosa so we only ended up hiking/walking the section from Riomaggiore to Manerole and the section from Corniglia to Vernazza.

The temperature got up to close to 30 degrees with high humidity so the hike was very hot and sweaty.  Our first introduction was the switch back stairs from the train station up to Corniglia, it looked very similar to the Grouse Grind but ended up not being too bad.  Carol was able to augment her warddrobe on the way up to Corniglia so she was able to complete her ensemble.

We had lunch at a nice shaded restaurant in Vernazza, then toured about a bit and caught the train to Monterossa.  It would have been nice to spend some time on the beach in Monterossa but we settled for a gelato.

The boat trip back to Riomaggiore was really nice, we got to view the scenery from the sea side.  We caught a glimpse of the landslide area of  the damaged the trail and we spotted our rooms overlooking the train station.

All in all it was a very nice day.

September 13-14 Lake Como

Doug, Susan, Ken and Sarah arrived in Como on Wednesday night and headed out for a quick reconnaisance of the town and to find a place for dinner. The hotel was simple but nice and most importantly was near the train station.

We found a lovely Italian restaurant on the Lake and took advantage of the "tourist menu" and the ample, inexpensive house wine.

It was an early start the next morning to get the boat for a tour of Lake Como. The weather was sunny but with a nice breeze to provide a relief from the heat. It didn't last but it was nice while we had it. We kept a close eye out for George Clooney and his Lake Como villa. Not sure if we saw it but were disappointed to hear he was in Toronto for the TIFF.

We enjoyed the boat ride and our first stop of the day was the impressive Villa Carlotta.

Ken was really excited to see what he thought were hummingbirds in the garden but upon closer inspection realized that they were some kind of insect. We named it a humming bee. Ken was horrified!! Later we found out it was a hummingbird moth.

After that it was a stop for water and prosecco and the ferry over to Bellagio.  

We took the fast ferry back to Como as it was late in the day. After an extensive search for an elusive supply of mustard, we stumbled upon what we thought was a new restaurant for our last evening in Como. After being promised a courtyard seat near the lake we ended up at exactly the same restaurant as we ate the previous night. Oh well, the service was great and the meal was excellent....again....as was the complimentary lemoncello. :)

Tomorrow it was off to Torino via Milan. 

Leanne in Montreux - Day in Lausanne

Woke up to rain so decided to hit the gym instead of running outside. The view made even the treadmill tolorable for an hour. The hotel brought by a complimentary tray of plums to my room, so I had a lesuirely brunch with fruit and croissants (from the co-op. By then the sun had come out and it was off to Lausanne. First stop a walking tour of the old town with Rick as my guide. Lots of good shopping, but all I bought were a few yumy chocolate truffles to eat along the way. Then back to the metro and down to the waterfront at Ouchy. Time for some sorbet - it was aparently a requirement to have ice cream if you want to walk along the waterfront. Next of the agenda was the olympic musem. It was great to see all the outfits and gear that had been donated by various atheletes over the years. I really enjoyed see all the medals from past years - my favourite was from the 2004 Athens Olympics. It was great to see all the Vancouver 2010 stuff, bringing back great memories from our Olympics. Ufortunately no photos were allowed inside and I'm not as brave as Doug so I didn't even try to sneak any. Back to the hotel to change for dinner at Harry's Bar. I had a dirty martini (not as good as the Shore Club in Vancouver) and delicious sea bass dinner while enjoying some live jazz music. Tomorrow - the Chocolate Train.