Snowshoeing Winter 2011

You might have noticed, we love snowshoeing.  We've already been 3 times this year.  Thankfully it's easy to get gorgeous photos, so hopefully you won't be bored hearing about snowshoe trip after snowshoe trip.

Mon Viso from near our house

These past 2 trips (this weekend and the weekend before), we went to Limone Piemonte in the Vermenagna Valley.  I've written about Limone before because it's one of our favorite towns to visit.  It's on the way to Nice, so we often stop there when we're driving to Nice.  Also, the Motta's have an apartment there, so it's the perfect place to get away for a little while in winter and summer.  I love the Alps!

We came from down there.

So last Sunday we woke up and headed to Limone.  Just Olney, Fabri & I for these trips.  We had to be very flexible with these trips, so it was better to go just us.  The first one, Fabri had to work the night shift afterward, so we weren't having lunch in the mountains and just going for the morning.  It was great though.  We drove up the Via di Sol (a road right across the street from the apartment) until the road ended.  Then we jumped out and kept going up on snowshoes. 

Ice in the mountain stream

We forded some streams (a little worrisome) and eventually winded up at some old, abandoned stone houses.  They were cool, but a little creepy and I kept watching out for ghosts or crazy mountain people...

Yesterday we hit the same trail and did some more exploring.  We did a lot of "let's go up this slope" and then had to turn around when we reached a point we couldn't go any further.  We also played in the snow a lot which was fun. 

We only went for about an hour and a half that time because we were meeting Fabri's parents for lunch afterwards.  As we were getting back to the car which was parked on the road below a farmhouse, there were two GIANT dogs waiting for us.  They began barking at us when we were still way up above them and we were a bit nervous to get close to them.  Olney had already met the brown curly haired one with the bobbed tail when we arrived on the trail and he was friendly, so I told Fabri I think we should just keep going and get Olney into the car as quickly as possible.  It's scary when you meet giant dogs with no owner anywhere nearby.  Everything was fine though, there was a little bit of growling, but only for a second.  Olney's hair was standing on end, but we tried to keep moving until we got to the car and the big dogs decided there wasn't anything interesting about us anymore.  

We met Antonio and Maria Pia on our way down to the apartment in a snowy field near a sled hill.  Then we all went to the apartment so Fabri and I could change for lunch.  In the next post I will write about lunch which was super duper awesome and I can't wait to go back!

More Photos from Micah & Anna's Visit

The hellish hill up to the town of Pontebernardo (steep and icy)

We're all ready to hit the trail!

Anna & Jess at the market in Saluzzo

Olney Puppy in the snow!

Tasting Barolo at the Community Cantina in La Morra

Micah and Anna visit us in Saluzzo!

Our good friends Micah & Anna are living in Rome for two years, working at the American Embassy there.  That means lots of visiting back and forth.  You may recall we met them in Luca this fall and now it was their turn to come all the way up to Saluzzo. 

Ponte Bernardo from the trail

They arrived Thursday evening for Epiphany dinner, another holiday dinner at Ruffia.  We had a huge appetizer buffet and then two types of pasta.  Micah & Anna are all about food and wine so we opened up our weekend with a lot of fun and a lot of different things to taste!

Friday morning we woke up early to head to the mountains for Micah & Anna's first snowshoeing adventure!  We took them to the Stura Valley to this little town called Pontebernardo.  I think they have something like 30 year-round residents there.  They also have a ton of great trails!  Unfortunately we didn't have the greatest weather and it rained the entire time.  We're tough though!

Taking a photo break while the fog rolls in.

In accordance with Micah & Anna's love of the gourmet, we made a reservation for lunch at the Osteria La Pecora Nera.  I've written about it before as we've eaten there before.  They are famous for their lamb (and I do love lamb).  The boys enjoyed the tasting menu while Anna & I ordered a la carte.  Micah generously ordered us a bottle of Barolo to warm us up after being in the freezing rain and snow.  Very nice!

After lunch we headed back to Saluzzo to shower and relax before hitting one of our favorite pizzerias for dinner.  We shared a really delicious bottle of Barbera and I introduced bagna caoda to Anna in its pizza form.  After dinner we walked around downtown Saluzzo looking for a good spot for dessert.  And boy did we find it!  There's a fairly new pastry/chocolate shop in town.  We loved it!  And it wasn't expensive at all!  We were soooo happy to find this little gem and will be back for more.

We love Prosecco and chocolate pastries!

So do we!

We slept in on Saturday morning and then took Micah & Anna to the Saluzzo market.  We bought a few goodies for lunch: fresh pasta, olives and cheese.  I made a sage and oil sauce to go with the fresh pasta and we had a lovely lunch before heading to the La Morra, our favorite town in the heart of Piemonte wine country.  After quickly enjoying the view (it was chilly), we went to the Community Cantina and tasted some Barolo wine.  Then we all bought a bunch of bottles of wine!  We were not content with just that, so we went to Barolo (city) to continue our tastings at the Enoteca in the castle of Barolo.  Unfortunately it was closed when we got there, but Barolo is full of cafes and restaurants and wine bars ready to poor us a glass.  We drank a fancy bottle of Nebbiolo (my favorite wine) to round out our afternoon. 

The Castle in Barolo

For dinner we took Micah & Anna to one of our favorite restaurants in Saluzzo, La Terra Gemella.  They had a delicious tasting menu which Micah & I ordered while it was Anna & Fabri's turn to order a la carte.  We all shared everything including 2 yummy bottles of wine.  La Terra Gemella isn't just a Piedmont restaurant, it's a whole Piedmont experience.  It's tucked into the Piazzetta San Nicola in historic Saluzzo.  The little piazza is interesting because there are 2 church facades there while usually there is only one church per piazza.  When you climb the steps into the restaurant you are struck by the 1950s modernism design including an awesome M.C. Escher-esque floor.  You can eat upstairs (we usually opt for that) or downstairs in the old wine cellar surrounded by stones and bricks.  The best part of the place is the waiter who has a thick Piedmont accent and is incredibly elegant.  He knows a lot about the wine and the food and you can ask him anything.  He is a big reason we keep going back there!

Then Sunday we had a final pizza in Savigliano before dropping Micah & Anna off at the train station for their return trip to Rome.  It was a lovely long weekend full of food and adventure.  We loved having Micah & Anna, but I have to say my favorite part was that Fabri was off of work 4 days in a row and we got to spend some much fun time together.  Also, we were reminded how much we love snowshoeing and we went again last weekend and will probably go again this weekend coming up.  I love snow and that overcomes my dislike of exercise.  Also the puppy really loves snow too and is so cute when he's playing in it.

I forgot to tell you!

I forgot to mention in my last post that Fabri and I have been together for about seven and a half years now and in those 7 and a half years we've spent every single New Year's together.  Except last year he was working a night shift in Saluzzo, but we had dinner together and were on the phone at midnight, so that totally counts as being together.  I just wanted to say how cool I think that is.  Seven New Year's Eves together!

NYE 2003 in Nice

NYE 2005 in Tuscany

NYE 2006 in Orvieto, Italy

NYE 2007 in Savigliano

Welcome to 2011!

I've been putting off writing this post for silly reasons.  All the blogs I read are doing a review of 2010 or writing about their resolutions for 2011.  I didn't want to do those things, so I didn't write last week.  If you want to read about my 2010, look in the blog archives.  We had a good year, a lot of traveling.  As for 2011, I have resolutions, but they're private, so back off!  Just kidding.

Fireworks in Piazza Santa Rosa

This post, in accordance with pretty much every post I've ever written, is the story of how we celebrated the new year.  After all, my blog is pretty much about the places we go, the people we see, the dinners we eat/make & the parties we attend.  ;-)

Our original plan was to go to a nice dinner just Fabri & I in Saluzzo and then walk up to the castle for a midnight brindisi (toast) hosted by the city.  Our usual NYE group was heading to San Remo, but Fabri was on call the 31st until 8pm and then starting at 8am on the 1st.  So traveling was out of the question.  Then 2 days before NYE, we received invites to 2 dinners with friends in Savigliano!  Feeling lucky to have so many nice friends, and realizing NYE is more fun in a group, we decided to join a group doing a fondue dinner at our friend Edo's house.  Now Edo lives in Piazza Santa Rosa in Savigliano which is perhaps the most beautiful piazza in Piemonte.  That's important to know later in the story.

Fondue!

Anyway, we were a lovely group of nine friends (2 of which I had just met).  We drank and ate until midnight and then we lit sparklers and fireworks in Piazza Santa Rosa.

Mia & I with sparklers!

Here's where there was some disappointment.  The beautiful Piazza Santa Rosa, heart of Savigliano, was COMPLETELY EMPTY at midnight.  Just us, not another soul.  Not even people yelling from their windows & balconies.  This is the perfect example of why I will never live in Savigliano.  You can be sure there were people around Saluzzo, after all the city organized a midnight toast and some sort of concert before. 

Fabri rocking out 2011-style!

Anyway, after doing our part to disturb all of Savigliano, we went back inside to hang out and play games.  It was a lot of fun.  I'm only sorry that we weren't in a bigger crowd for the midnight celebration.  Someday we'll go up to Turin or somewhere even cooler for the big countdown!  But for 2011, it was good to be with friends.

Playing 20 questions with animal names on our foreheads.