Another Snowy Weekend in the Mountains

I've been told my snowshoeing stories are getting boring.  Well too bad!  That's what we're doing in these days because it's February in the Alps!

Sunday morning we again headed to Limone to play in the snow.  On the way we stopped in an antique store to find a birthday present for Antonio.  We found a cute, iron shoe cleaner with squirrels on it.  Then we went and played in the snow with the Olney puppy.

Fabri and his Dad walking around Vernante after lunch

After our playtime, we left the puppy in the Limone apartment and met Fabri's whole family at Troll Brewery for Antonio's birthday lunch.  This time we ordered ahead of time the steak marinated in beer.  Yummy!

Birthday Dinner!!

Last night we went to Fossano to have dinner at Giovanni & Brunella's house for Giovanni's 45th birthday!  The big 45!

Giovanni made a yummy dinner.  He likes to cook, but thankfully took it easy for his own birthday.  We had focaccia, prosciutto and salami for an appetizer.  Accompanying that was a fizzy Barbera wine called Biricchina that Fabri and I brought from one of my favorite wineries, Roagna Igino.  The wine was perfect for aperitivo or appetizers.  Very happy with that pairing!

Brunella, Lulu and I loving the vino!

Giovanni made some pasta arrabbiata (spicy red sauce).  That's Fabri's favorite sauce and we were happy for the lightness of the dish.....because the next course was a cheese sampling!  I do not remember all the cheeses we ate but they were generally yummy and we had honey, fig jam and a special Piedmont jam called cugna to accompany them.  I tried for my first time a goat's milk blue cheese.  With the cheeses we drank a deliciously Barolo-like 2004 Nebbiolo wine.  It was strong, but it was so good.

The party people!

Then we had the cake and some sweet Moscato wine to accompany it. After cake we hung out on the sofas for a while.  Lulu was very talkative and played a lot with Fabri and I.  We sang songs from her song book I made her for her 4th birthday.  We posed for pictures and Lulu photographed us.  Then she spent a while jumping on Fabri and beating him up before being my hair dresser and manicurist while wearing my shoes.  Sometimes you need an evening playing with a 4 year old. 

My portrait by Lulu.

Shopping in Torino

My sister said that there are too many pictures of snow and stories of snowshoeing on my blog lately.  I asked her what she wanted to read about and she said shopping!  So that's what I did.

Laura & I on the train to Turin

I called my friend Laura (of Laura & Antonio) and said, "let's go to H & M in Turin Saturday morning."  She said, "ok, let's do it!"  Well sort of, we were speaking Italian the whole time and I don't remember what anyone said exactly, but that's the gist of the story.

Piazza San Carlo

So Saturday morning I walked the puppy twice before running off to Savigliano to pick up Laura.  We went to the station and caught the train to Turin.  It was pretty comfy and not crowded at all.  We arrived in Turin at about 9:45 in time for the stores opening at 10!!  We had a coffee and took some photos of the beautiful piazzas of Turin.

Piazza Castello

First we went into H & M which was full of 1980s throw back clothes.  Not cute.  But I did find a shirt and some hair clips.  Love those H & M accessories!  Then we went into a bunch of other clothes stores looking for some deals.  Not many to be had, but Laura did buy a skirt from Zara.  After a few hours shopping up and down the fancy Via Roma we headed back to the train station where we checked out a few more stores.  I bought some gloves at the train station United Colors of Benetton and then we got a couple of sandwiches for lunch. 

Porta Nuova Train Station

At 1 pm or so we caught the train back to Savi Beach.  I got home at 2:30 and walked the puppy who had probably slept all day.  Fabri got home at 3:30 and we hung out and took it easy until he had to go back to work for a night shift.  Thank goodness for a little shopping excitement!

Thumbs up to shopping in Turin

Troll Brewery

Last time I told you I would write about our super duper awesome lunch up in the mountains near Limone. 

Fabri and I have been getting more and more interested in the microbrewery revolution taking place here in Italy.  I would say as few as 5 years ago there were hardly any microbrew beers being made in Italy, now they boast more than 265! Last June we went to a little brew fest in Saluzzo where we must have tried the beer from about 10 breweries.  Unfortunately, a lot of these places only produce the beer, they don't have a restaurant, but we are finding more and more brewery restaurants to check out.  Also, the Italian microbrewery scene is expanding and even Saluzzo has a Baladin bar serving only microbrews now! 

After snowshoeing, Fabri and I took Maria Pia & Antonio to Troll Brewery in the Grande Valley above Vernante (for those of you who have visited, Vernante is the Pinocchio town).  You can find Troll beer in many fancier restaurants and wine stores around here, but we had never tried it.  We wanted to go to the restaurant for our tasting.  We were particularly excited because the Troll website talks about how they cook with beer (something I want to learn more about) and they cook their meat on the grill!

When we arrived, we found Troll to be much larger than we had imagined, and much more popular.  We were lucky to find a table in what I imagine was the original dining room.  There was also a very large add on with enormous windows which were closed in winter, but can be opened to provide an open dining room in summer.  When entering, there is a beautiful wooden bar and a fireplace in the middle of the room.

I wanted to try basically all of the food prepared with beer which included trout marinated in beer and then smoked and thinly sliced; beer bread batter rolled in balls and fried; and fresh cheeses with beer and spices.  Yum, yumm, yummmmm!  Those were are appetizers then we shared a couple of large rib steaks cooked on the grill.  Next time we go, I'm going to pre-order a steak marinated in beer then grilled!  That has to be reserved 24 hours in advance to allow time for the marinade.

Ok, so the beer.  Like many Italian microbreweries, they are generally rather high in alcohol.  The double malt" with 8% - 9% alcohol is served in every pub here.  While I love malty beer, these are often highly alcoholic just for the sake of being alcoholic, not for a benefit to the flavor.  While Fabri was delighted to try an Italian I.P.A (his fave American style beer) (6%), I went right to the dark, malty beers: a red double malt (8.5%) and a winter stout for dessert (10.5%)!  Maria Pia had an interesting pale ale (5.2%) with an after taste of lavander and Antonio had a Belgian white (4.7%).  All pretty excellent.

Of course at the end we had to buy some bottles to bring home.  We got Fabri 3 bottles of the I.P.A. and the kind proprietor gifted us two Troll glasses so that we could drink the beer from the appropriate glass.  Little did he know that Fabri & I collect beer glasses!  Anyway, it was really nice and really fun and we can't wait to go back and of course we will be bringing my parents when they visit in April!

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.