We decided on a very last minute basis to take a quick trip to Italy in the time between my jobs after we moved to Louisville in October 04. So somehow in a matter of a few days we moved to a new home in a new city and planned an 8 day trip to Italy, got semi-unpacked, and immediately set out for another European adventure.
We flew to Milan on a great Delta airfare special, and went straight to
Venice by train. What an enchanting city. So mysterious and beautiful in
an elegant and decaying way. Grand old palazzos line the Grand Canal, and
truly make for an inspiring view. We took sooo many photos. Our two days
in Venice were too short. Our favorites were feeding (and being swarmed
by) the pigeons in St Mark's Square, visiting the fresh veggies and fish
market, and just wandering along the canals admiring the city itself.
Next was Lake Como, where we rented a car (a Peugot). Driving in Italy is not to be undertaken lightly unless wildly narrow twisty winding roads crawling with Land Rovers and speed-demon motorcycles are your thing. Oh, and drving up against a mountain on one side and a drop-off ot the lake on the other. But it was glorious scenery. Does it get better than a serene lake encircled by Italian villas, cypress trees, and ringed by the Alps? However, it was the off season, and you can only admire scenery for so long, so we abandoned our plans to "relax" (who relaxes on vacation?) and headed south to the Piedmonte region, hoping for warmer weather.
We stayed outside Alba, in a region whose map reads like a wine
list, and enjoyed sampling the region's lovely red wines, and especially
the food. Absolutely the best gnocchi ever, along with heavenly risotto,
and of course, truffles! It was "tartuffo" season in Alba, and I couldn't
resist trying just a little of the insanely expensive and
sought-after delicacy. Now that I've had them, I see (and smell) why
people go crazy over them. Their unique and highly potent perfume
hits you from across the room when the waiter brings them out from under
their dome along with his truffle shaver and scale. They're purchased by
the gram... the 9 grams we shared was 34 euros (that's about
$44 for less than a third of an ounce.) Defintely not something I'll have
every day for lunch, but just heavenly!
Our final night we went out to a neighboring village for a simple dinner of paninis (neither of us wanted a big meal after our super premium lunch) and as soon as we sat down the lights went out. In the whole town! We waited a while hoping they would come back on but after much banging and "mama mias" from the basement, we decided there would be no electric in our near future.