Started the very foggy morning with the abundant breakfast here at Corte Gondina where we sat and talked with Anthony and Lyn for a while.

At 10:30, our wonderful ST friend, Diana Baur, came to meet Ken and me at the hotel.  The three of us went into “town” for a coffee and a nice reunion chat.  I was so glad to see my old friend!  For all of her fans out there, she is still bursting with her typical creative energy and looks fantastic.  It was a real pleasure!  We were so lucky that she had to come this way while we were here.

We had a plan to go to Alba, but changed our minds at the last minute to avoid rushing…anywhere!  “Piano piano, con calma”  so we all got into the car and Ken drove us down some white roads. Look how red the grapevines are, just in our parking area: (no filter!)

We passed by some fields of yet unpicked grapes (these next few days are the end of the harvest days for Barolo) and Lyn and I jumped out of the car to check them out.  Spectacular.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We happened on this funky chapel where a young family was trying to take a 1 year old birthday photo of their little princess daughter.  It was so cute! All she was interested in were the pebbles and no matter how many props they had she was head down.  But after I offered to take a shot of all of them they reciprocated with this one:

The car took us to Serralunga d’Alba with its beautiful views of the Barolo vineyards and the fall colors.  It was still quite foggy but nowhere as bad as in the morning and we enjoyed all the views.  We sat on some benches for a while, Ken and Antonio cracking each other up–Lyn and I just taking it all in with sighs and smiles.  We had a quick lunch in a bar with some outside tables. Ken said it was the worst salami sandwich of his life.

We had a 4:00 appointment at Vajra Winery in Barolo.  We were first greeted by Malena Vajra and then turned over, for the tour, to Aurora.  Vajra is a very big operation, but only began in 1972. Their wines are available in the states.  We toured the whole facility and then ended with a great tasting of Dolcetto, Barbera Superiore, 2 different styles of Barolos, a Moscato and a Barolo chinato.  She poured us really tiny tastes–just enough to get the full flavors in your mouth.  She answered all of our questions and we ended by inviting her to come stay with us in Tallahassee.

Anthony bought a bottle of the absolutely delicious Bricco di Viole Barolo and we went on an unsuccessful search to find some snack to enjoy with it.  We ended up with some rolls and cheese and a piece of spinach torte.  But we had 3 nice glasses from our rooms and enjoyed the wine in Lyn and Anthony’s room before we walked up the hill for a simple pizza supper.

I bought a small bottle of the Barolo Chinato since I LOVE that stuff and theirs was so delicious.  I’ve got to get Lyn to take home a couple of my shits (short sleeves) to make room for the bottle.

It’s a long story but when we got back to our room, we discovered a bottle of Ken’s favorite,  “Brachetto d’Acqui” which could only have been a gift from Diana.  Thanks again, sweet one!  It was a lovely surprise.