We had to have the car back to Frankfurt airport by 9:00, so we left Julias thinking we would have plenty of time for our 11:00 flight. Returning the car was smooth, as was checking in at Luftansa, despite the long lines. Security lines were enormous and we waited almost an hour. Still we had time enough to grab a coffee and roll to eat at our gate. But, at the gate, which changed twice, they announced a 10 minute delay, then 20 minutes and then the thing that nobody ever wants to hear: Your flight is cancelled.

People started yelling at the gate attendents who announced that we were to go to the Luftansa rebooking desk, about a mile away. We stopped at a different Luftansa gate by chance and got rebooked on a 4:00 flight. A five hour delay for a one hour flight! But the very nice rebooking agent gave us €30 worth of vouchers for food in the airport. So, we had a nice lunch in an Asian airport restaurant and made the best of it.

Have you ever seen a Nespresso vending machine:

By the time we got our new rental car from the seriously rude Europcar clerk, it was not only raining, but dark. I really felt bad for Ken having to drive in these conditions, we must have driven through fifteen roundabouts, but it was only an hour until we found Cucchiaio di Legno (The Wooden Spoon) and got our room settled. Dinner at the resaurant next door was phenomenal. The seasonal tasting menu for €32/person was the perfect welcome to Piemonte. I wrote down all the courses but the most memorable tastes for me were the cured pork and salami platter, the lemon risotto with grana and the veal stew. They serve family style which kept me from over eating because I could just put a nice small taste on my plate. There were “grano arso” (burnt wheat) bread sticks that I loved too. There were 3 desserts, first was a pear and apple sorbet over chocolate crumble, second is pictured below:

I could not tell you which I liked best. The third dessert was little squares of rustic apple bars and something they called “pasta madre” like sweet and crunchy croutons. We drank a fabulous Barbaresco with dinner and tasted a very bitter digestivo to finish.

The meal began at 8:15 and we left at 11. Just what we needed for this rainy night in the Piedmont.