Autumn in Merana

Barbaresco

The town of Barbaresco lies northeast of Alba in Piemonte. This is the heart of the Barbaresco wine production, boasting more than half the registered vineyards for its namesake wine and most of its best vineyards (Asili, Rabaja, Roncaglie, Martinenga...)

The villages is very well preserved, with its castle and medieval watch tower on the top of a cliff above the Tanaro river.

In a former church you find the Enoteca Regionale del Barbaresco. It sells nearly al of the appellation's labels.

Grow lavender grow

Official Opening

Yesterday we had a little opening party for our agriturismo. The people from our village all came to have a look at our apartments and to eat and drink of course. We had a great time and it was fun to hear all their positive comments.

Pasquetta walk: Alpicella - Mount Beigua - Alpicella (ring-route)

Pasquetta (literally "Little Easter) is an Italian holiday and occurs the monday after Easter Sunday. It's a day you spend outdoors and of course there's always eating involved. Many choose a beach destination that day, but because we don't like the big crowds we went for a big Pasquetta walk on Mount Beigua, a very charming itinerary with fantastic vieuws. One time you can admire the Apuanian Alps, on other places you can see the Maritime Alps and of course there's the never ending sea.

You find a full description of the itinerary here.

Here's a little slideshow of our walk:

If you're in Liguria and you like walking, you really have to do this one. It's not like Cinque Terre were the whole world walks around, most of the year it is very quiet and it's only you, nature and impressive views. Just the way we like it !

International Course on Piedmontese Wines

This week I left my boyfriend, dog and lavenderfarm alone for a few days to follow a very interesting course on Piedmontese wines at the Slow Food University (Università degli Studi di Scienze Gastronomiche) in Pollenzo.

I didn't make it through the selection, because this was a course for wine experts and people in the wine business, and well, ... you can say a lot about me but not that I know something about wines. But I thought it could be interesting as a lot of our guests want to visit wineries and come to this region, not only for its natural beauties, but also because of the great wines.

Sunday, when the course started, I heard about someone cancelling, packed my bags, and was just in time to enjoy the first diner of the course.

During this week I learned a lot about the history of Piedmontese wine-production, we tasted a lot of Barolo, Barbaresco, Barbera, Moscato d'Asti ...

There were some interested visits to wineries in Dogliani, Barolo and Barbaresco.

It was a great week, with superb wines, interesting people ...

And I must say, I was very impressed how well this course was organised.

For me, it was a unique experience even if I'm not a real "wine person" and I hope my guests will also benefit from what I learned in this course.

My life in Italy: Impressions of sunday march 14

Wine Course at the Slow Food University

I'm on holiday !

I have the unexpected opportunity to follow a free wine course at the Slow Food University in Pollenzo (1.5 hour drive from Agriturismo Verdita) and so I left Nicolas and the dog home and here I am now in the Albergo dell'Agenzia.

Yesterday we had a great meal with wines from La Spinetta, a langhe bianco (savignon blanc),barbera d'asti superiore, barbaresco, moscato d'asti. Producer Giorgio Rivetta from La Spinetta was here too. A very charming man and enthousiastic winemaker.

A good start for a wonderful week !

Pietra Ligure

Today we went to Pietra Ligure, a sea town on the west of the Italian Flower Riviera, between Imperia and Savona (a one hour drive from our agriturismo).

Every last sunday of the month there's a little antiques market and jumble sale.

February

Last year I discovered that I love February in Italy. In Belgium there was no hope for spring at this time of the year, but here in Italy you can expect everything.

You still can have real winter snow showers, but there are other days, you can work in your top, even if it's only for one hour.

The first picture I have made yesterday (we had 25 cm of snow) and the 2nd picture shows how I painted our facade this afternoon .
Quite a difference!

Visiting wineries

Piemonte = wine !

It's very simple, when you live in Piemonte you drink wine, you talk about wine and most people also have a vineyard for their own table wine.

It's only logical that we visit the wineries in our neighboorhood, to look for possibilities to work together for our guests.

Yesterday we really found a little hidden gem. In the hills above Montechiaro d'Acqui, there is a natural winemaker with only 20 000 square metres of vineyard, but with a passion for it that I can't discribe, you have to see him. He's 80, but seems a lot younger, always smiling and telling stories about wines but also about the book he wrote (about his experiences in the resistance in WWII).

This wine farm existed when Napoleon (in 1797) passed here and it was always the same family.

With his daughter in law we made plans for pizza and wine evenings, degustations ...

I'm sure it will be great working with them !

Heavy Snowfall

They had predicted the snow, but 40 cm ... that's a little too much.

White Christmas in Piemont, Italy

This year we experience a white Christmas again, fortunately it's only a few inches of snow this time, unlike last year when we had one snow storm after the other.

Happy Holidays

Wild Boar

A while ago we received a gift from one of the hunters: pieces of a wild boar they shot on our hills and that's what we had for dinner this evening.

Delicious !

A Google Map of the Regional Park of Piana Crixia

Regional Park of Piana Crixia weergeven op een grotere kaart

Enjoying the views, the sun and my dog

Pictures of my walk with the dog yesterday. At the moment we have perfect december days: blue sky and mild temperatures, but ... sunday it will be snowing !

Arenzano

Sunday we explored Arenzano, a coastal town in Liguria, Italy.
This ancient fishing village is now a seaside resort and a popular holiday resort for Italians, close to Genoa.

The little streets are very charming with a lot of medieval accents: votive niches, ancient portals and small squares.
The city hall is situated in an elegant park with rare trees. Here you can also find a centuries-old watch tower, build to prevent sudden incursions of pirates and a monumental glass and wrought iron green house. The city has a lot of villas and prestigious residences.

Arenzano has one of the most popular sanctuaries in Liguria: The Santuario del Bimbo di Praga.

The first snow of 2009

A week later than last year and fortunately many centimeters less !

Flower Riviera Cycle Path

Once upon a time, an unsightly train line ran on the sinuous coastline between San Lorenzo al Mare and Ospedaletti, looming large and metallic over the cobalt sea. Several years and an enlightened administration later, the railway line has been moved inland, and the former tracks have been turned into a 24-km route open to ramblers and cyclists.

The views along the way are enchanting, with verdant trees and pretty villages on one side and wavelets lapping the foot of the trail on the other. Four large terraces allow visitors to rest and make the most of the panorama. Bikes are available to rent at either end of the track, making it perfect for families and occasional cyclists. Die-hard ones, though, can continue on to the 2,000 km of the Alpi del Mare route, which starts from sea level and climbs all the way up the mountains.

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