La Bella Vita

Greetings!  After a few days without internet, I’m back…

Today’s route from Alba to Cioccaro di Penango was the longest ride of the tour; however, the frequent stops for gelatto, espresso, and limonata made the milage not seem so bad.  The word of the day was undulating as there were no extremely long or steep climbs, but a steady berage of non-stop rollers through the Barbaresco wine region.  The route went through more remote areas of Italy than on previous days.  We rode through towns that appeared to be virtual ghost towns; the almost medival architecture still present, but not a soul to be seen.  It almost seemed sad to see tiny towns in such gorgeous areas that have been desserted.  Of course, seeing these desolote towns my first idea was to one day buy a place as my European cycling training home 🙂  The other interesting aspect of the countryside that I have noted while riding through the rest of the country is the unbelievable quantity of churches.  Every town, regardless of size, has at least one church.  The churches are not overly elaborate, but usually centrally located.  The crosses on roof also are not ornate, but usally metal and of very similar design from city to city. 

It was somewhere in the midst of a climb when Nina went blasting past me that I decided her new nickname would be Ninamal.
Halfway through the ride we stopped at a trattoria for lunch.  It was a quaint Italian village and the food, as always, was perfecto!  I found someone else on the trip, Erica, who loves the split-and-trade mode of ordering food as much as I do.  This gave us a chance to both try the gnocchi and sphagetti.  delicious.  All of the pasta here is homemade and the sauce doesn’t have the overly sweet taste found in the states. One of our tourmates, Kira, works for the foreign embassy and during lunch told us all about diplomatic pouches (interested readers, please continue, those who don’t care may skip to the next paragraph).  Diplomats are able to carry, across country borders, pouches tht are not subject to searches.  These pouches may be as large as checked cargo.  The North Koreans, taking full advantage of this process, forge American money and exchange it in foreign countries outside the US for legitimate money.  Unfortunately, Kira has never smuggled anything really cool in a diplomatic pouch.

After a long day on the bike we arrived at our beautiful hotel in Cioccro di Penngo.  It appears to be some sort of converted farmhouse and my room is the size of a small condo- a two storied place with a full kitchen.  For dinner we had aperitos (SP?) special to the region.  Dinner was again a multi-stage affair with a quiche to start, risotto, fish, and cakes for dessert.  Of course there was wine, and it was fantastic.  I wish I had a wider culinary vocabulary to explain what exactly we ate and the flavors, but I don’t and all I can say is that it was amazing.

The capallini went to Cris and Lorna tonight for their amazing skills on the tandem bicycle.  This couple is amazing: they make thier own olive oil, built their own house, grow grapes for wine, and ride a tandem without fighting.  Lorna shared pictures of her artwork tonight.  She has many different styles and works with watercolor, oil, and wax.
Another great day on the bike and another great day with my new buddies.  The best part is everyone’s sense of humor.  I have laughed more in the last 7 days than I have in a long time.  I really enjoy Enrico’s lessons on Italian culture and his stories about living in Italy and guiding bike tours.
Chentannos! (a cheers from Sardina meaning 100 years)

I’m not sure what exactly it means, but it’s an Italian idiom Enrico taught us at dinner tonight.

A flat stretch out of Alba this morning was enough to make me realize that my legs were feeling the previous four days worth of riding.  The road didn’t stay flat for long as we headed for La Morra.  In a 5 mile stretch we gained 900 ft and my legs felt like they were going to explode.  It was somewhere in the midst of the climb that I briefly questioned my vacation choice and then berated myself for not enjoying beach vacations like normal people.  Thankfully, successfully arriving at the top of climb afforded some amount of accomplishment and I was again thankful to be riding my bike in Italy.  From the top of the climb we could see most of the Le Langhe region and all of the surrounding vineyards. 

After a short trip back on the bike we stopped at Enoteca Reggionale del Barolo for a brief lesson on Barolo wines and wine tasting.  Honestly, I was too wiped out from the previous days to remember any pertinent points from the lesson.

After a few more kilometers of riding we stopped for a truffle hunting lesson from Carlito and his dog, Lara.  Things I learned during this lesson: white truffles = good, black truffles = not so good, dog = amazing, don’t buy truffles at the truffle fair (it’s a way to overcharge tourists).  Carlito buried some truffles in the ground to show us how he and Lara hunt for them.  It was amazing- the dog is trained not to continue digging once finding the truffle as it may ruin the precious find.  Truffles occur spontaneously in the soil (so far there is no known way to cultivate them) and they form a symbiotic relationship with the tree roots.  They are a fungi, not a tuber and grow underground.  The truffle finding hobby gets pretty competitive in the region as locals are known for poisoning and killing other hunter’s dogs.  Hunters keep maps of areas to mark where they have found truffles in the past and these maps and guides are often handed down within families.

After remounting the bikes, it was a relatively benign trip back to Alba with a few rolling hills.

After a quick shower we hit the town for a guided tour of Alba.  Apparently most of the town was closed today- not sure if closures on Monday is an Italian thing or what, but thankfully I managed to find a store with torrino (Tower? Either Emily or Google Translate is using the wrong word here, and I’m not sure which it is.) torrone, which I promised to bring back to the states.  The town has so much history, but I’ll spare some of the details because I’m tired and most readers (which happens to be my family) probably won’t be too interested.  We stopped inside a church dating back to somewhere around 900 AD.  The towers were black and white checkered because the Dominican order ran the church- something to the effect of black and white for the order and wanting some decoration without being overly elaborate (the English of the tour guide was a little difficult to understand at times, but the tour was really good).

After the tour we met up again for pizza night, which was absolutely fantastic!  Erica, trying out her new Italian sign language, managed to offend the owner- who then pretended to spill an espresso on her.  I sat next to Scott, an author and entrepreneur, who described to me the process of finding an agent, getting an editor and writing a book- a fascinating and overwhelming sounding process.

Because of her encounter with Paullini the magician, Kira was awarded the capalleni.  Although Kira didn’t find the magician’s foam ball trick hilarious (it was not PG rated), the rest of us did.

The people on this trip are absolutely fantastic, we are all having such  good time and spend most of our time laughing.  I feel so lucky to have gotten to spend my vacation with this crazy bunch!

More pictures to add, but I’m tired and tomorrow is the longest biking day of the trip…

Today’s ride was from Acqui Terme to Alba.  The area is known for its hazelnuts and is the home of Nutella.  The group met up in the town of Monastero Bormida, a medieval town where the original bridge still in operational use.

Before lunch was a brutal 5 km climb to the town of Castino.  The area is a popular spot for both cyclists and motorcyclists.  While climbing we encountered numerous motorcyclists racing their bikes down the climb.  As every place in Italy is closed on Sunday, Dylan prepared a magnificent picnic for lunch which included: salami, prosciutto, Nutella, cheeses, hazelnut cake and ice tea.  A steady 6 km climb out of Castino followed lunch.  It was nothing short of hellacious, but the views made the effort worthwhile.  We took a quick reprieve at the top of the climb for some espresso and some Italian Soda, the exact name of which I can’t remember.

The remainder of the ride was composed mostly of switchback descents into Alba.  After the ride and shower, I managed to take the most incredible nap of my life.

The group met back up for wine and an Italian lesson from Enrinco in which we learned important phrases and Italian sign language for: go away, I’m hungry, pasta, it’s getting late, and the horns (which mean a lot of different things depending on the context and the manner in which it is used).  We then headed further into town for what has been the best dinner so far.  The dinner was several courses, which has been par for the course, and included raw veal, asparagus wrapped in prosciutto, pasta, and no-flour chocolate cake.  At dinner I was awarded the capolleni for my exploding water bottle incident earlier in the day. Earlier in the day, at one of the rest stops, I mistakenly filled my water bottle with frizzeata (carbonated water) instead of regular water.  After several miles of bumpy riding the pressure inside my water bottle escalated.  While riding I opened the top of the bottle with my mouth only to encounter an explosion of water.  I managed to lose about half on the ground and choke on the remained.  While I was busy coughing out the carbonation that I had aspirated into my lung, Kira had to stop biking because she was laughing so hard.  I felt slightly vindicated when a few miles later Kira’s husband Charlie encountered the same phenomenon.

After an exhausting day on the bike, I’m signing off!  Ciao.

I couldn’t have asked for a better group to bike and spend my vacation with.  It is a diverse group and each person has had such unique experiences. They have also taught me so much, inluding:

1. Don’t pull the cord that hangs out of the ceiling in the bathroom- it’s a helpmeI’vefallenndIcan’tgetup thing, not the flush for the toilet.

1a. If you do pull said cord, make sure you are in the appropriate bathroom, genderwise.

2. A husband and wife can actually build a house (as in floorboards, walls, roof with hammers and nails) without getting a divorce

3. Never get a couple’s massage in Cambodia.  For-that-matter, don’t get a bath in Cambodia either.

4. It is okay to eat Nutella for breakfast.

5. Yale’s most popular course was on the Cold War, Cornell’s was wine tasting (Indiana University’s most popular course was “Wildlife eatibles”)

6. “Making Ideas Happen”- haven’t learned anything perse in this category yet, but the author also happens to be in group (how awesome is that?) and the book is already in my Amazon shopping cart.

7. I try not to ask too many logistical questions about how people actually live in NYC, but having 6 people on the trip from that city I have learned that people can live there (and that there are people whose job title is “dog walker”).

8. You can physically pass out from a heat treatment message (more than once).

9. There is such a thing as yoga for intense people, and it’s not target shooting, it’s called power yoga.

more lessons and stories to come…

Today’s ride was a 51 km loop from Acqui Terme passing through towns including: Alice Bel Colle, Quaranti, and Mombaruzzo. There were a few steady climbs during the day, including a 3K limb into Castelrocchero and a short climb of 18% grade, which was hellacious. For Lunch we stopped at a family owned vineyard, Erede di Chiappone Armando. We were greated by the owner’s, a husband and wife duo who were absolutely adorable. The husband, sporting true Italian style with a popped collar, gave us a very enthusiastic tour of the cellars and allowed us to sample the wines at the different stages of production.

They treated us to a home cooked meal of several courses, including: risotto, sausages, veal meatballs, cheese, and preserves cooked by the wife. There was no shortage of wine either as we had bottles of moscato, brachetto and doletto d’aqui. My personal favorite was the barbera d’asti.  Every day a new member of our group is “awarded the cappello” for the day.  Charlie ate so much at lunch, he was today’s winner.  His second, and maybe third, helping of veal meatballs made an old Italian woman extremely proud.

After so much wine and food, getting back on the bike was a bit difficult and I wasn’t so sure about navigating the tortuous roads. There were few climbs heading out of town followed by gorgeous descents with winding switchbacks back to Acqui Terme. This time I was wise enough not to attempt the difficult loop.

After arriving back in town and showering. Dylan, Chris, Lorna and I headed to the local bikeshop and then out for some gelatto. Words can’t describe the gelatto; I’m not sure if they have anything like it in the US.

For dinner, Nina, Brett, Cassidy, and I went to a pizzera for, well pizza, and wine.  Afterwards, more gelatto!

L to R: Nina, Brett, Cassidy

Everyone who rides, especially in Indiana, is familiar with the granny gear- that infamous third front chain ring which indicates you are too much of a weenie to conquer climbs with the gears of a true roadie.  In today’s ride from Gavi to Acqui Terme, there was no shame on my part in utilizing the extra spinning this gear allowed.  The ride went from one small town to the next, each having a castle at the top of its hill to guard people of ancient times.  In between towns were vineyards and countryside, and hills. Lots of hills.  One member of our group called the towns we rode through “casting calls” because they fit every Italian stereotype: little old women talking to each other through windows, men with 70’s-ish track suits sipping on cappuccinos, and kids playing soccer in the streets (their summer vacation began today).

The small villages we passed through had cobble-lined streets that were so narrow only the tiniest cars could traverse them.

Anyone who knows me from my racing days knows that on the bike I fiercely competitive, aggressive, and loud – the opposite of myself in normal life (Clearly she’s never met herself in normal life -Editor).  So, of course, when the option became available to do an extra loop, with a 10 km climb at a 10% grade, it didn’t take much convincing to make me game (Apparently she was delirious from the previous riding -Editor).  Unfortunately, soon after turning off for the extra mileage it became apparent that my engine wasn’t in tune for that kind of riding.  At Mortobello, I swung off and rode into to Acqui Terme.  The ride into town had several switchback descents that reminded me of the Giro.  Here is where my navigational issues became problematic.  Making it into town was a non-issue.  I found the hotel and received instructions in broken English regarding where to find my tour group at the local pizzeria.  Barefoot (I had forgotten my shoes in the SAG van), I headed off into town while several Italian men whistled and tried to get my attention.  I aimlessly wandered in the wrong direction before walking back to the hotel again to receive further instruction.  This time I was given a map with directions drawn in the final destination circled.  (Note: at this point my cognition was less than clear after riding nearly 70 km with plenty of climbing).  Again, I made my barefoot way through the town of Acqui Terme, again with the background of whistling from Italian men.  Shortly thereafter I found myself entirely lost.  Thankfully I ran into a small group of British tourists whom I quickly learned were as bad at reading a map as I.  After asking a few locals, I finally made it to the pizzeria.  Everyone had finished their meals and passed all of their extra pizza down to me at the end of the table.  It was the most delicious pizza I have ever had.

Back at the hotel it was time for a shower and…. an Italian bath.  After a quick shower I joined the rest of the group for a bath in Italian spring water.  Fantastico!  We had to wear pretty silly shower caps, and it was here that I discovered Italian men prefer to sport Speedos- aye-yi-yi!

My tour group is fantastic- we all get along so well and have such a blast.  We spend most of our time together drinking wine, telling stories and laughing.  I can’t believe what wonderful people I have met on the trip.

This is some gellato we had after lunch.  I had a combination of nutella and lemone.

The city of Aqui Terme is amazing as it has buildings dating back over one thousand years.  It is a small, but lively city.  People walk and bike everywhere through town and everyone seems to know one another.

Acqui Terme is the hometown of Enrico, one of our tour guides.  Before dinner he gave us a walking tour of the city.  The Romans conquered and developed the area.  Some original ruins still remain.

Above is a photo from the source of one of the springs.  The spring water contains sulfur and is known for its healing properties.

I’ll have to finish this post tomorrow as I am one tired Emski.  So much to share and tell.

Of what country shall I be afraid?

Today was long and tiring, but exciting and fulfilling at the same time. The trip from Milan to Monterotondo was quite the experience, taking a good 7 hours. Thankfully I spent my time at the airport and most of the flight listening to “Italian in One Day,” which allowed me to master some key phrases- that was a lifesaver! (I spent the rest of the flight reading “Rick Steves’ Italy,” also a lifesaver.) After taking several trains, I arrived at Monterotondo and took a taxi to my hotel. The view from my window is breathtaking as it looks out on rolling hills and vineyards. There is coffee, vino and, starting tomorrow, cyclismo! Italian is a fun language and not too far off from French, so it has been easier to pick up than anticipated. I love how lively the people are and the enthusiasm with which they speak. Well, I believe the hotel got the water running again, so this stinky traveler is headed for a shower.

So, just to make sure I had plenty of time in case of navigational errors- I arrived at JFK a good 5 hrs early. This has given me plenty of time to learn a little Italian. Please note the previous post entitled “Bonjourno” should be “Buongiorno.” Scusi (while rapidly waving my hands because according to this audio tape Italians convey much with body language and hand gestures). What a beginner’s mistake.

Not sure if I’m excited, nervous, or have had too much coffee today.  Thankfully I have a passport!!  Tomorrow will be a true test of my navigational abilities… ekks.  So, plenty of time has been allotted for my anticipated misdirection. Signing off, next post will be from Italia!!!

-Rand McNally