so, i know i put all the pics up on facebook (a rarity these days - i almost lost them all i'm so behind on facebook technology), but i thought some of you would like to hear all about what we did up in piemonte.
on sunday, we got up bright and early to depart at 530am. a whole caravan of vans drove the 5 hours to get up to piemonte and we were the first the ones there. we were meeting at a beautiful hotel called Villa Tiboldi (we learned that the president of switzerland recently stayed there!). we set up bikes for our first ride, mingled with all the guides from france that we hadn't seen since july and had some apertifs. the local wine they served (yes, right before riding bikes!) was so yummy - especially the red! well, we went on a short little ride to our lunch spot and had THE BIGGEST lunch i've ever experienced. it was a 4 course italian lunch of celery, cheese and walnut salad with balsamic vinegar, a spinach quiche type thing with a creamy cheese sauce, pasta with cream sauce and porcini mushrooms and chocolate and peaches for dessert! mmmmmm. we had some words from the founders and then off we went for a second bike ride to our hotel. this was a bit longer (with some bigger hills) but chris, jill and i had a fun time riding our way through piemonte! after our military style showers, we were off to dinner (yes, MORE eating!). but of course, apertifs to start! salamis and cheeses and wine and prosecco (mmmmm). who needs to eat after all that!??! well, boy did we eat! we had a starter of (EW!) raw ground beef and bresaola (a cured beef, like prociutto) and some other things i could actually eat. ahhaha. then some risotto and salad and pastries/panna cotta. of course, we were drinking TONS of wine from the very region we were eating in. it was super yummy!! then team H23 (our room - me, chris, kim and ninnie) went back for some nice cold beers! what a GREAT day!
on sunday, we got up bright and early to depart at 530am. a whole caravan of vans drove the 5 hours to get up to piemonte and we were the first the ones there. we were meeting at a beautiful hotel called Villa Tiboldi (we learned that the president of switzerland recently stayed there!). we set up bikes for our first ride, mingled with all the guides from france that we hadn't seen since july and had some apertifs. the local wine they served (yes, right before riding bikes!) was so yummy - especially the red! well, we went on a short little ride to our lunch spot and had THE BIGGEST lunch i've ever experienced. it was a 4 course italian lunch of celery, cheese and walnut salad with balsamic vinegar, a spinach quiche type thing with a creamy cheese sauce, pasta with cream sauce and porcini mushrooms and chocolate and peaches for dessert! mmmmmm. we had some words from the founders and then off we went for a second bike ride to our hotel. this was a bit longer (with some bigger hills) but chris, jill and i had a fun time riding our way through piemonte! after our military style showers, we were off to dinner (yes, MORE eating!). but of course, apertifs to start! salamis and cheeses and wine and prosecco (mmmmm). who needs to eat after all that!??! well, boy did we eat! we had a starter of (EW!) raw ground beef and bresaola (a cured beef, like prociutto) and some other things i could actually eat. ahhaha. then some risotto and salad and pastries/panna cotta. of course, we were drinking TONS of wine from the very region we were eating in. it was super yummy!! then team H23 (our room - me, chris, kim and ninnie) went back for some nice cold beers! what a GREAT day!
day 2 was another long one, but super fun as well. after breakfast (which i can't believe these italians live off of - coffee and pastries. where's the substance!?!?), chris went off for a big long bike ride (i opted out of the 12 km up hill!) and i went for a hike. chris said his ride was really great and at the top of the hill, he got to see a truffle hunting demo with a truffle hunting dog. he said it was super fun. my 8km hike was beautiful. we had a wonderful guide to take us around and tell us all the history of what we were passing by. and it was just really nice to be able to walk and talk and learn about everyone else in the group (without huffing and puffing our way up hills on bikes. ahhaha). we missed the truffle hunt but the bikers and hikers all met up for a wicked lunch - more pizza than i've ever seen (the pizzas just kept coming and coming and we just kept eating and eating! haha) and beer and wine, of course! and for dessert - the BEST tiramisu i've ever had (well, besides the rum one, but this one was epic and made with coffee). then we had some meetings and chris rode back to the hotel (i wish i'd done the ride back, it looked gorgeous from the car, but my bike wasn't there). the vines were all changing colours and they were red and orange and yellow. but only in patches that looked like the sun was shadowing them but not. GORGEOUS! we had a couple hours to relax and pack up, then off to apertifs. we, again, had amazing appetizers and wine and prosecco. and then we played a game to test our noses. we were blindfolded and then we tried to guess the scents that came around in little cups. it's to train your nose to be able to 'remember' all the smells your nose forgets...sommeliers use these kind of exercises to train them for all the smells in wine. it was super fun! and my team did pretty well - despite giorgio's very crazy descriptions (ie - one that was like apples or pears to him was "the scent of a woman after a beautiful night" HAHAHAH. this is why we love giorgio!). then off dinner for more incredible food. something along the way made my tummy sick but chris said the rest of dinner was incredible - zucchini soup, spinach and cheese sauce, beef and potatoes, more amazing desserts. and lots of wine. then the whole group headed over to the bar for more drinks (where they seemed to LOVE michael jackson's music!) and dancing. then back to the hotel where everyone met up for a bunch more drinks and apparently a massage circle (not as dirty as that sounds). i had gone to bed since my tummy was being funny but chris had a blast with the rest of the them :)
tuesday morning it was time to say goodbye. it was actually a really sad moment realizing we probably won't see a lot of these people again...especially the french guides. saying goodbye actually meant goodbye :( we've made so many great friends here over the past 5-6 months and now that we're leaving in a couple weeks, it's all ending. thankfully a bunch of them come to toronto every winter and we'll have a chance to catch up.
it was a GREAT couple days. the biking, the hiking, the drinking, the eating, the company. and it was yet another beautiful part of italy we've seen! what a way to go out!
it was a GREAT couple days. the biking, the hiking, the drinking, the eating, the company. and it was yet another beautiful part of italy we've seen! what a way to go out!